I hesitate to use the P*** P*** label again on here. It's such a lazy, and ubiqitously applied label these days that's it's almost ceased to have any meaning whatsoever. Here they come. Yet another band with Gang of Four, Fall, B-52's, John Cooper Clarke, Wire or Mission of Burma records in their collection looking to make a quick buck / splash or turn a few heads by jarring, clattering and perhaps evenjangling and being determinedly angular.
Shybits, a Berlin based trio comprising a British frontman, an Italian bassist and a South African drummer do better than most by not coming on too clever and choosing to jangle and conciously entertain. I can't say how tired I'm getting of bands trying to come across as clever without saying anything. Or at least not anything I can relate to.
Instead, Shybits ramp up the Pop, the melody and the sheer fun on debut album Body Lotion. If they can be categorised as Post Punk, they're Post Punk on trampolines, jellybeans and fizzy pop. The contemporary band that they resemble most obviously is Atlanta's Omni, but they speed straight through Atanta and head for Athens, Georgia, and the late seventies and early Eighties, and one of the most thrilling guitar scenes there's ever been.
So you get B-52's, Pylon, Method Actors, Oh Ok, Love Tractor, name your own personal favourites. Everyone but early R.E.M. really, they don't really sound like them, but R.E.M. would surely have been in the audience, enjoying what they do. They're trebly, they're bouncy, you can't really hear the lyrics but it never seems to matter. You always get the gist. it's pretty much about the sheer thrill of being young and the awareness of being alive.
Body Lotion. is just twelve tracks long and it all works for me. They're having lots of fun and its hugely infectious. Shelve any notions of giving the new Black Country, New Road record a spin and head for this instead.
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