I'm pretty sure someone described these two guys to me as being "like an electro version of The White Stripes" at the start of the year. I didn't bring that up when I spoke to drummer Nate Smith earlier this week for fear that [a] labelling a guitar/drums duo such is a bit of a cliché, [b] he might think I was saying he, as the drummer, was a bit of a girl and [c] there's a possibility I've made that description up myself. But, actually, there are worse ways to describe Shy Child to the uninitiated, though that description would have to come with two qualifications - firstly Nate's bandmate Pete plays the 'keytar', and secondly, while I have mixed opinions about the White Stripes' output, I've loved pretty much everything these guys have so far released. Shy Child have been making, releasing and performing music together for some time in their home town of New York, but it was this year that they came to our attention, via their UK record deal with the wonderful Wall Of Sound. And the arrival of Nate and Pete in the UK has been as exciting for them as us, because they've found a bigger appetite for their bleepy brand of darkish synthy pop tunes over here than in their home country, possibly because they've been able to jump on the whole indie-rave, nu-rave, rock-electro crossover bandwagon launched by all the hype that surrounded Klaxons at the start of the year. Lots of live dates have followed their arrival in the UK - both supporting those Klaxons and in their own right - and, given the exciting nature of their live shows, that has further enabled them to develop their fanbase. All of this meant that this brilliant album, 'Noise Won't Stop', was released here in the UK first. And what a brilliant album. The hype continues to grow around Shy Child as we go into 2008, and let's hope that the release of this long player in the US and touring elsewhere in the world makes them even bigger news. Meantime, we declare 'Noise Won't Stop' another CMU album of the year.
http://www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/albumsoftheyear