A couple of years back, ardentjohn took the Beatles-in-Hamburg-esque (is that a word?) step of playing a month at a resort in the Italian Alps. Fourteen shows a week will make any band tighter than the proverbial dog’s bits, and they’re no exception to the rule. Starting as a slightly shambolic folk trio in 2005, they’ve honed a much more idiosyncratic sound in the intervening period. It’s that loping, laid-back slacker pop that’s fiendishly hard to actually get right. Too lazy and it’s sloppy, too concentrated and it’s just contrived. This sounds like they spent most of their alpine sojourn listening to The La’s, Tramp Attack, The Lovin’ Spoonful and Spiritualized. Then came home, mixed the ingredients up in a big test-tube, and necked the lot. Bouncing between breezy pop, murky soundscapes and sunny harmonies, best exemplified on standout track Legoland Towns. It’s definitely one to check out.