There is a phase in the development of a young band where they begin to find their form, figure out how to use their collective power, but remnants of their primitive free-form moves remain. This is where we now find Man/Woman/Saw in the ascending buzz tape timeline. It’s a thrilling moment for a listener, a window into chaos brought to order while still navigating fluctuation.

The young London band, creators of self-described “noisy, pure art punk”, are abandoning their work Eazy Peazy EP Friday. Produced by Gilla Band’s Daniel Fox, who also produced the great LPs Sprints and Silverbacks, it is the debut album from Man/Woman/Chainsaw’s long-running American indie label Fat Possum. With multiple lead vocalists and structures that never repeat from track to track, this is one of those records where each song has its own unique unpredictable flavor but they all seem to flow from the same collective consciousness.

Opener “The Boss” stands out with an intensity that seems to pick up speed as it progresses; bassist Vera Leppänen rails against a combination of fearsome authority figures as Clio Harwood’s violin explodes into gnarly storms of noise. A track later on “Sports Day,” guitarist Billy Ward relives his traumatic teenage athletic experiences over an off-kilter, discordant beat. Next comes “Maegan,” where Pixies-esque banter quickly gives way to delicious sonic lightning. The second half of the tracklist moves into both mellow and surreal territory, bringing the explosiveness back with strategic crescendos. One of the lessons they learned from Fox in the studio: “If everything is loud, nothing is loud.”

The band has come a long way since Ward and Leppänen first covered Nirvana and Lana Del Rey in a bedroom at the age of 16. (They also produced a noise rock version of Shaggy’s song “It Wasn’t Me,” sadly not for public consumption.) The duo spent quarantine learning how to play music, then recruited a rotating cast of bandmates and performed in London He gave concerts like crazy in . DIY venues when they come to college. “Sometimes we would play three, four shows a week,” Ward says during a raucous video call with his four bandmates. “We were doing a lot of shows around London. “There’s so much music here that you can do it even when you’re young.”

All of these shows helped Man/Woman/Saw figure out where they succeeded – “on the fine line between beauty and noise, often trying to jump between the two” as Ward explains in press materials – and helped them establish a reputation as a single London One of ‘s most exciting young shows. The collective approach and orchestral flourishes allow for comparisons with their London contemporaries Black Country and New Road, while the interplay between Ward and Leppänen reminds me of indie-pop bands like the great old Goon Sax.

Last year, the lineup gained coherence with the addition of Harwood’s fiddle, as well as vocalist/keyboardist Emmie-Mae Avery and drummer Lola Cherry. A number of Bandcamp’s early singles—the best of which is “What Lucy Found There,” in which Ward and Leppänen trade vocals over a hyperactive bassline straight out of a jazz or drum ‘n’ bass track—now play like snapshots of the growth leader in full until completed Eazy Peazy. The band members are only 19 or 20 years old now, but they look like a seasoned group.

The EP is full of sharp songwriting and intriguing arrangements. The tracks have an epic feel without going too far beyond the three-minute mark. Each is packed with insightful details, like the dance between Harwood’s strings and Avery’s keys on “Sports Day” or the way Cherry amps up “EZPZ” with her drum sound shifting from massive halftime explosions to explosions that Ward compares to black metal blast beats. full. “Ode To Clio” is at the center of the setlist, as Harwood’s fiddle melody has transformed it from its Coldplay-like beginnings. So far the band has highlighted this as an ideal introduction to their sound.

“I think this is the song that best sums up the different things we have on the EP. Frankly, we ended up like ‘Grow A Tongue In Time’, more singer-songwriter style, a little nice, and ‘The Boss’ a little heavier and more punky,” says Leppänen. “We wrote it somewhere in the middle, and it’s two of the (band’s) genres. I feel like it brings your side together.”

Although most Eazy Peazy the material is new to the outside world, for Man/Woman/Chainsaw these songs feel dated compared to the new material they are working on. “We wrote the songs for the EP to play at gigs because we needed the material,” says Avery. “And when we’re writing right now, of course we’re writing these to play at gigs, but it’s nice because it feels like they’re tied to a project, like we’re writing them for an album.”

Ward said the band plans to release more music soon rather than “spend 10 years making the album.” Meanwhile, there are plenty of tours on deck for early 2025; these include a winter tour of the UK and Man/Woman/Saw’s first trip to America for next year’s South By Southwest. It’s a turning point the group is looking forward to, even though the results of this week’s presidential election have them feeling more cautious about America’s future. “I’m scared,” says Leppänen. “But other than that, I’m really looking forward to next year.”