FAT CREEPS

FAT CREEPS EP

Lately, there’s been no shortage of young bands reaching back to the bleached-sand surf-rock reverb of the 1960s; and equally so for the lo-fi detachment of ’90s-style garage ennui. The North Shore-based trio Fat Creeps have one boot in either style on their new EP — a sort of 2000s update of the ’90s version of ’60s rock. Within those admittedly convoluted genre brackets they manage to cover a surprising amount of musical ground. “Leave Her Alone” is the standout here — perhaps the most instantly likable local song in recent memory — with a vengeful minimalism that feels sunny but sinister, like a drained Hollywood pool creeping with overgrown moss. “Horoscope” builds from their typical pose of shambling, accidental musicality (“Oh, was I just playing that guitar solo? Whatever”) into something scorchingly spooky. On “Fooled,” vocalists Mariam Saleh and Gracie Jackson circle round one another’s lines like two prizefighters before interlocking in harmony. The slapdash charm falters a bit on lead track “Cherry,” more style than substance, but it’s the only low point on an exciting debut.

ESSENTIAL “Leave Her Alone”

Fat Creeps play Precinct in Somerville
on Friday.