With a manifesto that consists solely of “Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever”, it’s a wonder Wakefield slackers Piskie Sits got round to recording this debut album. It’s to the listeners’ benefit they did, however. Putting the mellow into melodic, vocalist/guitarist Craig Hale, Al Donlon on keyboards and vocals, guitarist Nick Hawes, Christopher ‘Lammy’ Lambert on drums, and bassist/vocalist Mark Wilson incline more to roll than rock.

Postman by day, dreamer by nature, Hale formed Piskie Sits to recreate the long, lost summers he’s enjoyed in Cornwall down the years. Accordingly, The Secret Sickliness feels like one of our Craig’s no-doubt trippy holidays. Condensed into 34 minutes and 11 seconds of fuzzy bliss.

At the album’s recent launch party, Wrath co-owner, with brother Steve, Paul Morricone appeared as the house lights went up. Wearing a beige macintosh emblazoned with the Wrath logo, he “flashed” the crowd to expose a lining made up of copies of The Secret Sickliness. Apparently, there were very few left by chucking-out time, which owes as much to The Piskies’ stonking set as Morricone’s chutzpah.

Their meandering, ramshackle live sound is captured superbly by producer and engineer duo Jamie Lockhart and Lee Smith. The pair also contribute drums, fiddle, synthesizers and backing vocals. Talk about teamwork.

While the temptation may be for Hale and co to put their feet up, crack open some munchies and wallow on the sofa watching the Spaced box set, they shouldn’t be afforded the chance. For the brothers Morricone should lock them in the studio to record a predictably gloriously woozy follow-up. With a towering pile of Scooby Snacks pressed against the window to act as an incentive to finish their sophomore effort.
(4/5)