Feb 26 2010 11:45 am,
Shy Child
‘Liquid Love’
(Wall Of Sound)
Remember the 80s? They were RUBBISH, weren’t they? But somehow, within five minutes of pressing play of Shy Child’s fourth album, we’re reminiscing about the good old days of hi-tops and neon t-shirts. Sure, the Fleetwood Mac-sampling opening of ‘Liquid Love’ isn’t the best of starts, but we’re willing to forgive that, as soon it morphs into an 80s New York disco-synth dancefloor-stomp- all pleasingly sounding like it’s been made on a Casio keyboard before being blasted through Studio 54’s speakers. ‘Disconnected’, meanwhile, adds to the camp brilliance of the New York duo’s offerings with the sort of choruses that haven’t been heard since Simon Cowell started using pop music as his own personal puke bucket. But while it’d be easy to write off ‘Liquid Love’ as good-time, throwaway camp pop fodder, there’s far more to Shy Child than that; ‘Criss Cross’ wades in at seven minutes, with verses framed by a throbbing, pulsating bass drone and the eery thump of what sounds like the armies of Decepticon marching in the background, whilst ‘Depth Of Feel’ takes a
darker, more sinister edge with its dark synthesizers and warped loops. And that’s where ‘Liquid Love’ really succeeds - it’s not eleven songs of disco floor-fillers, but a complete album. And a bloody good one at that.
Matt Glass
