Part of a flurry of recordings made available by musicians with time on their hands, this is a live in the (Cathcart) studio selection of some later tracks of Bis Mk1, plus a couple a greatest hits and some early Data Panik tracks.
Starting with the mental attack of ‘It’s All New’, this set fairly rips – the trio are in full effect here. Off-kilter guitar riffs, crunchy backline and Manda’s very reliable vocals are all present. There is even a great middle eight, one of their best.
And that is the way for most of the rest of the set, some tracks a bit more dancey like ‘Eurodisco’, a pumping Gang of Four meets Pet Shop Boys classic which also has a dark chorus – brilliant…
‘The End Starts Today’ gives us shoegaze grooves plus something like a Madonna-esque vocal line, very original and again dark – this band have hidden depths; well, we always knew that…
Other highlights are probably ‘The Thrill is Yours’, another tense song, and a reminder that over all these years Bis have not lost their bite, their twist, or their snarl, when required.
The set clocks off with ‘Kandy Pop’, played with some aggression – very entertaining and still an indie classic… plus another, possibly even better version of ‘Eurodisco’…
BM is exhausted! This is a great album and of course BM is as sick as anyone about no live shows this year – roll on 2021…