the hi-life companion

Despite my absence from the internet for the past few days, due to busy work schedules, late night train rides, spontaneous dinners and ice-cream expeditions, and sheer tiredness, I did manage to read much of the debate on Skatterbrain! surrounding Cloudberry Records and its importance in the indie pop scheme of things. I thought much of the discussion was utter nonsense, and as a relative newcomer to the joys of Cloudberry, I think Roque's contribution to indie pop has been second to none. Without Cloudberry, I wouldn't have discovered some of the bands I've begun listening to and writing about here.

One such band is The Hi-Life Companion, who hail from Brighton Bristol (edit: thanks Martijn for pointing this out - clearly I am useless with geography) and already have a sold-out Cloudberry 3" to their name. What an achievement! Brothers Matt and Jon play with a revolving collective of players, producing pop songs with a variety of influences. "You're The Greatest" takes me back to early Camera Obscura, with its pretty boy-girl melodies and a guitar line straight out of the sixties summer songbook. But then, "The Girl In The Gorilla Suit" comes along and channels crunchy, fuzzy guitars with an ethereal interlude that wouldn't be out of place in an early Lush song. Oh yeah, and I'm going to play "Times Tables" for my niece once she starts learning them at school, because what better way to learn maths than via song! I should mention that they have done a cover of AC/DC's "Shot Down In Flames", which completes my indie pop AC/DC covers trilogy!!

The Hi-Life Companion have almost finished recording their debut album, which is definitely something to look forward to later this year! In the meantime, I'll wear a smile as big as theirs everytime I listen to their songs.