I'm pretty sure I am the only rabid Bis fan in the entire United States. I can't explain why I love their music so much, their bizarre and clashing pastiche of riot grrl, punk, ska, disco, Nintendo, wannabe J-Pop, and thick Scottish accents, but I am pretty sure that as an American I can't really wrap my brain around what it meant for Bis that their first single, "Kandy Pop", released when the band were still actually teenagers, got them this spot on Top of the Pops, AND what it meant that this is what was firmly burned into the brains of British music enthusiasts who first encountered them:
Did you just watch that? And did you hate it? Really, really hate it? The presenter who repeats Amanda McKinnon's shrill refrain (sounds something like sherr sherr candy pop, pushitown, pulleeeup), I can only assume, pretty much sums up the public reaction to the single and the band. "Kandy Pop" doesn't just tread the line between wonderful, catchy pop single and horrible, annoying pap -- it spends an equal amount of time on both sides of the line. You really can't tell if the host is mocking the song, or is just caught up in the sheer, slurred enthusiasm of the thing.
I have been and will be exploring Bis' back catalogue (at least the CDs I own -- their back catalogue of singles, 7-inches, etc. could choke a small horse) over the next few weeks to figure out why they remain so compelling to me. If there are any other Bis fans reading, I'd love to discuss them with you.
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