3 out of 5

Label: Africantape

Produced by: ?

Jangly indie pop, taking one song from the album General Thoughts and Tastes and pairing it with (I believe) an exclusive.

HfP are maybe a more known quantity in Switzerland, having worked in bits and spurts since the early 00s, and starting with Barsuk- or Polyvinyl like instrumentals, then getting a little more angular with things – cue a split with Chevreuil, which is probably how they hooked up with Julien Fernandez for this Africantape co-release – but still holding on to a gentler side that, frankly, kept their sound emo-adjacent.

The abovementioned album introduced vocals into the mix, the airiness of which didn’t do much to separate from the labels / descriptors I’m using; think Minus the Bear, across their phases of earnest math rock and then mass appeal pop.

If this sounds somewhat dismissive, I don’t mean it to be, it’s more that while Petzi were always able to craft some truly quality tunes – these two included – there’s also nothing really definitive about their sound, despite having existed before and after acts to which they might be compared.

These tunes represent the ‘General Thoughts’ and beyond sound, which, with vocals, tends to minus out some of the instrumental groove of their earlier efforts, but does replace it with some juggling of hooks and more complex moments, saved for the conclusions of each track, where time signatures break, percussion gets clattery, and guitars get louder. I enjoy it, but once the 7″ is over, I can’t remember much about it.

(For what it’s worth, I don’t think this 7″ is actually called Maximage – that’s who’s credited with design. But this is how Discogs is listing it.)