Dutch Uncles - Out of Touch in the Wild

The off-beat indie group from Stockport have been known to push the boundaries of pop in their four-year existence, and Out of Touch in the Wild further proves their ability to create original, immersive records which have cross-border appeal.

A lone guitar strikes out on a poignant backdrop in the opener Pondage, serving as a suitable intro to the record picked up through the 1980s electronic of Bellio. The production on Out of Touch is absorbing but subtle, suiting the understated nature of the songwriting. The listener is taken back to an 80s disco with the strutting synth beats and cruising percussion, it is great fun to listen to and rounds off a fine start.

Fester is a highlight of the album, built around a brute of a time signature which you never get used to. This will stand out in shuffle collections, it will remain fresh with its distinctive beat and is a very well-crafted pop song. A rush of strings opens Godboy, while the time signatures continue to enthral on Threads which side-winds through serenity and noise in its short lifespan. The listener is taken to the 1990s in Zug Zwang, revisiting trip hop electronics but instilling the indie pop of the 2000s. However, it is a little uninspiring from the start of the second half, and by Phaedra it gets a little uninteresting. The novelty of the time patterns and smooth production are well established and there isn’t enough variation to maintain the record’s excellent start.

The album’s closer, Brio, tries again to spin the formula but is a little tired. It is the sound of a band that blew its inspiration on the first half and had little to keep this going in the latter stages. However, the quality of the opening tracks is proof of Dutch Uncles’ potential. With a little more stamina this could have been a great record, but like Everything Everything’s Arc it suffers for inconsistency.