This is a review of "Haircuts" recorded by The Hair. The review was written by Danny Martin in 2005.

Four-piece workaholics The Hair have been in and around Leeds for yonks, I remember vaguely seeing them in support somewhere. I don’t seem to recall any affectionate memories from that jaunt so was keen to give this new outing a spin.

“Brick Supply” enters the frame, and does my little ears disfavour straight away. It’s a nice tune, and front man Sam Robson provides solid vocals, his best indie-kid impression hopping neatly between the glossy bass backbone. But Jesus, did they really have to kill any hope of me listening to this again by spearing the songs heart with some sort of freaky fairground organ sound, Wo, wo, wo. Wo, wo, wo. Wo, wo, wo. You get the picture. I take it The Hair think this sounds great, and this review will probably be slated now for me not been in touch with inventive musical styles or something but hey ho. Song 1, rename - Musical Chinese water torture.

And so the CD unfolds, Second track “Left foot, right foot” redeems it slightly. An offbeat indie-pop anthem again superbly sung by Robson, this time with an elegant guitar riff parading all the way through and some first-rate percussion. I still get the feeling this EP is stalling though.

And stall is does, final two tracks are a massive letdown. First “Jigsaw ballard” which plods along like a whimpering lion after been cut down with a rifle. Even the thus far reliable Robson wails along like he’s on his last legs, “Bunny boiler” only confirms this to be a sinking ship of a demo, regardless of its snazzy “Jaws” sound bites throughout. It just doesn’t seem to offer anything and doesn’t seem to go anywhere, as if caught in a whirlpool.

Ok, what do I know? Tis all opinion after all and from what I remember The Hair have a great following in York and Leeds so they are obviously hitting some nail on the head. But to me this demo just seems to be a bit of a damp squid. Lame and tiresome. Not really bad, just not really any good. Just fine.