Body Type - Tally

Perhaps an intentional refusal to be pigeonholed, that ‘Tally’, this third full-length from Australian outfit Body Type, is able to shapeshift between styles - from saccharine indie-pop to spiky post-punk, via various levels of distortion and amplification - is arguably its strongest aspect. At its best, ‘Planet 8’ takes an otherwise classic indie-pop chorus structure/sound and revs its engine up, channelling ‘70s punk via driving bass and rollicking drums to truly exciting effect. On opener ‘And What Else?’, an indie-pop cloak is offered over girl group vocals, including a spoken-word nod to genre archetype The Shangri-La’s. Elsewhere, there’s pleasing juxtaposition on the jangly ‘Sick Bag’, on which a noodly guitar solo and shimmering vocals are met with lines such as “shits through your fingertips”; the girl gang delivery of the title track, too, is offered without the often requisite ‘us-against-the-world’ thematics. In fact, it’s only when Body Type seem to fully commit to one style - the samey post-punk of ‘Eye Is A Mouth Is A Face’, or the sugary ‘Mulberry’ (save for one line: “Purple rain / I’m Prince with no name”) - that things become forgettable. Cod psychology may point to this being the first time the group have worked fully with an outside producer - Stella Mozgawa of Warpaint, no less - but it’s just as possible that this is purely the assuredness of a band now three albums in. Either way, it’s a fun listen.