“Plays same both sides.” Always sweet to see those words printed on a cassette; even sweeter to have it on a limited edition EP from one of Cardiff’s more mysterious collection of shady reprobates. The Failed NASA Experiment, as far as can be worked out, have played only a handful of shows (one shoddily described here), chuck out recordings at infrequent intervals, and form part of the extended Shape family, a promiscuous member swapping bunch that extends beyond the more well known Islet to include Yajé, Them Squirrels and Circles Of Don Boxeo. Decent people, great sounds, tilted at 45 degrees.

The EP opens with maybe the loveliest, fuzz drone ever, hovering like some giant, hairy, rotating speaker in the sky. After a few minutes, the band creep in – gently bashing guitars, unspecified percussion, dreaming on melodica. It’s brilliantly warm, wonky and tranquil stuff that recalls the Beta Band’s earlier potterings. Some crisply picked acoustic floats in as the addled jamming fades out. Tape whirl, then an actual song, albeit a song that’s gurgled up from a drain on a sunny day – two fried voices singing semi-consciously over horizontal guitar and pots and pans. Great pop, hanging by a thread. Things meander nicely down several quiet avenues after that (spluttering sharp throbs and drones, birdsong, bells – of course there’s bells), fading away till a final, perfect finger picked reprise. The overall impression is like peeking in on some hazy jumble sale jam session, everything floating over everything else and occasionally coalescing into strange moments of beauty. Releases like this are important because they remind you that there’s always diamonds hidden somewhere, sleeping in the dirt, waiting to be stumbled over and loved. In this case, they’ll greet you like an old friend.

http://www.shaperecords.co.uk/

http://thefailednasaexperiment.co.uk/

http://www.myspace.com/failednasaexperiment