Yeah, just catching up – look, I’ve been busy okay? – and I know with singles that it’s just a case of grabbing what you can as it flits past on its way to stardom or obscurity but… ah what the hell, here goes. If anything I am trying to prove that there is no such thing as a late review.
Now, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’… kidding, obviously. Copy Haho live in the wilds of North Scotland, make indie pop noises amid the cows and rehearse in a portakabin. Sounds like paradise. From this bucolic setting they have strayed to the urban landscape of the recording studio (note: studio might not actually be urban) to record their follow up single to ‘Bookshelf’, ‘You Are My Coalmine’. You dig? Oh stop, before someone gets hurt.
A deep, roiling baritone riff under a twinkly guitar as beloved of the Kings of Leon opens the song while the drum diddles and twiddles along. There’s no real rush to introduce any vocals. When Joe Hearty does kick in, he cheerfully sings ‘I am the dirt in your nails, you are the dirt in mine.’ It’s a song about miserable interdependence, but as happy as you can get about it. Simple tune, interesting rhythms – in fact, it makes me think of one very influential band who used to do just this. It’s the Cure, circa Kiss Me, but with a hint of Pixies too… and I think I’ve already mentioned KoL.
Flipping the CD… achieves nothing, but there is a second track, an ampop bounce along, ‘Cutting Out The Bad Parts.’ The drums slip in and out of syncopation like a ADHD child coming out of a Ritalin fugue and… it’s all good fun.
Copy Haho may be in the middle of a field somewhere, but they’re still unavoidably mainstream indie – nothing wrong with that, I suppose. Confident, bouncy and ultimately disposable, but all the more fun for it.
Popularity: 7% [?]
