Hey, Mr DJ - Tiny Masters of Today Single Review
Tiny Masters of Today
Single Review
This single is the first from Bang Bang Boom Cake, the debut album from Brooklyn band 'Tiny Masters of Today'. Music journalists have unanimously taken the traditional approach to reporting on young people and described the duo as Ivan (aged 13) and Ada (aged 11). Countless 'grown-up' musicians have demonstrated that a lack of originality is not the preserve of youth, but it is hard not to feel that a lack of experience has produced a record that copies their influences rather than offers anything new.
The mess of fuzzy chords that underpin the vocals could be a catatonic White Stripes, a band the pair cites as a major influence. It takes real skill to make simple guitar parts interesting and here Ivan produces backing that is sufficient rather than scintillating. Ada's lyrics will either endear themselves to you through their simplicity or have you cringing at their incongruity with the blues-stomp backing:
Play a song that's really good
Play a song I think you should
Play a song that's just for me
Play a song to set me free.
A 'gritty and funky call to arms' (their label's description) needs something a little more substantial.
The B-sides offer two bowls of porridge and spoonful of jam. The Moldy Peaches cover Lucky Number Nine really hammers home the negative comparisons with the Tiny Master's elder peers as it is almost identical in style but less well executed than the original. The CD single release closes with a stripped down remix of the main track by Liars which is infinitely less interesting than the press release's description of it as an 'apocalyptic dub soundscape'.
The spoonful of jam is only administered (quite possibly by a comely governess) if you have been scene enough to buy the vinyl edition. On it is a CSS remix where the lyrics, stripped of the serious backing of the original and infused with electro-pop bells and whistles suddenly come into their own. Simply put, songs about DJs make sense when you can imagine dancing to them. Head and shoulders above the Tiny Master's solo effort, the Brazilian group add a vibrant cheerfulness that might alone, if you like their style, be worth buying the vinyl edition for.
