I nearly died when I opened the set of goodies that included The Hustle especially when I read their bio which informs us that The Hustle are for fans of The Killers (hate them), Franz Ferdinand (loathe with a passion), The Zutons (take or leave), Snow Patrol (really despise), The Fratellis (good God no), Pink Floyd (fine), the Who (equally fine) and Red Hot Chilli Peppers (aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!) It wouldn’t be unfair to say that I was expecting to take this one to the cleaners big style but then ... I actually listened to and was very pleasantly surprised. 

Hailing from South Wales, The Hustle don’t appear to have the deeply annoying whiny middle-class angst thing that makes the likes of Snow Patrol, Franz Ferdinand and Keane, especially Keane, so totally unlistenable. With producer Romesh Dodangoda at the helm they’ve produced a four track EP that is crammed full of uplifting pop music. 

If These Days doesn’t make you feel happy and tap your feet then you must be dead whilst Hanging Around, Slowing Down stays just the right side of feyness. Wish I Had the Time and its insistent bass line is another melodic pop gem as is Good Intentions. Obviously as soon as the NME decides that The Hustle are cool I shall disavow any knowledge of this review. An unexpected pleasure.

Contact:  www.myspace.com/thehustlerock                  

Simon Bray