Five people in a room, and no one gets in anyone’s way.

Stereoma’s latest single release ‘Model Lover’ released on 16 October. Stereoma come from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and have more than a decade of releases behind them. Go back through the catalogue and you’ll hear a band moving freely through American alt-rock, indie rock and Americana.

They have their own labels for what they do. I won’t try to add mine, as that would do them a disservice. What runs through all of it is a gift for melody, sweet harmonies (that certainly owe something to the Alt-Country tradition), and interesting and varied arrangements.

‘Model Lover’ is five musicians in a room: Nick Curran on vocals and guitar, Brad Topping on lead guitar, Mike Heller on keys, Dan Riddle on bass and Caleb Lewis on drums. Everything was recorded live except the vocals, which were overdubbed. You’d expect that to bring some roughness to the performance, alongside the intensity and energy that you might expect.

It brings the energy, for sure. What it doesn’t bring is any loss of precision. The playing is tight and accurate, and the fidelity holds throughout.

The opening is fantastic. An aggressive guitar in one channel, answered by an echoing, effects-laden guitar chiming in the other channel. Then a drummer counts in the full band which crashes in with what starts as full-on garage rock.

It isn’t full-on for too long, though. The first sign of subtlety arrives in the quieter pre-chorus, when the vocal harmonies arrive. Then in the chorus, the arrangement shifts again to an off-beat, syncopated backing that puts me in mind of The Clash and even (at a considerable stretch) Madness.

What impressed me most is the level of restraint. When the keyboards come forward, or a short guitar solo cuts through, everyone else makes room. For a noisy, energetic performance there’s a lot of complexity hiding under the surface, and none of it gets lost in the rush.

The story is told from the man’s side. He wants a perfect lover, she wants out, and he lets her go, reluctantly. Curran’s own reading is that the man spends more time looking for perfection than working on himself.

There’s something fitting about a song that warns against chasing perfection, delivered by a band confident enough to capture it live, imperfections and all, and yet still sound this together.

This is a band that knows its craft. I loved it.

Give it a listen!