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LOCAL lads Brad B Wood and Conrad Astley are plainly a duo of the chalk and cheese variety, one supplying breezy, naïve guitar pop and the other jazzy rhythms and cheesy electronica.

That hi-tech, lo-fi collision is nothing new, but more often than not it is done here with flair, witness the engagingly simplistic 14:53 or the strange Winter with its quirky human percussion.

Only when they strive for more sophisticated results, such as For The Shore, do Merchandise miss the mark.

Otherwise, this is electronic music with evidence of heart and soul.

3/5

Paul Taylor