Hailing from Kildare and described as an electro/synth pop band, if you could play Miracle Bell’s debut album with the vocals stripped off then comparisons with the Klaxons and Foals would be fair. In fact opening track ‘Thank You Computer Man’ would be worthy of either of those bands. But, and it’s a massive but, then there’s the lyrics. The opening track apart, every song seems to be written with a montage for a Zac Ephron movie in mind. Every chorus conjures up images of Ephron, and his latest Disney co-star, frolicking on the beach or in a shopping mall. I’m as big a fan of Ephron’s cheeky smile and luscious hair as the next man (probably more so) but I’m not exactly looking for him in my electro/synth pop bands.
The key change signaling cry of “In the light” on ‘Light, Shape, Sound’ seems designed for the final kissing scene in a made-for-TV rom-com. And it’s not just the lyrics, the vocals themselves go for that horrible mid-atlantic twang, so ‘time’ becomes ‘tie-emmmmm’. Probably the low point comes in ‘Fit for Love’, with the chorus “You are the fit for love girl/ I am the fit for love boy/ You’re always making the twirls/ I’m always making the noise.” Urgggh, and it actually sounds worse than it reads. It’s annoying really because it’d be great to have an Irish Klaxons/Foals knocking around the place. Oh well, maybe the vocals get drowned out at the gigs.
