"Bang for Changes EP"
11 November 2009, 14:00
| Written by Matthew Britton
The year has near enough been and gone, so what will we remember 2009 for musically? A lot of things ”“ John and Edward, Kanye West ruining everything, but most obviously, Synth pop has ruled our airwaves. With La Roux’s Elly Jackson and her bizarre face dominating the charts and adverts alike, leaving Little Boots and Co. to mop up the rest, it’s time to look to the future. And if it looks anything like Zambri, then we’re in for a treat.Based around the duel voices of sisters Cristi-Jo and Jessica Zambri, the band’s influences are diverse and, frankly, baffling. Their whole sound is a beautiful juxtaposition of angry dance beats and soaring pop vocals, meaning you’re never quite sure how to take them. One second, you’re being pounded with apocalyptic screams and an industrial thudding of drums and the next you’re stuck in the middle of a melodic chorus, most prominently on eponymous track ‘Bang for Changes’. It’s as if someone took chart fodder The Veronicas to The Smell and left them there for a few months, or if Aly and AJ were asked to front an album by Health. The result isn’t anywhere near as jarring as you’d imagine either, coming out more like a radio-friendly record by The Knife than anything else.The standout track is ‘Easier’, a song that’s so destined to be played in clubs around the world that it’d actually be a crime if it somehow isn’t. It’s the ideal showcase for the band ”“ an intricate mix of the distorted guitars and dizzying vocals that bypass logic to make one of the better tracks of the year.The rest of the EP doesn’t quite live up to that billing, but it’s still incredibly tight. ‘W/ Somebody’ is the band’s version of a ballad, mourning the break-up of a relationship with a tuneful yelps and the marching of drums. It’s a testament to the sisters that their two part harmonies are just the right side of sentimental, when it could’ve easily ended up as a hammy, stereotypical still in love song. Elsewhere, ‘Get Dressed’ overstays it’s welcome with a repetitive, messy disco chorus, but it still remains as the only major mistake on a release that should certainly act as a launching pad for one of the more promising acts looking to 2010.
Buy from Amazon | [itunes link="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/bang-for-changes/id330294539?uo=4" title="Zambri-Bang_for_Changes_(Album)" text="iTunes"]
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