Rubicks - Is This Love

A brilliantly fizzy little pop nugget which seems to have many of our favourite things in place: cloud clearing choruses, a breathless female vocal and a wistful sentiment. Think CSS if they had been on Factory Records.

Although Rubicks’ ‘Is This Love’ seems perky and euphoric, the vocals are actually slightly sad as the singer considers whether she is trapped by the overwhelming new feeling she is experiencing. This wide eyed sentiment sums up the songs precocious but innocent sound.

The guitars are nicely bouncy but never intrusive and the end of the song is a great exercise in building excitement, as it layers up male backing vocals against an increasingly frenetic lo fi electronic backdrop.

If there’s one criticism, and it’s only very slight, it’s that the song maybe has one too many stops-starts and could instead be nicely edited into a perfect three minute pop tune.

By all accounts this band have been tipped as ones to watch, and we look forward to hearing their next release; let’s hope it’s on lovely coloured vinyl!