It must be said: Melbourne trio Woollen Kits seem at first like a scrappy clone of the late, great US trio Beat Happening, who bravely dismantled punk rock until all that was left were rickety, childlike tales of awkward romance and fading youth. Beyond a love of fuzzy distortion and unpolished playing, there’s a handful of similarities between Beat Happening’s Calvin Johnston and Woollen Kits frontman Tom R: that same low, froggy voice; easy rhymes (“You could be the one/Let’s go have some fun”); and songs about climbing trees and visiting lakes. To his credit, Tom R may dwell on lost innocence with wide-eyed wonder, but so have Jonathan Richman and Daniel Johnston to great effect.

This 7” is the band’s fourth release on Melbourne’s Periodic Collective, and it sees the bass-less trio – rounded out by guitarist Leon A and drummer Tom H (yep, another Tom) – edge closer to a sound all its own. The single opens with the instrumental ‘Tasman’, a detour around Tom’s voice that points to the rough-cut jangle of The Clean. ‘By A Lake’ follows and it’s fairly straightforward: a quaint valentine sopped with reverb. The flipside offers live standout ‘Haircut’, a more insistent tune with a satisfying guitar solo, but ‘Teenage Love’ is the most accomplished song of the batch. There’s nothing showy about it; it’s got a garage feel and flashes of Eddy Current Suppression Ring’s raw, rattling delivery. But it’s longer and more structured than the others, with a gnashing finish that bristles against the muddy lo-fi sound. It’s the “aha” moment here, where we can finally forgive Woollen Kits for their glaring influences.

The band’s old-world simplicity extends to this single’s Xeroxed inserts, primitive cover art and monochromatic sleeve, as well as the band’s misspelled name and a preference for recording on a four-track rather than a laptop. Like fellow Melburnians Super Wild Horses, Woollen Kits’ shambling approach is sometimes misconstrued as a lack of ability or discipline. But as its best and purest, it’s a timeless release of tension delivered by people who know better than to spoil the formula with chops and polish.

by Doug Wallen