EGYPTIAN HIP HOP

I was going to go see these guys at Glastonbury, they were playing after Crystal Fighters at the West Oxylers stage in the Dance Field but for some reason or another I missed it.

This was on the Sunday when the sun was positively beating down on the festival, so to hear the funky Duran Duran meets Robert Smith at Club Tropicana rhythms of Egyptian Hip Hop song 'Moon Crooner' would've been perfect; the mud would've turned to sand before our very eyes, I'm sure:


The colours and weird haircuts of the video suggest that the 80s revivalist sentiment running through the music runs deeper. It sounds a little like Black Kids (remember them? "You are the girl...") with that funky bassline, which adds to the picnic-in-the-park synth popping in. There are also slices of Late Of The Pier in there, too, with that almost DIY, new-pop sound. The real phenomenon, though, is how singer Alex Hewett gets away sounding so much like Robert Smith. Surely there's some legality in sounding exactly like something else?

But then again, we can see it as one big homage. Their influences are "new wave/prog/pop circa 1979-1984", explaining the sound entirely. It's a fun sound, one I'm not sure for how long it'll stay interesting, but one that is piquing a lot of people's curiosity at the moment. Here's an interview with BBC Introducing... from early 2010 as EHH were about to embark on their first UK tour - all members at just 17 years old.

What's next from the Manc pop foursome? Who knows.

• Here's their Myspace for more music (I recommend 'Wild Human Child')
• And their regularly updated Facebook Page to get you interested

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -