Happy As Can Be

The four good-looking kids who comprise Cut Off Your Hands know their pop music, and they are eager to show it. Happy As Can Be, their second EP of the year, aspires to nothing more than pitch-perfect '80s UK shoegaze-style pop. Like the Smiths? You'll like Cut Off Your Hands. Like Echo and the Bunnymen? Ditto. Now, I don't want to pigeonhole these New Zealanders as just tribute artists; they are more than that, certainly. No matter its origins, a good hook is a good hook, and none of the six songs here are hurting for melodies, triumphant choruses or exuberant affirmations of teenage rebellion. Life and vigor, that's their bag, and they wear it well.