The Ropes are a musical duo from New York City made up of lead singer/bassist Sharon Shy and the multi-talented Toppy, who plays just about every instrument out there.

The Ropes do a marvelous job at not pigeon-holing themselves into a single genre. The opening track, “Sleepy Rock and Roll,” puts a strange spin on a capella, with Shy delivering haunting vocals over the sound of feedback. “Alien Rubbernecking” delivers a sound not that far off from The Concretes, while the title track comes off sounding like anything Emily Haines would have released.

This EP is a case of everything going right, from the most experimental elements right down to fundamentals. The album is near flawless — the pretty vocals, the varied sounds, the production by Nic Hard of The Bravery. This is a real gem of an EP.