THE second EP from a teenage trio from Hexham justifies their tag as one of the North East’s most exciting acts.

Blind Buffalo are back with new offering The Circus , to be released next week, and they have again produced another belter with five impressive original tracks.

Having lost key member Harry McPartlan since their fantastic debut From the Water , the remaining band members Chris Kelly, Elliot Thompson and Elliott Bevan have changed style slightly.

But the end product remains the same, and The Circus is another effort they can all be proud of.

Having emerged on the scene in style with From the Water in 2014, they had a hard act to follow and don’t quite reach the same levels.

But that’s more of a glowing report for the former rather than a criticism of their new stuff which again comes close to top marks.

The Circus opens in spectacular fashion with the hard hitting Vacant Smile about problems facing teenagers in love, and it instantly pulls you in.

The new stuff has a similar sound to The Smiths and Stay the Night and Awake in the City are good additions to the band’s repertoire, the musical accompaniment suggesting they’re great live tracks.

The band have kept hold of old songs The Circus and Burn for the EP and their fans can only be thankful they didn’t get rid of them and the band are definitely at their best when rocking out full tilt.

The recorded material, amazingly self-recorded using just one microphone and a laptop, is great and well worth a listen.

But having sampled the trio play live, Blind Buffalo crank things up in the flesh and Sound Check is still tipping them to go places.