Bearsuit
Steven F***ing Spielberg

Right, that’s it, paranoid fantasies over, there are people living in my stereo and they are trying to escape and eat my brain. There must be, I can hear at least six figures cloaked in black manifest themselves during the new Bearsuit single ‘Steven F***ing Spielberg’.

Of course I can only imagine what sort of twee-horror rituals they plan to undertake during this brief encounter, perhaps a round of crazy golf using severed limbs for clubs, or trying to cremate C3PO over a badly-bled radiator with some sparklers. But the soundtrack – well, it just so happens to be the bestest most aptly-cinematic slab of moozikal brilliance since His Graciousness (played here by Gruff Rhys) cast his powerful hand over the ears of the enraptured and said whatever the ancient Latin is for “sod rock and roll, give me more cello DAMMIT!”.

With one sticky-back-plastic epic of an opening, twinkling white light and scrolling opening credits forming in the mind’s eye, the song blossoms into a spangly orchestral beauty of a tune, all tribal drumming and trembly strings and tremblier voices and bristly guitars and lip-fraying flute work (hi Jan) and cryptic lyrics and black glitter and a perverse sort of JOY.

And jeepers, we haven’t even got onto the B-sides yet, reserved for those who like bands sounding like they have to cough up their instruments before playing them, only to create the sort of stop-start pop-shock that manages to be the happiest and angriest noise all at once. “WOOOOOOOOOO!!” goes ‘Shhh Get Out’, an 85-second sugar tantrum where keyboards are bashed until they bleed and the bears shriek blood-curdling commands through a mouthful of jelly and ice-cream. ‘XXVVV XXVVV’ on the other hand somehow gets the instruments to all spiral tornado-like together, guitars buzzing skyward, gert lush melody complimenting the frenzied screaming and the whole band occasionally stopping for a whistling interlude. Yes, all in a two-minute pop song.

Truly this is a band to cherish more than most, and here’s seven-and-a-half minutes’ worth of more reasons.