One of the great things about reviewing music is that you never know what you’re going to get. And while oftentimes there’s an almost equal balance of the good and the not so good, it’s rare to hear something that’s truly unique, original and completely out there – which is why hearing ‘Lips’ for the first time really did surprise me.
I can genuinely say I’ve never heard anything quite like it, and for this alone, I have to recommend it. Yes, it’s weird. It’s all over the place, in almost every sense. It’s also a mere 1 minute and 19 seconds long. Never mind the length, feel the width: there’s a lot going on in this small time-frame.
It begins with a dampened guitar that sounds a tad out of tune, then more strangled string instrumentation of some description comes in, sounding like an electronic cat having its tail pulled. It’s like a 1930s blues recording thrown into a cement mixer with a skiffle group who’ve been genetically mutated, ‘The Fly’ style, with a punk band. Yes, I’m struggling to convey the weird hybrid sound.
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‘Curly Teeth’ has a slightly more sedate pace, and is a whole minute longer, but still packs in more strange sounds and off-kilter melodies than many so-called ‘experimental’ bands do in an entire album. It twists and turns and veers off in all directions, sometimes at the same time, and is brimming with electronic squeaks and squawks, while the vocals sound both wired and doped. The chorus, such as it is, is augmented by the sounds of a pitch-shifted saw or something and sounds like the tape it was recorded onto has stretched just a little.
Crazy, chaotic and genuinely innovative, Michachu & The Shapes are a band that need to be heard to be appreciated, because sometimes words just aren’t enough. Warped, but absolutely brilliant.
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