Leeds/London indie-pop troupe The Birthday Kiss delighted us last year with their debut offering ‘Choking’ with its ace bittersweet-synth dappled-disco moves, now they return with a MAGNIFICENT single 7″ Can You Keep A Secret? / Worth It out this April 8th on Death Party records, so we thought it was high time they got the full introducing treatment from PFTPs! Separated by the M1 The Birthday Kiss were put together by Songwriter Ben Siddall and the Chrissie Hynde-like tone of singer Sarah Williams, they craft delightfully throbbing guitar pop that harks to the work of Lucky Soul and Camera Obscura with a side order of the danceability of The Human League and the Long Blondes….
The tumbling drums, trembling arpeggios and glistening jangle of ‘Can you Keep a Secret?’ is marvelously lovelorn catchy-pop of the skyscraping kind, Sarah Williams’ quiver fired by thunderous drum fills: flowering into full bloom in the sighing chorus line. Perhaps even better is the flip ‘Worth It’ has the atmosphere of 50s noir: clipped stuttering Rickenbacker lines riden by Williams’ like swooping reverb heavy notes that helter skelter delightfully down dissapointments lane and gasp for a better life, surfing the tender line of prime time Belle & Sebastian this is superior guitar pop that revels in its knowing classicism it’s little wonder since Ben has hones his skills producing tracks for other Leeds bands such as This Many Boyfriends, Post War Glamour Girls and Just Handshakes (We’re British) in his basement studio in Leeds.
