I expect everyone knows that this is the reincarnation of bis, back together after taking some time out with their other (excellent) bands The Kitchen and Dirty Hospital. If they were hoping to fool anyone with the name change they’re going to be disappointed. I first heard this playing in Monorail and it was immediately obvious who it was as Steven and Amanda have such recognisable voices. Sadly there’s a large proportion of people who have some kind of Kandy Pop Amplifiers that make all bis songs sound like Kandy Pop to them despite the enormous progression bis made over their 4 or 5 albums. But it’s obvious from this single that Data Panik just don’t care about them any more.

Lead track Cubis is so catchy it’s been stuck in my head since that first hearing with its jaunty chorus and mix and match girl boy verses. But on closer listen, it’s the music that impresses and delights me with a gurgling bassline, some brilliantly 80s electro flourishes and what sounds like half the Nintendo music archive crammed into the background.

Sense Not Sense is more typical of latter-era bis and could fit into Return to Central quite happily; all bubbling beats, stopstart guitars and Amanda’s slinky vocals. I can’t wait to see what they do with a whole album. Fantastic to have them back.

Data Panik

Posted: 04|10|05 at 8:16 pm. Filed under: record reviews.
Comments and pings are currently closed.