Miami Horror - The Shapes

Miami Horror
The Shapes EP
2017
Spotify

There is really something about not taking yourself to serious that is incredibly endearing. Someone who gets the cosmic joke of it all and realizes that treating their art or their being in general is not to precious to have fun with. Miami Horror like to have fun, if this album cover doesn't seal that for you i don't know what will, and on this new EP they have decided to take a large turn towards the 80s and in particular the Talking Heads. They have always relied on the 80s and those sounds in their music, but this is almost to the point of derivative. They sound like the Talking Heads from almost minute one, intentionally or not, and getting over that is really tough. There are times you find yourself really wanting to like this record but you know deep down you have heard this music before. In the past Miami Horror have been much more on the dance side of things, and while this EP has plenty that you can shake it to it feels more like a DJ set rather than new music. "Azimba" is straight up afropop romp which just doesn't not fit these Melbourne based boys. You have to do a little research to figure out this is not a change in direction for the group, but rather a conceptual one off. However, wanting to see what "will" happen doesn't always mean you need to release a whole EP of music.

It is hard to really put this record in context since it is just a one off and you can't really track and artist progression in terms of this album. Yet it does go back to what I said earlier, these guys like to have fun and context or critical acclaim seem to be the furthest thing from their minds. That really takes any pressure off the record. Who gives a shit if it is just ok, this isn't us anyway. It's a diabolical move but one that sets them up for infinite freedom even if it means turning some people off with the more out there experiments. The Shapes is not going to set the world on fire, but it also is not going to detract from anything that Miami Horror have done before. I will end this review in one of the worst ways possible: it is what it is.

5.5 out of 10