Gig Recap: The 尺口MP (2021.09.12)

The 尺口MP – Yuyintang Park 育音堂音乐公园 2021.09.12

Calling Fuzhou’s The 尺口MP a ‘leisure-pop trio’ is a bit of a lark. Attitude-wise the band does indeed inhabit a laid back breezy seaside demeanor that toes the line between detached and relaxed. But musically, a lot is going on under the hood of the band’s more refined retro-fitted indie pop sound. Splashing in elements of jangly surf rock, simmering 80s era disco pop and disorienting shoegaze, there’s a meticulousness to their musicality – it’s sharp, heavily textured, and filled with playful ingenuity that never spills into needless noodling or posturing.

So it may be easy to say that the band is only riding the recent wave of adolescent-laced seaside evoking indie pop (that seems to be sucking the life out of the indie scene) but The Romp are the real deal – one moment throwing on a disco ball to emulate that slow dance you missed out on; the next, throwing in a punk-spiked surf rock melody that slaps in its riotousness. 

Far from a wipeout, the band strikes a dreamy, elated, bashful yet joyous chord soaked in melodic charm and humid nostalgia. And while the bands nationwide tour was sadly wiped out, they lived out the last leg of their tour with bravado! Complete with ‘wacky wavy inflatable flailing arm tube men’ and a whole stock of Canto films of yesteryears. A hell of a treat. 

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