You’d think there wasn’t much you could achieve in 2 minutes, an underdone soft-boiled egg, the opening paragraph of your first novel, choose which socks to wear today or the time it takes in a phone call for a parent to point out something you’ve done wrong. Not so for Shelf Lives who have packed so much into their new single It’s a crispy/chewy slice of bouncy danceable crunch-punk-pop-fun-fun-frenzy-fun with computer game boops and bleeps, thud-thud drums, and ‘whatever’ vocal delivery in the verses and fuzzed guitar, siren and angst-shouting in the chorus.
Shelf Lives is singer Sabrina and guitarist/producer Jonny, based in South London but hailing from Toronto and Northampton. Of the release the band say “It’s short and fickle so, who cares! It can be chaotic, beautiful and brutal and all you can do is you. It’s essentially an unveiling that living your best life is actually just living your shelf life.“
The video is thing of surreal beauty which was put together by FLAN, a portmanteau of creative team and Florence Poppy Deary and Fran Van Haverbeke (which Word gloriously wanted to change to Hoverbike). It’s a fever dream collage of singing cut outs and you owe it to yourself to hit play below and spend 2 minutes 16 seconds with your brain desperately trying to process what your eyes are seeing. It’s unlikely you’ll see anything better today.
Shelf Lives socials: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Website
SHELF LIFE – Lyrics
If I give you a Chanel necklace and you choke on it, that’s your problem not mine.
I’m living my shelf life
I’m living my shelf life
Can you stick this out for a while?
Make me smile like a child
Draw you in start freaking out
Then you’re gonna jump when I say how high
Keep in mind you’re the kind to idolise
Kick me to the…
Got got got got nothing t-to prove prove prove to you you you you
You don’t care about your feelings
Tut tut tut looks like you’re screwing
Up up up blow down the ceiling
Suck suck suck I have no penis
Fuck fuck fuck the World is schemeless
Blah blah blah
Guess I’m a genius
I’m living my shelf life
I’m living my shelf life
Fuck fuck fuck it up, here we go again
Understand nothing ever goes the way you plan
Hop along life long
Renaissance sing a song
Can change on the spot if you can’t get a job
At the top at the top
Get a job at the top
You can do it sell it all
Sell it off
I’m living my shelf life
I’m living my shelf life x 2
Review by Paul F Cook
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