From the bottomless scuzzy pop pit of Melbourne here’s another Mikey Young mastered sound explosion from a band called The Belair Lip Bombs. So far so surf. Their recent three track EP “Songs to Do Your Laundry To” kicks off with “Everybody Cool”, which starts like the ghost of Dick Dale sparring with Thee Oh Sees. But keep listening…
… because, at around the 1 minute 30 mark, “Everybody Cool” shifts gear, transforming from surf instrumental beginnings into a kind of hybrid collision of post-punk and pyschedelic rock which works like a treat.
The Belair Lip Bombs are Maisie Everett on guitar and lead vocals, Mike on lead guitar, Jimmy on bass and Liam on drums. The genre-confounding hybridised mutating sound of “Everybody Cool” is a feature of the whole EP. Even the radio-friendly sophisticated funky soul-pop cheese of the second track “Blah Blah Blah” is a killer mix of Orange Juice and Frente style pop coolness. [postscript: finally figured out what this earworm tune reminded me of – The Cardigans “Lovefool (Say That You Love Me)”]
The trio of tunes is rounded out by the frenetic punk-pop speed-fest of “I Think I Like You” for a bit of a sonic purge to confuse the casual listener even more. It’s like having three favourite new bands on the one three-song EP.
Pop Lib 