Bad experiences with major record labels are never good for bands and can prove to be even worse if you happen to be a talented, creative and enthusiastic young band such as the Electric Soft Parade who were picked up and promptly dropped by their label in 2003. For many bands this would be game over and they’d go their separate ways, which just goes to show that Tom and Alex White (the brothers who form the core of Electric Soft Parade) are made of much tougher stuff than most and is why two years on from parting company with BMG records, brings us nicely to this, the release of The Human Body EP Aside from the odd live performance in their native city of Brighton, all has been pretty quiet in Soft Parade world since the release of their previous album ‘The American Adventure’ in 2003. Despite this, Tom and Alex have been busy fellows, reportedly having written well over 100 new songs and recently signing to Oxfords small independent Indie record label Truck But what about the new EP I hear you say? Well, if you were a fan of their previous two albums then there’s no doubt you are sure to find a place in your heart for this new recording, with it being the perfect middle point between ‘Holes in the Wall’ and ‘The American Adventure’ and proving that the boys have matured impressively in sound and song writing since we last heard from them. And yes, that’s a very good thing indeed. Listening to standout track ‘Cold World’ it would be difficult to tell it was an Electric Soft Parade song at all if you didn’t already know. It skips along nicely in a Paul McCartney like fashion with a bouncing piano line and some chiming guitars that are somewhat reminiscent of The Strokes. Don’t let these comparisons put you off though, as this is a truly brilliant track that will be going around your head for days on end after a few listens. Easily one of the best things the band has written. ‘Stupid Mistake’ is the tune here that’s probably most similar to their older guitar rock material and which features some beautiful lyrics such as “I could be loving you now / I could be doing it with my eyes closed / You could be back on your feet / But that isn’t how the song goes”. It's classic sounding Soft Parade stuff but with an added influence here and there of Guided By Voices for good measure. The spirit of the late Elliott Smith is hovering around on the touching acoustic number ‘So Much Love’, while the sweeping seven minute epic ‘Everybody Wants’ features some big orchestration and psychedelic effects that Jason Pearce of Spiritualized would be mighty proud of. It's part ‘Silent to the Dark’ and part ‘American Adventure’ and goes to show yet again that the Electric Soft Parade have more invention and creativity in their little fingers than the majority of today’s popular guitar bands could ever hope for. Lyrically the brothers have clearly progressed to writing some beautiful words while at the same time Tom Whites voice has matured and sounds better than ever. All in all it's great to have them back again, so sit back and enjoy the wonders of this EP while you wait for the new full length album some time next year. One thing for sure is that Truck records have picked up a gem. 9/10.