When reading what little biographical information there is about MIA and TUESDAY, plus listening to their music, I feel an immediate connection. Yes, I'm male, no, I'm not a twin (Mia and Tuesday Eagle are the sisters' full names) and despite being based in south-west England, I'm still almost 200 miles from their hometown of Bristol. Also, there's a very strong chance that, being in my mid 30s, I'm a generation older than them too. Why such an affinity? Firstly, the pair have a varied taste in music that one would guess is due to their interests and environment growing up, and the influences they cite match much of my personal taste: '60s girl groups like The Marvelettes and The Shirelles, classic indie, mod and rock, as well as Dexys Midnight Runners and Blondie - two of my favourite bands as a kid, and they remain so to this day.
The duo have played extensively from a young age and have been recording for a good while too - mostly covers, but current EP 'SHAKE IT UP LOUDER!' contains five original songs. If you can write a powerpop song that sounds a bit like The Primitives and is about Phil Spector then you're onto a winner right away - so 'Wall Of Sound' was always going to tick the right boxes personally, but it's a great track too, so I won't be alone, not by a long way. 'I Can't Hear The Melody' is almost demo-like and is all the better for it; those of you who love the sound of the more melodic C86 bands will want to hear this, and it contains more great musical references (Northern soul, The Beatles and The Stones). The slightly fey acoustic jangle of 'Supermarket' belongs to the same scene and contains the neat harmonies that are on display across the entire release. These are extremely catchy and melodic tracks. Things get grittier on 'Transparent Disguise' and we're back to powerpop with chugging guitars and more of their classic-sounding melodies, and final track 'Here It Comes Again' just keeps piling on the hooks.
You could talk about MIA and TUESDAY having prodigious talent (they're still in their teens), and maybe even say they're not the finished article yet. This may be true to a degree, but the songs on 'SHAKE IT UP LOUDER!' are as good a set of lo-fi indiepop/powerpop tunes as you'll hear all year. They will, of course, go on to write more songs, but adding much more polish could take the charm away and also the personality. These two know the music they want to make (in fact, pretty well every song here mentions favourite bands and scenes at some point, and they're all spot on) and have impeccable taste. They don't need changing at all, they just need coverage. I'm certain I won't be the only one to hear these songs and add MIA and TUESDAY to my list of new favourite bands, so spread the world - these girls deserve it.
MIA and TUESDAY's website
Buy the EP
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