‘Half Time Draw’ is the latest release from The Shakamoto Investigation and perfectly demonstrates their angular genius which has more spikes than a prickle of hedgehogs. The opening 20 seconds choreograph guitar, bass and drums in a ballet of spasms before a punk song kicks the door down and starts shouting in your face; culminating in an urgent chorus cry of “I can see you, can’t you see me? Half time score”. Like previous release ‘Take it or Leave It’ they feel like of a sped up version of 80s spiky-pop bands like The Higsons (who did ‘I Don’t Wanna Live With Monkeys’) and judging by the single’s video I reckon they are a proper gang of funny, naughty, back-of-the-bus lads who have their own language and in-jokes (after all, they are named after a recurring Reeves and Mortimer sketch).
I have a lot of love for the Shakamoto Investigation having seen them support Drahla at London’s Studio 9294 a year ago. They played a set crackling with febrile energy and I bought a CD with its nothing-short-of-genius cover being a Cooplands Bakery paper bag. With very few tracks online, anything that Ellis, Sam and Jake release is to be savoured like a hot sausage roll (vegan or otherwise). Also, in honour of the song being 2’ 28” long my review is 228 words which include these…and this.
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Review by Paul F Cook