(Muso's Guide, February 24, 2009)
Album reviews
The very height of London cool, Micachu and The Shapes might just be enough to trigger your anti-hipster nerve on a bad day.
After all, this long-awaited debut has had the Hoxtonite haircuts baying for many months now, and the buzz hasn’t abated just because its release date is nearing ever closer.
The thing about Jewellery is, it is a corker, if the sort of thing you’re after is Micachu’s stock-in-trade - experimental music packed with sounds and effects which are hitherto largely unseen in pop music. When it comes to Michachu, you see, boundaries are inconsequential in any real sense.
Starting with the fuzzy guitar-driven ‘Vulture’, there are some great musical gems here. The opener is a nice mix between lo-fi indie rock and a children’s TV theme, with an effect which makes the whole thing sound like it’s been recorded underwater.
On ‘Lips’, the guitar is tortured audibly, with similarly unhinged vocals. ‘Sweetheart’ comes in like something a minstrel would have played in days of olde, but with drums by Animal from the Muppets to speed its journey onto the next level of ‘kook’.
Throughout the record, there is evidence of Micachu’s experimental ear - the whirr of a vacuum cleaner and the clunking of kitchenware are commonplace, all the while set against the fuzzy, often dense, backing of guitars and drums.
The frenzied instruments and regularly distorted vocals call to mind bands like Bearsuit, but with a deceptive tunefulness and insightful lyrics which stand up to repeated listens. While there are some flat moments - ‘Wrong’ just sounds like toddlers hitting saucepans, while ‘Guts’ drunkenly slopes to its conclusion - there is plenty of cause for celebration here.
As with all ‘buzz’ artists, there will be those who say that the lustre of Michachu is an illusion. But from the point of view of exciting, innovative sounds brought by an artist who is truly unafraid of trying the new, this Jewellery is pure gold.
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