Grumsling is the Oakland indie-rock band overflowing with character. Citing influences such as Talking Heads and Modest Mouse, it’s no surprise that these guys lean towards an off-kilter sound. They’re also daring as hell - Grumsling’s latest EP A Church, On A Boat, In The Sea (dropped April 21) has been served to you without an ounce of digital editing. All mixes are direct from the board, giving the record a very endearing realness through its overcoat of warm, crackling amplifiers.

Over the course of its 5 tracks, A Church, On A Boat, In The Sea puts experimentation at the fore - and it pays off brilliantly.  Throughout the album is a constant sense of restlessness. Grumsling have an infectious way of easing you into a comfortable rhythm before throwing you off course and taking you in a totally new direction without warning. However it’s not off-putting, but rather an exciting jitteriness - like a child’s fascination with the wide world around them.

EP opener ‘Tree’ is at once chilled and intense, eventually erupting into a seismic burst of gritty distortion. There’s a feeling of heroism in the build-up and releases of tension, making the song resemble the anthem of an army going into battle. ‘Pre Game’ is a cheerfully laidback track, swaying breezily before leading into its successor, ‘The Game’. This is the point in the EP where things really begin to pick up.

‘The Game’ is always on its feet as it hops through odd time signatures and displaced rhythms. The track’s ludicrously catchy hook sounds charming and innocuous, but disguises an enigmatic lyric which may in fact have a much darker undertone than the music leads on: “It’s time to play the game, you’ll never be the same”. 

Perhaps the rawest song on A Church, On A Boat, In The Sea, ‘Roberta Sparrow’ sings with crystal clean guitars and high rising organ-esque keyboards. Soon before long things dirty up a little, but there’s a very fluid and oddly calming vibe throughout, in spite of the track’s ruinous refrain, “It’s burning down”. Comparing the music to the apocalyptic lyrics, this song is like a brief moment of serenity in the midst of destruction: the idea is not only clever, but understatedly beautiful.

‘Lightning’ closes the record with a wash of echo and smooth grooves. The track builds from gentle ebbs and flows into a sweeping tidal wave of bustling drums and dizzying guitars, before surrendering into a comfortable and relaxed state once more.

A Church, On A Boat, In The Sea is available on bandcamp.