With more hype than many an act, Tapes ‘n Tapes stormed Austin, Texas’ South By Southwest 2006 to be THE buzz band of the year, attracting the accolades of music press world-wide. Their debut The Loon has similarly garnered a swathe of praise.

So, all in all, it makes Tapes ‘n Tapes the 2005 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah of 2006, or the 2004 Arcade Fire of 2006 if you prefer. They have more musically in common with the former – like the indie pin-ups of last year, Tapes ‘n Tapes borrow elements of Talking Heads and Pavement, but most certainly have their own sound. A track like “The Iliad” is a wonderful one, full of driving rhythms and whipper-snap melodies.

The Loon also has a nice couple of tricks – the guitars on “Crazy Eights” fade from one speaker to the other and back again, before coming together as one. It creates quite an effect for the mostly-instrumental. After an immediate and hook-filled beginning, this cut marks the point where the band’s debut album heads in a more obtuse direction, and this is when Tapes ‘n Tapes really start delivering on their promise.

There’s no doubt that they’re not at the top of their game yet – of all the indie bands with hype, only Arcade Fire have managed to release an incredible cohesive document on first effort. Like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah self-titled debut, The Loon is more about setting Tapes ‘n Tapes up for an interesting future, as it gives them a variety of directions in which to go.