Child Bite

Gold Thriller (2007)

Sloane Daley

I've seen Child Bite referred to as dancy and while I wouldn't deny this fact, there is a fair bit more going on to this EP than just jazz hands and rump shakes. While their heavily present and distorted bass does indeed provide a rather solid groove throughout, spiky 8-bit bleeps and jarring guitar lines produce a sound that is rather sharp and angular to accentuate it. That isn't to say that Gold Thriller won't have you all hips gyrating and arms akimbo, nay, it verily should. However, this is the sort of dance party you might want to have alone in your bedroom as apposed to a room full of people that might include someone you'd like to strike up awkward conversation with at a later juncture.

The EP starts off with a real one-two punch in "I Like Friends" and "Don't Do What Your Body Tells You to Do." The reckless bounce of former has Child Bite's vocalist spitting out, "Friends are people in the high school building / friends are people in the cubical / in the pool, in the parlor, / c'mon, they're in the grocery store." Although friendship is the topic of choice it is done so with such a matter-of-fact lack of depth it creates a uniquely outsider view on the subject. This is only emphasized by the vocalist's odd delivery, which resembles the yelp of Ian Svenonius (of the Nation of Ulysses / Make Up; for those that don't know, shame on you). While the drum attack on "Don't Do What Your Body Tells You to Do" starts things off in a similar fashion it gives way to a rather dreamy section with sparser guitar work, saxophone and clarinet.

The line between post-punk experimentation and becoming inaccessible is a line that must be walked lightly. For the most part Child Bite don't overstep this line completely, that is except for "Gudavia" which sounds like the soundtrack to a boss level in "Super Mario," and some moments on "(Midnight At) The Muscle Chalet" and "Body Buddies."

Gold Thriller ends up providing a memorable and creative entry into the world of dancy post-punk/indie music. Although even a few missteps on an EP can spell disaster for a band, Child Bite escape this by the sheer strength of the songs that do work. If the words (although they aren't really words, are they?) "dancy" or "indie" scare you, Child Bite is still worth a listen anyways because of their dissonance and sense of humour.