Micachu and the Shapes – Vuitton Blues

Have you ever listened to a record and had no idea whatsoever who it’s meant to appeal to? Well, that’s the experience this reviewer went though while listening to Micachu and the Shapes tackle Laurel Collective’s ‘Vinton Blues’.
Seemingly the work of some especially strange executive at Double Six Records, who’ve already released a fairly naff Laurel Collective take on Micachu’s ‘Golden Phone’, this cover of ‘Vuitton Blues’ seems like some attempt to try and thwart the careers of two bands in one fell swoop.
Giving the song an unfortunate nu-rave makeover, Micachu take out the fizzy, Associates-esque appeal of the original artist and replace it with a load of ugly, neon bollocks (the synths in particular sounding especially hideous). Although in theory they should be given credit for not just doing a lazy, tribute act run-through of the track, that seems a little akin to rewarding a kleptomaniac who’s managed to avoid stealing anything, but’s punched an innocent bystander in the throat for a giggle.
A truly terrible idea that’s really not much better in execution, the advice here is two-fold: firstly, just check the fairly fun, breezy indie-pop of the original, and much more importantly, don’t listen to bands with names like Micachu and the Shapes. They’ve pretty much bound to be terrible.

Review by Mark Corcoran-Lettice