It seems like a long time since we were last bothered by techno-pop
muppets Bis, The End Starts Today is as fine a piece of sunny, catchy pop
as they've ever managed. Manda Rin's vocals have certainly improved with
age - and it could be time to re-evaluate Bis as a 21st century Saint
Etienne, pop sass married to inventive and uplifting music.
As for the backing tracks, heroes of the new electro scene Adult turn 'Robotic' into a
throbbing, arpeggiated dancefloor monster. Taut, sinuous and sexy, it's a
perfect example of everything that is good in music today, yet also
completely plastic and disposable. Through a loud sound system it would
unstoppable.
Highlight of the EP though must be the devastating machine pop cover of
Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart. With the vocals forced
through a metallic vocoder, and the melody translated into a series of
bleeps and cheap synth tones, Bis have stripped all the humanity out of the
track, and turned it into a gorgeous love song for robots. Already being
supported strongly by DJs like Andrew Weatherall and Suzie
Sparkle, it's one of the best songs released this year and also
guaranteed to wind up musical purists, which can only ever be a good
thing.
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