Shy Boys – “Something” (stream)

Brandon Biondo has been making superb new wave and art pop-indebted indie rock for years with Coolrunnings to little fanfare, but his newest band, Shy Boys (with co-vocalist and bassist Nicole McMinn) might be enough to break him out to a larger audience. The latest original to be leaked from the project, “Something” is a pristine slow-burner that follows the formula of much of Coolrunnings’ mid-paced material. What sets it apart, however, is McMinn and Biondo’s sad, longing dual vocal interplay and the big, crisp (though still suitably underground-sounding) instrumentation. There’s such feeling to the track that its repetition of “This is love / This is not love” sounds like the duo is wrestling with those sentiments as they’re singing them. Shy people everywhere (boys, girls or otherwise) should pay close attention to this one.