Genre: Pop/Indie/Electronic
Website: Myspace |
Release Date: 2009-03-09
Label: Rough Trade

Where some bands can seem a little too eager-to-please on their debuts, London's Micachu and the Shapes opt for a less accommodating, but far more intriguing, approach. They front-load their first outing, Jewellery, with their rawest, most fragmented tracks, tossing the listener into the deep end of their odd aesthetic. The trio, led by 21-year-old songwriter and part-time grime producer Mica Levi, revels in texture and rhythm, dressing up their hooky tunes in eerie buzzes and mechanical hums, retaining all rough edges and instilling peculiar timbres derived from their homemade customized instruments. The result is a queasy sort of pop music, but once your ears have acclimated to their stylistic extremes, the songs become addicting, more pleasurable than disorienting.