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| Source: Allmusic |
2 Bears have commanded a certain amount of attention for an underground DJ duo from London. Their second album, The Night Is Young, builds on the boisterous and brawling precedent set by their debut, Be Strong, and is enough of a throwback to the Detroit house scene to make you slap smiley face stickers on everything in sight.
The two bears in question, Raf Rundell and Joe Goddard, are not the most obvious choices for DJ aficionados. They're not super slick, MTV-ready like the majority of the DJs that dominate the charts nowadays. In fact, they're as normal and grounded as you could hope for someone in the music industry ever to be. They embody the spirit of everyone who's ever drunkenly thought that they could be the next Calvin Harris if they thought to put their mind to it, except they really are the next Calvin Harris (but better). Despite their evident expertise (Goddard formed Hot Chip with Alexis Taylor, and Rundell is a producer), they don't take themselves too seriously, and are careful to intersperse the very clean beats with snippets of their boyish humour. The chorus of
See You is honestly just an excuse for them to mimic someone who has quite a funny voice. Guys after my own heart. It's this very relatable quality that makes them instantly appealing and quite endearing. You can't help but like them, especially once Rundell has commanded you to buy their album because 'my children need wine'.
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| Source: Allmusic |
The 2 Bears are the masters of the quality electro-pop tune. First came
Warm & Easy, mashing up every amazing holiday you've ever had and squashing it all into one song, and
Bear Hug, the anti-sleazy club song. The Night Is Young gave the world
Not This Time, a perfect mixture of angry Taylor Swift break up song, a soul vocals and the slickest production you've ever heard. Coupled with one of the most flamboyantly fabulous music videos I think I've ever seen (who knew it was possible to look that sexy whilst cleaning the oven), not only is it a stand-out track on the album, but it makes for one of the most satisfying shower songs. Trust.
Another astounding thing about any 2 Bears song is their ability to weave an apparently unrelated melody into a seemingly complete song; it's only after this section has passed that you realise the song couldn't ever really be complete without it. Without the ethereally dark section towards the end of
My Queen, there wouldn't be that much to talk about. Not only does it add extra depth to the song, but the chance it allows for the vocals to move into a soulful, albeit slightly simplistic, tune, giving the lyrics a meaning that they would never have otherwise had.
There's something vaguely surprising about 2 Bears. It could be something to do with the scruffy appearance, or the unexpectedly, sweetly smooth voice that comes out of Rundell, but there's something about them that doesn't quite match up. Maybe it's just that nobody expected a house come-back to be this fucking good.
Rating: 9/10
Recommended Tracks:
Angel (Touch Me)
Get Out
Not This Time
