Bossy Love – Whiplash EP
Whiplash is unabashedly optimistic and feel-good, but the individual songs frequently feel stitched together. Regardless, Bossy Love's debut EP offers a lot of promise
After steadily building their fan base through slow-burning singles and strong festival appearances, Glasgow-based duo Bossy Love sound confident on their debut EP, Whiplash. Their approach to pop is fun and frenetic, twisting 90s R'n'B and noughties maximalist production. It’s a sound no doubt indebted to indie-pop gems like AlunaGeorge, most notably in Amandah Wilkinson’s earworm sweet/sour vocals which are strikingly like Aluna Francis' in tone.
The band’s craft thankfully stands up on its own. John Baillie Jnr colourfully mixes live and programmed drums on Up All Over Me, as fizzing synth leads dart in and out with suprising shifts in tone and melody, while Wilkinson’s melody lines act as the anchor, offering sleek, charismatic verses and ballsy chorus singalongs.
Whiplash is unabashedly optimistic and feel-good, but the individual songs frequently feel stitched together. The title track is a prime example, with chanted group vocals careening awkwardly into sung sections. Other production bells and whistles, such as an actual glockenspiel, pop out garishly, muddying the momentum of the song. No Control aims for dancefloor catharthis, but the bleating, high-gloss presentation grates more than it satisfies. Wilkinson’s simple chorus flits around a couple of notes in her higher register, which comes off as trashy rather than classy.
There’s nothing at all wrong with trashy. Pop music was built on trashy, and with a few tweaks Bossy Love’s sound will be the refined, glorious take on trashy we’ve all been waiting for. Until then, their debut EP offers a lot of promise.
Listen to: Up All Over Me