Clean Cut Kid
As rising Liverpool quartet Clean Cut Kid air new single Twenty Years From Now, Getintothis’ Tom Konstantynowicz sees what all the fuss is about.
“Soulful pop ballads drenched in Mersey water” is how Clean Cut Kid’s Mike Halls neatly describes the band’s sound. Latest cut, Twenty Years From Now follows on from Vitamin C, released on their own Babe Magnet Records (via Polydor), living up to that billing.
So far they’ve been championed heavily by Radio 1 where its vibrant art pop stylings sit very comfortably, think Vampire Weekend and Haim for a decent reference point.
Clean Cut Kid are made up of harmonious husband and wife duo Mike and Evelyn Halls, Saul Godman and Ross Higginson, the Liverpool four-piece’s emergence is sudden, yet calculated. Getting picked up by Polydor and duly receiving praise from all quarters of the music press follows round the clock rehearsals at their practice space, with Godman even living there at one point.
On first listen alone, Vitamin C sounds like a perfect slice of uplifting summer grooviness. The video however, highlights the grittiness in the sentiment with its working men’s club location and moody looking punters.
Directed by David Mould, the baseball bat wielding central character downs a Berocca-like substance at the bar before engaging in a perfectly choreographed dance routine, giving nods to Fred Astaire, Flashdance and Cabaret along the way.
The visuals are inspired, say the band, “by framing something heart-wrenching in uncomfortable and somewhat dirty textures. That juxtaposition has always come quite naturally to us musically, so when we heard David’s brief, it grabbed us instantly as the first visual representation of our music.”
Expect Clean Cut Kid to continue their meteoric rise throughout the summer months.
Clean Cut Kid have slots at Latitude and Secret Garden Party, before a hometown show at the Shipping Forecast on July 29. Vitamin C is out on July 24 via Babe Magnet/Polydor Records
