South London slacker-rock trio Happyness released a freaking gem of an album last year, ‘Weird Little Birthday’, and the deluxe version is due for release this month. It features a new track ‘A Whole New Shape’, a lazy lo-fi tune with bouncy guitars and slimy vocals. Like a takeaway pizza, it’s deliciously sloppy and soooo good. Despite their name, Happyness revel in not being smiley and shiny and perfect, they’re the antidote to surf-rock; sofa-surf-rock. The singer whines “It's a Bitch Move” with an effortless cool we should all be envious of, and his ending line, “I Wanna Flip You Off” is full of post-teen angst.
I first gave it a listen when sat next to the bins outside my front door on a wet and windy Saturday night, locked out of my house, and the song turned out to be the perfect accompaniment. It would also sound perfect if you were in a packed, sweaty tent getting elbowed in the ribs by people who make you feel too old to still be going to festivals, and it’s the anthem of getting unreasonably drunk in the house on a Tuesday afternoon with three mates and a guy someone befriended two nights ago but still seems to be hanging out. In short, it’s music for being unproductive and defying conventional lifestyle expectations. If your habits frequently get described by your upstanding peers as “irresponsible”, go sprawl out on the pile of clothes on your bedroom floor and blast this track at full volume, on repeat, for a few hours of grungy guitar-pop bliss.
A Whole New Shape is out on 30 March on Moshi Moshi Records
Words by Holly Warren. Read more of Holly’s writing here
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