I have spoken of records and artists from the Smalltown America label before, but this latest one is quite different.
Skibunny is a electro-guitar pop duo from Belfast whose new album, Hugs, is out on September 27th. The eleven tracks have been compared a blend of material from New Order and Goldfrapp, even stretching to the compliment of similarities from legends The Cure. And, surprisingly, the comparisons are true- it is a fantastic record, from start to finish.
The record kicks off with the bizarre, and beautiful track "Ahh Ooh"-with its fast paced cutting intro- expanding into a solid washed melodic track, complete with some distorted vocals from singer Tanya Mellotte, alongside with a snappy drum-line for good measure. The backing hollow sounds work with song, most notable in the bridge.
"Remember Me" is another fine track- as are "Sun Sun Sun" and "Miles Iz Dead". "All In This Together" is another stand-out song, with vocals from Kaori Tsuchida of The Go! Team.
Other tracks, like "Up Down" and "Moving" are far more punchy- whilst "Baby, Get Into It", a perfect closing song for a festival or gig, could be described in the same way as I would say about the album - it's an uplifting, charming and powerful record, from a highly promising and skilled band.
Tracklist:
1. Aah Ooh
2. Up Down
3. Walk Don’t Walk
4. Remember Me (Feat. James Chapman)
5. Sun Sun Sun
6. Remote Control
7. Miles Lz Ded
8. All In This Together (Feat. Kaori Tsuchida)
9. Stand Up
10. Moving
11. Baby, Get Into It
The band's album launch party is tonight at Barge in Belfast tonight, September 15th, but they will also be making appearances at other locations, such as The Bullet Bar in Kentish Town this Friday (17th), Southsea Festival on Saturday (18th), Carpe Diem in Leeds on Thursday next (23rd) and Sneaky Pete's in Edinburgh on Friday 24th.
Hugs will be released on September 27th on Smalltown America via iTunes, but also as a limited edition CD from the record label's webstore. Go check it out, now.
http://www.myspace.com/skibunnyclub
http://www.smalltownamerica.co.uk/
Skibunny are:
Tanya Mellotte - vocals, guitar, keys
Mark Gordon - vocals, bass, guitar, keys
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