Shinies - Shola / Pillow Talk

From a group of pals jamming in a cellar, to posting a demo online whilst drunk, to the music press exalting unabashed praise, to recording their debut single with former Test Icicle Rory Atwell - what a whirlwind the past few months have been for Mancunian quartet Shinies. There’s a steady wave of hype building already from that much-revered first offering, and from the sound of this follow up to ‘Spent Youth’, it seems they’ll be riding it for a good while.

The band don’t sound particularly fazed by all the attention; or if they are, it doesn’t show. This double A-side, for all its walls of distorted noise-pop guitars and clattering drums, is more laid back and focused on melody - the central riff of ‘Shola’ is an earworm if we’ve ever heard one - than on discordance, and the dreamy My Bloody Valentine-esque vocals affirm that.

‘Shola’, especially, sounds simultaneously confident and effortless, with its sun-kissed lyrics detailing ice-cream-purchase-as-courtship-ritual, destined to be the centre piece of many a hip summer playlist. ‘Pillow Talk’, meanwhile, is a little heavier, but with a swirling Pains At Being Pure At Heart feel to it. In summary: summery. And surprisingly accomplished, and damn catchy.