Harriet the Spy - Bisybackson - split - 7

Labels: donut friends
Review by: Andy Malcolm

Bisybackson are a little hard to pin down. They start off on “To-Get-Her”, a really quirky emo indie rock tune. It initially flies a long at high speed, with lots of squealy guitars and a bunch of catchy riffs but just generally sounding like a band on the edge of chaos that is somehow keeping it all together. Then there is “Hero” which is very messy indeed, raw and energetic, again often seeming on the edge of collapse. The vocals are strange, sometimes sung, sometimes screamed desperately. Yeah, this is weird, I’m not sure what I think. And that worries me.

I enjoyed Harriet the Spy’s album “Unfuckwithable” very much so, so if you’ve heard that, then this is a long the same emo hardcore lines, just a bit simpler. They have a pretty distinct sound in that they are fairly monotonic – not monotonous – and don’t vary it much from song to song. I guess it’s some kind of guitar tuning or something. Vocals are talked, sung or screamed on “Nopi” but generally more subdued on the coolly named “Excuse Me, Your Legs Are On Fire”. Or that might just be the mix, they are very low down.

In summary – get Harriet the Spy’s album if you want to hear them, but if you already have it, and also the Party of Helicopters LP, then check this out, because you’ll probably like Bisybackson too. All records on Donut Friends.