Album Review: The Wytches - Annabel Dream Reader

Opening with a cacophony of out-of-tune feedback, fuzzed bass and rambling drums, The Wytches set their agenda early.

It’s all mood, attitude, sneer and arrogance that somehow comes off as more than earned. Tinges of surf occasionally peek through the sludge, but this is dark and brooding. And at the same time, there’s always enough of a self-aware wink that makes Annabel Dream Reader sound like music coming from a cool haunted house in a Tarantino movie. Are they serious, or seriously taking the piss? When the music’s this effortlessly cool, the answer doesn’t matter.