The Tuts- Time To Move On.

When I saw The Tuts live pretty much a year ago to this day my thoughts on Twitter afterwards were "Riot Grrrl if Riot Grrrl were invented somewhere just inside the North Circular." They were an explosion of far-from-virtuoso rock and roll dance punk performed by three proud feminists, who had as much of a blast dancing in the crowd to Kate Nash afterwards as they did during their own support set. Charisma by the bucket load, the crowd ate out of their hands.

A year later it seems that comment, meant as big praise at the time, was damning them with faint praise. New EP 'Time To Move On' shows the trio have done just that. Lead off track Worry Warrior keeps that rock and roll dance sensibility from last year, but showcases a pop vocal reminiscent of Lily Allen mixed in with the punk ethos. If you, like me, have thought that since her comeback Ms Allen has lost her edge, releasing sentimental pap and damp squibs one after the other, this is the track for you.

It's followed by a rendition of long time Tuts favourite Dump Your Boyfriend, and it's a shrewd move to include a live in the studio rendition as opposed to something more polished. Dump Your Boyfriend is a harsh punk ode to a shitty boyfriend and the 'safety blanket' of a relationship, no wonder how crap it is. It's a message us boys should heed as well. That message would have lost something in a glossy production, and  the tune is there as strong as it is onstage, the chorus' duelling vocals buried under a satisfying power trio crunch.

The quality keeps up during the EPs latter half too. No saving of quality tracks and filling up with throwaway B-sides here. Loving It is a one and a half minute smash of Tarantino soundtrack worthy twist rhythms. 1-2-3 brings to mind The Pipettes covering Symposium, which would be just about the most beautiful thing that could ever happen in music. The EP rounds off with a remix of Worry Warrior, all dubstep rhythms and autotuned vocal. It shows the original tracks strength that it doesn't just fit into this format but excels, it could be all over Channel U or whichever the current hip channel is with the kids right now. A wonderful genre clash highlighting The Tuts songwriting ability. 

Quite simply, 'Time To Move On' is an EP that shows how much the band have leapt forward from an already strong position a year ago. All the positives that oozed from the live show and the earlier recorded work is there, but moreso. It's poppier, it's punkier, it's more aggressive and it's just better all around.  Time to move on from whatever you're doing and listen. Now.

 The Tuts 'Time To Move On' is available from their Bandcamp Page  now.