YOU OKAY? ELECTRO PUNK DUO SHELF LIVES RELEASE NEW EP

JOSEPH WRAY REVIEWS THE PAIRS LATEST RELEASE AS TOUR ANNOUNCED

BY JOSEPH WRAY

Following on from their debut album, Yes, Offence, the Canadian-British, London-based, duo, Shelf Lives, prove again that their position amongst emerging artists in the Post-Punk scene is deserved with new EP, You Okay?

Crowned a band “about to break” by Upset Magazine, the duo’s latest four-track EP develops successes at Glastonbury, and in notable supporting slots too. With an attitude now firmly pronounced by You Okay?; Shelf Lives awaits a 2024 packed with international dates and a first ever European tour. 

ALL GROWN UP

Kicking things off with distorted electronic oscillations and declaring ‘everything is fucked’ is one way to stamp identity onto your latest EP. And that’s without the electronic rhythm section that seems to take a leaf out of the book of New Order and the more recent Working Mens Club. Shelf Lives quickly come alive, brimming with social commentary helped along by dissonant guitar tones that become a motif of the EP. Experimental stuttering vocals grace the distorted build that drops listeners into an equally unusual space, wherein the dulcet tones of society’s demonic instruction to ‘do something adult, take your meds. Do something adult, get a prescription’ are almost satirised by the duo. Brought back and forth between the playful stutters and the softly-proclaiming social devils, a souped up guitar solo erupts from the track to bring to an end the explosive opener.

KIDS

The energy is unrelenting and infuses itself into the guitar riff of Kids. Undoubtedly Post-Punk, you can’t help but stomp along, or jump along depending on where you are. The electronic hi-hats keep the genre-meshing feel of the opening track but a guitar-band essence is in full force here. Instrumental sections blur with a repeated mechanised string attack, similar only to the reverse guitar tones of Just Mustard. Later, tones alike are used amidst a neat rhythmic synthesiser lick, providing layers on top of which the viscous vocal delivery of Di Giulio sits. The intensity is unceasing in this second track, and runs right through to its abrupt end. 

PVC REAL ESTATE

Upon crossing the midway point, Shelf Lives reel in the ferocity with PVC Real Estate, giving space instead to melody. And the chorus of this third number has it in abundance. In fact, if it wasn’t for thick synthesiser tones, it could be mistaken for a pop chorus. Leaning into their experimentation with electronics, sets this track apart from the rest – it shifts the tone of the EP and it demonstrates the range of the duo’s forays into creating new sound. 

OFF THE RAILS

Bringing us back on track, Off the Rails reaffirms an attitude akin to that of how You Okay? begins. High-energy electronic drums provide relentless rhythm, embellished by subtle synth lead-lines, commanded by an almost spoken word vocal delivery. The chorus is potentially the strongest from the four-track EP, blending the melodious feels of PVC Real Estate; with the energy of All Grown Up. The symbiosis of electronic lines and distorted guitar rhythms in the second half of this final track are to be remarked at too. The latter of which emerge with full ferocity in the closing sections of the final track, bundling listeners Off the Rails and stumbling towards the end-point of You Okay? – the four-track EP that illuminates the range of Shelf Lives while imprinting the duo into the fabric of the emerging UK Post-Punk scene. 

Tickets for Shelf Lives’ ‘Is That It?’ UK and EU tour are on sale today here. The new EP ‘You Okay?’ is out now via Modern Sky here.

Live Dates

2024
5th Jan – Rockaway Beach, Bognor Regis
21st Feb – Oporto, Leeds
22nd Feb – Sneaky Petes, Edinburgh
23rd Feb – Bobiks, Newcastle
24th Feb – Arts Club Loft, Liverpool
27th Feb – YES (Basement), Manchester
28th Feb – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
29th Feb – Crofters Rights, Bristol
1st Mar – The Prince Albert, Brighton
6th-10th Mar – The New Colossus Festival, New York
11th Mar – SXSW, Austin, Texas
22nd Mar – Ways Around Fest, Brussels
26th Mar – Supersonic, Paris
28th Mar – L’antipode, Rennes
29th Mar – Le Tetris, Le Havre
30th Mar – Farrm, Hasselt
3rd April – Luxor Live (2nd Hall), Arnhem
5th April – Slachthuis, Haarlem 
10th-13th July – 2000 Trees Festival

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