Altsounds - Micachu & The Shapes

Mica Levi’s first release Filthy Friends was a collective effort with help from musicians such as MC Ghostpoet and jazz band Troyka, and established her in the London garage and grime scene. With big names behind filthy friends and signing up to electro pop label Accidental Records, it was a solid background for her three piece band Micachu and the Shapes to release their debut album.

Listening to Jewellery, it sounds a long way from the original mix tape of Hip Hop and garage. Mica’s grime roots have been concealed with a powerpop/techno gloss, and it could seem like this young musician is riding on the wave of the long established techno pop scene. Whilst there are elements of her garage/grime past that are carried through to this album, the majority resonates of the genre of glitchy pop- established by bands such as Clor, and carried through today by the likes of Animal Collective, Architecture in Helsinki, et al. Whether this was the direction Micachu and the Shapes wanted to go, or that it was seen as an upcoming genre, just under the radar, with an easy path to break into the mainstream charts I cannot say. I would say, however, that Jewellery does seem under the influence of producer Matthew Herbert. Founder of Accidental Records, Matthew is described as the pioneer of microhouse, and his techno touch can be heard throughout Jewellery.

Breaking in with the heaviest track Vulture, the album announces itself as a DIY, noisy pop album. Switching from Nirvana-esque heavy guitar to fairground style synth, fronted by distorted and careless lyrics, it leaves the listener in a daze, with a slight headache. It’s organized chaos, it wants to catch the listener’s attention then act like it doesn’t care. The tracks on this album are fairly short and cut out abruptly, which seems to work, as most of the songs rely on looping samples and the short track length stops this becoming too repetitive.

The overall sound of this album can be a little hap-hazard. I have always thought that the success of the whole "cut&paste techno-pop movement" is the refinement that comes with it, which is why for me the real shiner of this album is track 6, Golden Phone. A little more polished, and honing the improvised samples of beeps and crackles to produce a catchy pop song that breaks and takes off in all the right places. Almost at ends to this track are Ship and Turn Me Well, which seem to tell of Mica’s garage and grime past. Turn Me Well hints at breaking out into all out dirty grime club track, before a little disappointingly petering out and fading to nothing.

The tracks that work on Jewellery will have you humming them incessantly. Those that don’t are repetitive, and self-consciously glitchy. It seems that with Micachu and the Shapes’ recent ‘upgrade’ to Rough Trade records it will be plain sailing for them from now on. With raving reviews and a host of praised performances at gigs and festivals, they have already started their rise to success. The album works well as a whole, and it will get more than its fair share of airtime, however, it is a shame that Mica seems to be the chosen one to bring this genre into the forefront of the media, as I can assure you there are many bands that have done, and continue to do it a hell of a lot better.