- Brisbane’s own Hungry Kids Of Hungary have finally got around to releasing their sophomore album, You’re a Shadow. In Australian indie-pop terms, this has been a highly anticipated release and has proven yet another great triumph for the four-piece.
The album opens with ‘What In The World,’ a song that found its way into Hungry Kids’ live set some time ago and as such it has the air of a carefully crafted and practiced performance with plenty of catchy hooks and melodies.
The band seamlessly marries their impressive musical abilities and a flair for brilliant harmonies to produce some of their best work to date. Lead vocalist Dean McGrath and keyboardist Kane Maslin share the vocal responsibilities throughout the album as they have previously with their debut, Escapades.
Hungry Kid’s Of Hungary’s vocal arrangements and harmonies are defining features that have set the band above the rather large amount of surfy pop-rock that is being produced at the moment and this album makes great use of that.
Singles ‘Sharp Shooter’ and ‘Twin Cities’ have been floating around the airwaves since last year and have proven equally accurate precursors as to the sound of the rest of the album. The latter incorporates a great guitar hook, solid melody and the kind of beat that just demands to be danced to.
‘Someone Else’s Fool’ harkens back to demo songs the band produced in their early days, it embodies a classically Hungry Kids style of easy listening indie-pop.
‘When Yesterday’s Gone’ is now the third single from the album and its lyrics also provides the album’s title. A jangly keyboard melody creates a dreamy pop atmosphere as McGrath croons, ‘Summer’s fading/And now it’s over/… You’re a shadow.’
Most importantly, the band have found a consistency in their sound that was somewhat lacking in their debut. It’s one thing to have an interesting collection of different and quirky songs, it’s quite another to actually manage to create a cohesive body of work that fits them all together.
Previously there was always a clear distinction between a Weezer-like Kane Maslin song and a more Vampire Weekend reminiscent Dean McGrath song. Instead this time the two have managed to create a far more artistically consistent album.
Between writing and recording You’re A Shadow, Hungry Kids have conquered the charts in the Netherlands and Belgium, played at Pinkpop festival and toured Europe. They’re now back in Australia to tour this album and quite frankly are not a band to be missed.

- Clare Armstrong.