It's ironic that just at the point where the summer appears to be giving up the ghost and Autumn's claws are sharpening that a totally surefire summer anthem lands on the turntable.
But then, judging by the four well-crafted tracks on this EP, it seems it's always late summer in THE BEANS world, as this Mancunian bunch are masters of the sort of easygoing, Beatlesque harmonies so beloved of the likes of Dodgy,Paul Weller and (when ace trumpeter Jake Painter drops by to serenade us from the wings) even The Pale Fountains, for those of us whose memories stretch back that far.
"Sun Is Shining" was laid down at Preston's West Orange complex with Cornershop producer Alan Gregson and is very much a showase for frontman Andrew Alker's songwriting nous. The title track floats in on spacy dub and farmyard noises before settling into the kind of mellow vibe you can't scratch no matter how hard you try, while the lazy strumming, jazzy backbeat and Fender Rhodes-assisted "Me & Your Mother" is gorgeously lush and positively sways in the breeze.
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If anything, though, "Save The Cake" betters them both. Framed by Dave O'Dowda's tremulous piano and prime Badfinger-type harmonies, it's a real melancholy treat that suddenly takes flight when the whole band punch in and Painter's sumptuous, Guy Barker-style horn blasts propel it to another plane altogether. After that, "Fishes" is a reflective and slightly less obvious postscript, but it's no less likeable for that and it leaves you in no doubt The Beans are an a la carte transcendency option, despite their obvious retro (that word again) starting point.
Adherng strictly to Northern Ambition's vinyl commitment, "Sun Is Shining" is limited to strictly 300 copies on 7". Rather like the early Badly Drawn Boy EPs, however, you get the feeling that it could easily become highly collectible, so getting your skates on is my advice on this occasion.
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