It’s no common occurrence to encounter a band that utterly confounds your pidgeonholing urges. Just you sit down and try and sum up the Sand Pebbles in a couple of hundred words. Are they psychedelic retroists? Stoner rock for grown ups? Pioneering sonic soundtrackers? Obviously I don’t know or I wouldn’t be wasting time in this meandering opening paragraph. What I do know is that the Sand Pebbles are making music like no one else I am aware of in this country. And a strong, unique identity is possibly a rock band’s most valuable trait.

Yes they play guitars, drums bass, a few keyboards and even sing a bit; they’re not complete sonic revolutionaries. But their musical tastes and knowledge are so broad and deep that you’re going to have a trainspotting breakdown trying to identify every influence on "Eastern Terrace". One minute they indeed, as drummer Piet Collins observes in the liner notes to opening track ‘My Sensation’, sound all ‘sneaky and slinky’ like the Stones in their ‘disco’ era. But elsewhere they’ll come across all home grown electro and futuristic or lost in the desert a la Morricone or twangy-ballad heartbroken.

The constants? Through it’s not present on every track, Andrew Tanner’s vocals are always clear and true even in the Stones-disco falsetto. Chris Hollow’s bass work is the ever present anchor, whilst both Collins and guitarist/keyboard player Ben Michael X seem unfettered and encouraged to explore. There is beauty here. And truth. And you know what old Keats said…

- Martin Jones