Shy Child - Drop The Phone
[PIAS]

Shy Child apparently see their influences in electro, hip hop, prog and punk. Listening to new single Drop The Phone, it's true several of those are clear to see, yet the single fails to excite in the same way as their peers.

The squelching bass is strange in this one and the choppy beats are clearly inspired by hip hop and dancehall, only this tends to interrupt the flow of things. After some dubious synth comes the obligatory cowbell percussion and post-new-wave vocals, that make Shy Child sound like The Bravery if they ever decided to make a party album.

The more-direct, pummeling beats and keyboards of flipside Down On Yourself are better suited to the dancefloor, only the over-the-top 80's production lets the track down quite badly. While it's ok to be influenced by genres and eras, there's no call for the deliberate retro recording when it's 2007. As such, there's little chance the band will last longer than the 6 months the very scene they belong to, dies out.

Drop The Phone has everything you'd expect from a band signed to the label that is about to release the Shock Rock compilation. Sounding like a cross between every 5 minute fad band that is gaining cover spreads this week, there's only so many times different bands can keep releasing music like this before it comes saturated.

7" Track Listing:

A. Drop The Phone
B. Down On Yourself