Did you know that HMV still exists? Yeah, me neither. Turns out that people still buy CDs from their high street. Who knew! Well, if you happened to be wondering past the Bristol branch earlier this year and you heard an audial soup of overly reverbed guitars, characterful synth play and distant yet commanding vocals spilling out on to the concrete, you may well have witnessed one of the very first official outings of local two-piece Kodomotachi.

I once caught former England football manager Glenn Hoddle doing a book signing at an HMV so I can confirm they are definitely willing to break the mould when it comes to hosting. Kodomotachi’s appearance, however, is something far more interesting since at the time of writing they still only have a 10 minute demo available and have not begun gigging in earnest yet. To be at this point in their journey and still managing to land an in-store performance at a branch of the UKs largest music retailer suggests we should probably be paying attention. So let us catch up.

Kodomotachi translates from Japanese as ‘the children’. They’ve gone and duped you again though. This duo are not naive teens messing around on their dad’s instruments. This pair are seasoned musicians bringing together their years of experience playing post punk, new wave and gentler acoustic work to create something entirely different and all together unique. They express a sound and style made possible only through their combined influences and interests as well as new approaches to instrumentation they hadn’t necessarily explored prior to Kodomotachi.

On the (very electric) guitars and much of the vocals is Nick Moran. Moran has passed through a number of bands over the years but has been most notable as a singer songwriter with an acoustic guitar. He traded his acoustics for electrics a few years ago and has since been steadily sinking deeper and deeper into an ocean of effects. Anyone who knows me will not be surprised that I am thoroughly on board with Moran's sound. On Polythene, the first of two tracks on the accurately named Kodomotachis First Demos, he manages to permeate every inch of space with shimmering streams that provide a canvas for him to paint on top of. The foreground melodies are then played in a beautifully hopeful, chiming tone and are surprisingly minimalist which is all they need to be to build the tracks atmosphere.

John Joseph Lynch provides the synths, drum machines, production and additional vocals for Kodomotachi. Much like his partner, Lynch is no newcomer to music, having been a member of the Sheffield based early noughties rock group Pink Grease. He has also performed solo under various guises and appears to be able to play a different instrument each day of the week. The depth added by Lynch's production masterfully clouds any hint that this group is only two members. The layering of the vocals and the way they are treated is key to the groups sound as is the analogue synth effects that are really taken for a spin on Impossible Boy.

Kodomotachis First Demos is available on Bandcamp now as a taster of what's to come. They are currently planning a run of live performances so follow them on Bandcamp or at facebook.com/nicholassimonstantonmoran to stay on top of dates and venues. As an introduction to this intriguing new project 'First Demos' is infuriatingly short but equally pleasing. If Ride and The Velvet Underground got together and took a lot of Ketamine they might produce something not dissimilar to this and as far as compliments go I think that's a pretty big one. With that in mind, I strongly suggest you give this a listen and maybe keep an ear out for Kodomotachi in the months and years to come.