Shields - Kaleidoscope

This is Shields’ second EP, and it’s easy to see why there’s a buzz building behind for the Newcastle-based five piece. Dispelling the myth that they’re named after the coastal Tyneside town, North Shields, they instead choose to half-jokingly credit their title to a fixation with Kevin Shields – though it’s worth noting they are not, nor are they trying to ape My Bloody Valentine.

With this in mind, one could be forgiven for thinking Shields revel in projecting a playful, malleable persona and ‘Kaleidoscope’ maintains this theory. Upon first listen, it’s apparent it marks a change in direction from their earlier, slightly ‘laddish’ brand of indie. The cynic inside me earmarks the addition of keys/synths as a potentially savvy marketing ploy, and I may be wrong (I usually am) but irrespective of this, it’s difficult not to like and admire the outcome of this six-track release.

Opening effort, ‘Mezzanine’ is a hook laden slap-bass romp, filled with disco beats, plinky plonky melodies and rapturous harmonies; a sure fire indie disco filler, it’s got ‘HIT’ written all over it, or at least it should do. There’s also a splendidly quirky sock-puppet video to accompany the song, which I urge you to seek out in order to satisfy your whimsical inner-child.

Lending a little from Metronomy’s ‘English Riviera’, ‘Miserly’ and ‘Silhouette’ are idyllic yet wistful affairs. Lilting call and response tremolo guitars overlay a loose and low slung rhythm section, blending dynamics pleasantly between more fragile refrains and stompier choruses, complete once more with effective duelling vocals, diving in and out of harmonising to .

‘Momentum’ is an altogether more angular and spiky track - less four-to-the-floor, disco-ey and harking back to previous release four track release ‘White Knuckle Tight Grip’ - but still in keeping with feel of the EP, while their cover of SBTRKT’s ‘Pharaohs’ is an inventive, blissful, filter laden re-imagination of the original. My only gripe is with ‘Turning Corners’, which, although vocally and structurally fine, is swamped with a swathe of quasi-piano sound that borders on Scouting For Girls and jars somewhat, stylistically.

Shields will doubtless draw comparisons between Friendly Fires, Everything Everything and everything in-between, and it’s easy to see why: this is jaunty, foot-tapping indie-pop of the highest calibre - excellently produced and executed with a radio-friendly sheen. And that’s not a criticism in the slightest. While the hipsters are still busy wading through their dad’s old B-sides seeking the latest as yet un-mined, fossilised genre to rehash, these lads have been busy evolving and finely tuning their sound.

A solid and admirable release displaying plenty of potential - if not reinventing the wheel - Kaleidoscope is a statement of intent from a band still developing their identity. Brimming with hooks and infectious melodies, on this form, it’s hard not to envisage Shields mounting an all-out assault on the charts sometime soon, or at least as the theme to a prime-time Jamie Oliver hosted cookery show. And hey, it’s available as a free download, so you can’t argue with that.