Introducing: The First Fleet

The First Fleet are four people from various parts of Australia, who moved here to pursue careers as musicians whilst promoting Antipodean coffee culture. I met one of them when I was buying a soya flat white off of him in Salvation Jane, you see. And a promo copy of their CD arrived on my desk shortly after, stamped with a wax seal and accompanied by a little letter. Note to bands: attention to detail really helps here when you’re trying to get someone to listen to your music.

Anyway, when I got round to listening to their Clean EP, I found The First Fleet’s sound to be very pleasant indeed – jingly jangly upbeat folk perfect for one’s iPod playlist when one might be, say, walking down Broadway Market on a sunny summer Saturday.  My favourite part of the EP is in ‘Whiskey’, where there’s a sudden breakdown of drum bashes and crashes towards the end of the song, which is a sonic reminder of what it’s like to get drunk on whiskey – again, props for the attention to detail.

The First Fleet are that kind of band that you’d expect to fit straight into London’s live music scene, gigging incessantly and not looking out of place playing to a group of people sat on sofas around a log fire at one of this year’s festivals. Now, with a solid selection of really great songs, there’s no reason why their success shouldn’t set sail rather soon (sorry about the pun – couldn’t resist).

Purchase The First Fleet’s recently released Clean EP here, and listen to it in its entirity below.

-Bronya Francis