The Belligerents - She Calls The Shots EP (02/08/2012)
The Belligerents have come a long way since their conception a couple of years ago in hometown Brisbane, so far this year has only added to their success, with sold out shows and a support slot alongside electro royalty Van She. Their latest offering ‘She Calls The Shots’, recorded with producer Yanto Browning (The Medics, Jungle Giants) bursts with the band’s signature brand of colourful electro pop.
Title tune ‘She Calls The Shots’ is a well chosen opener and sounds a bit like if Two Door Cinema Club and The Wombats had a sweet musical child. The guitar hooks are catchy as hell and serve as bright threads flowing amidst interchanging synths and chattering cymbals.
Second track ‘Infatuation’ comes in with its chunkier riffs and 80’s style loops, only providing half the song’s appeal in light of the lyrics, which alternate between a harmless crush to a more sinister obsession. It’s hard not to feel creeped out listening to ‘I’m gonna take what’s mine, you know you mean the world to me, I’m gonna take you unconventionally, it’s time to bring you down’.
Feature single ‘Steal Money’ with its dreamy echoing backing vocals and upbeat tempo certainly insights some head bopping and is definitely worthy of a place in indie clubs everywhere, alongside any of the other tracks on the EP. ‘Imagination’ generates a brilliant ambience through its spacey sounds, whilst ‘Wait’ seals the deal with its free for all party vibe, conjuring up images of lasers lights piercing smokey rooms full of sweaty people.
‘She Calls The Shots’ is quality from start to finish, the band have added thoughtful complexity to each track, making them all quite different and interesting in the best way possible. The Belligerents evolution is evident not only in the well written lyrics, but also in their experimentation with analogue synths, organs and pianos. The result is collection of radiant, euphoric tracks that will make you feel a whole gamut of strange and exciting emotions, in a slightly addictive way.
Nazia Hafiz
Title tune ‘She Calls The Shots’ is a well chosen opener and sounds a bit like if Two Door Cinema Club and The Wombats had a sweet musical child. The guitar hooks are catchy as hell and serve as bright threads flowing amidst interchanging synths and chattering cymbals.
Second track ‘Infatuation’ comes in with its chunkier riffs and 80’s style loops, only providing half the song’s appeal in light of the lyrics, which alternate between a harmless crush to a more sinister obsession. It’s hard not to feel creeped out listening to ‘I’m gonna take what’s mine, you know you mean the world to me, I’m gonna take you unconventionally, it’s time to bring you down’.
Feature single ‘Steal Money’ with its dreamy echoing backing vocals and upbeat tempo certainly insights some head bopping and is definitely worthy of a place in indie clubs everywhere, alongside any of the other tracks on the EP. ‘Imagination’ generates a brilliant ambience through its spacey sounds, whilst ‘Wait’ seals the deal with its free for all party vibe, conjuring up images of lasers lights piercing smokey rooms full of sweaty people.
‘She Calls The Shots’ is quality from start to finish, the band have added thoughtful complexity to each track, making them all quite different and interesting in the best way possible. The Belligerents evolution is evident not only in the well written lyrics, but also in their experimentation with analogue synths, organs and pianos. The result is collection of radiant, euphoric tracks that will make you feel a whole gamut of strange and exciting emotions, in a slightly addictive way.
Nazia Hafiz