Kero Kero Bonito - Sick Beat

Reference points that link up to make Kero Kero Bonito’s sickly, giddy Gameboy Colour pop are fairly obvious. Crap consoles, J-pop, PC Music - throw it all into a pot, put it in the hands of a South London trio (one of which delivers bilingual lines that etch into the conscience) and it’s a winning formula. ‘Sick Beat’ - a highlight from the newcomers’ debut mixtape - can even be traced back to early M.I.A. The same cocksure delivery, brattish confidence is there - as is the awareness of rhythm, the ultimate tool in this strange process.

But approaching Kero Kero Bonito in a standoffish, seen-it-all-before way saps out the magic. Given this is a song about kicking someone’s arse on a computer game, ‘Sick Beat’’s best approached like a Tekken opponent. Out swipes the combo moves, Sarah Bonito’s vocals hop-scotching from Japanese to English like the two were designed to combine. “I did it my way,” she concludes, and it’s true - despite the fabrics of Kero Kero Bonito being patchworked from other materials, they’re a big exciting prospect of their own.