Single Review: SPQR – The House That Doubt Built EP

Liverpool trio SPQR are set to release their new EP, The House That Doubt Built, on 10th November 2017 via Loner Noise Records. SPQR make vicious, emotional art rock that’s as deeply layered as it is visceral, The House that Doubt Built is a deep dark five track trip into a troubled psyche. Much of the material on The House That Doubt Built was inspired by creatively channelling a bout of depression, one that caused some serious personal upheavals in front man Peter Harrison‘s life.

The EP opens with Or So I Say, a track that initially carries the feel of early Radiohead, before it breaks into a brief burst of almost hardcore intensity, this in turn gives way to brief chugging riff before descending into the territory where Kyuss reside, and the EP continues to skitter at will between genres and styles across the tracks five and half minutes. Every track carries a dark off kilter feel, whether it’s the strident offbeat feel of Suffer, the frantic haze of Life Would Be Easy, the dark Whatever Weather or the stark closing number, Dystopia.

The House That Doubt Built is not an EP that could ever be accused of being predictable, at the same time it must be acknowledged that SPQR‘s debut release is by no means an easy listen. The House That Doubt Built never settles into anything resembling a comfortable rut as the EP embraces a vast array of styles and influences across it’s twenty one minute run time, including art rock, post punk, indie, punk rock and stoner rock, and whilst this can be a challenging EP it’s one that indicates that this Liverpool trio will be following their own idiosyncratic path over the coming years.

You can pre-order The House That Doubt Built via Loner Noise Records here

SPQR’s website can be found here