I came back to Sheffield from a friend's birthday in Birmingham last weekend to be greeted with a new craze the likes of which has never been seen before. I'm not usually one for crazes but this one for reasons unknown has absolutely fucking encapsulated me.
For those of you unfamiliar with what a Harlem Shake is, I've linked one below. It's began as a mix supposedly created by a guy called Bauer who's this week been arguing with Azaelia Banks ('I guess this **** getting eaten') over copyright. Turns out she's still using the song anyway and I imagine Bauer's getting loads of coverage out of it so everybody wins it seems. The idea is that for the first ten seconds one person in a room of multiple people starts dancing and then when the drop arrives through the magical use of edit everyone in the room joins in in a variety of different and sometimes hilarious contexts.
Most of the ones I've watched have either involved morph suits, or masses of rugby lads suddenly being naked and forcing their heads against each other. Whatever you're into, there are seemingly hundreds doing the rounds on YouTube, including this one of a loan washing machine- intriguing stuff.
Linked at the bottom is the current world record holder, done by students at UCL. At last week's Tuesday Club, Sheffield resident Toddla T decided to give the Shake his own little twist and the result was pure quality, definitely one of the best I've seen.
Lord only knows why I've taken such an active interest in this most simple of crazes but there you go, it's been on my mind all week and simply had to be put in writing.
I also thoroughly enjoyed this little meme. Cats seem to have a say on everything these days.
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My band of the week may or may not like the Harlem Shake, I really wouldn't have a clue. Blue Lip Feel practise traditional rock 'n' roll and do it with ease. Formed in Sheffield a few years ago, they've released two EP's, both of which have been well received, and their name has, in recent times, been doing the rounds at venues around Sheffield, Leeds and the surrounding towns (if anyone caught them at the Barnsley Lycorum last night then it's likely you had a cracking time). They can also be seen supporting NME favourites Tribes of late which is no mean feat, although for me they could be considered just as good as the Camden four-piece.
They've released two EP's in the past couple of years, 'Shallow Getaway' in September 2011 and 'Glitterbox' in July 2012. 'Glitterbox' being the main material they're currently drawing from on tour and the EP I've been listening to the most in the past week or so.
Lead single 'Of The New Kind' is raunchy and delivers a startling amount of attitude. Guitars are almost reminiscent of Queens Of The Stone Age and Oliver Tooze on vocals is as powerful as anything. You definitely get the feeling they know exactly what they're capable of, don't try and overdo it but also feel no need to work within any manner of limitation. The self-titled single 'Glitterbox' doesn't stray too much from what the other tracks off the EP deliver but the chorus is ever-so-slightly more endearing and the ensuing riff in the final minutes is probably the highlight of the record.
Critics are just as complimentary as I'm being, Counterfeit called the EP, 'a beautifully balanced mixture of all the instruments' (questionable grammar and writing style it must be said) and Sound of Steel referred to them as 'one of the most ferocious live acts of the city'. The reaction of the local music press doesn't particularly surprise me as this is just the kind of music their doesn't seem to be enough of. If you can deliver decent rock music and be loved on a cult level then you're definitely doing something right.
As I implied earlier, Blue Lip Feel are currently on a mini-tour of the North and 'Glitterbox' is well worth a listen. Kind of wish they'd cheer up a bit though.
That's all for now, apologies for the hurried nature of this post but dissertation stress appears to be causing me regular heart palpitations.
Max
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