aaamusic | On 18, Mar 2012

“We play noisy pop songs”. Yes Bear Driver, yes you do. ‘Big Love’ is a song that wouldn’t go amiss on my cousin’s youtube playlists. To clarify, this means an awful lot of that hazy poppy psychedelic music that call to mind Vice Magazine, Rough Trade Records, and gigs in East London dives. The guitars sound like My Bloody Valentine meeting the Cocteau Twins in a head-on collision, and the vocals are much the same. However, the melodies hold an incredibly catchy side to them that makes them instantly accessible, and the lack of MBV’s rather evil bass end and insistence on keeping every pedal on all the time means the song goes down smoothly and in an entirely headphones-friendly manner that won’t discourage the less shoegaze-friendly among us to enjoy its giddy and airy-fairy artsy pop rock.

Well, even My Bloody Valentine fans need moments of light relief. Bear Driver are just that. ‘Big Love’ welcomes guitar music fans with open arms, a dreamlike embrace and, despite its frankly bewildering guitar squall towards the end, it is really rather likeable. Not life-changing, but it’ll leave you with a smile for certain.

 

Katie H-Halinski