Imagine basking underneath the sun of the Pacific/Atlantic, on a Teen-com’s outrageous ‘boat’ party and then you’d be close to the scene portrayed by Xockha’s Slow/Fast. The only difference between the image Slow/Fast creates and Xockha though, is the fact that this band hail from the Isle of Wight. So not quite the Atlantic or Pacific, and more the English Channel.Xockha are comprised of Maxi, Frankie and Benjamin and that’s about all the information there is so far. Slow/Fast is the Caulkhead’s first track, underneath the genre of ‘vibe’. It’s a bit difficult to pin point any one specific genre for Slow/Fast, so vibe is what we’ll go with. Slow/Fast surfaces in between waves of the nostalgia, of late 00’s chillwave and early 10’s indie pop from the likes of Swim Deep, balanced together perfectly, creating ‘vibe’. Across the near four minutes, Slow/Fast flows across gentle waves of silky smooth riffs and contained bursts in the choruses. But while the bursts of energy from bands such as Peace and Circa Waves may not be felt from Xockha yet, the gradual rise of Slow/Fast’s composition in the chorus, reflects the most recent indie heroes who are racking up repeats on the BBC. It may take a while for the Caulkhead’s to become regulars on the BBC, but if history bears repeating, we could potentially see another Swim Deep/Peace. But we wouldn’t want to jinx anything yet.
If all of this sounds alluring for you, grab Slow/Fast for free from Xockha’s bandcamp.