Since forming three months ago, The Situationists have been pretty busy booking gigs,
cancelling them, recording a demo, finding a bassist and then actually playing some gigs.
Yet they already have a pretty massive fan base – perhaps due in part to their links with
the now defunct Sheffield band Umlaut.
Citing influences such as Bloc Party, Futureheads and Gang Of Four, the lo-fi charm
(apparently recorded by just two mics in a room) is an additional factor in the post-punk
feel of a demo that sticks faithfully to the ‘choppy melodic guitars and Cockney-esque
vocals played at a quick pace’ formula. Closing track Distant Credits could have been
lifted straight from Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm given a bit more production and opener
This City Holds Us All nicks the type of vocal round that the Futureheads use to such
good effect.
But The Situationists take on the genre with such skill and class that they can easily
escape the copycat label about to be aimed at many of their peers. If all else fails
the band need to point to just one thing – they have great songs [and great track titles - Ed.]: Under The Pavement,
The Beach is a joy, We Are Weightless is a modern-day three minute epic and, despite
the obvious influences, the two tracks mentioned earlier are so much more than simply a
sum of their parts.
The band are working quickly because they probably need to – they are so ‘now’ it is
difficult to imagine that they will not be massive if they get their skates on – particularly
with the media spotlight shining so brightly on Sheffield and its ‘urban poets’. But with
such well formed songs already in their cannon don’t bet against The Situationists becoming
another band to add to Sheffield’s burgeoning reputation.