The Sheffield Scenester

On Monday 27th June 2011, Hey Sholay, the five piece psychedelic pop band from Sheffield and Leeds are due to release their double A-Side single ‘Dreamboat’ and ‘The Bears The Clock The Bees’.

Beginning with the song ‘Dreamboat’, straight away you know it has dance written all over it, as the intro pulses through your veins you’d really be hard pushed or at the very least suffering from a severe dose of rigor mortis to resist an involuntary bit of foot tapping. The rhythm just pumps along without veering into a syrupy sweet pop ditty, with it’s kick drum pushed to the fore and the most vibrant of guitars building a foundation for singer Liam to fill in all the gaps with his pitch perfect voice. Pretty much in the same sense as Supergrass’s ‘Alright’, ‘Dreamboat’ is a song that really lifts the spirits and lets the sunshine brighten even the most dismal day, whenever or where ever you hear it!

The second track on this single is ‘The Bears The Clocks The Bees’, an altogether different kettle of fish as this veers away from pop and tackles their more psychedelic approach to song writing, both musically and lyrically. Liam’s voice is slightly more subdued on this track as he comes close to narrating this one rather than singing it. The upbeat musical energy of ‘Dreamboat’ is gone giving it a much more haunting structure, various effects are introduced towards the end of the song whether it be on guitar or keyboard. In fact the introductory music could almost be an after thought as the lyrics are pieced together like an abstract poem than an all out song and as such are given greater prominence. With a solitary opening verse that comprises references to tree climbing, magpies on a roof, grazed knees and bee stings, before the chorus of “I know I can change but I don’t know how to change the clocks!” is left to repeat, becoming a more and more frantic chant as the song reaches it’s climax!

There is no doubt that ‘Dreamboat’ is the catchier and readily accessible of the two but ‘The Bears The Clocks The Bees’ comes across as the more intelligently crafted song in this partnership. However you look at it, highly recommended is the gist of this review; they are in fact holding a single launch party down at S1 Art Space on July 1st as well as playing several dates around the country to promote it before returning to play Tramlines on 22nd, 23rd and 24th of July!