Baby Combat Share Heaven is an Izakaya

We’ve been jamming to Portland’s Baby Combat quite a bit the last year or so, and this new single continues to illustrate the beauty of Noel Yeo’s songwriting. It opens with a bit of restaurant noise, perhaps an allusion to the song’s love of an izakaya (Japanese pub). Then sharp guitar lines start to ring in your ears, with a heavy bass groove bobbing in the ocean’s beneath the front of the mix. I love how Yeo hits some high notes, like in the area right after the 1 minute mark, keeping the song earnest and playful. In the end, one of the reason’s I adore Noel’s songwriting is that it very much hits the notes of fuzzy pop, but it never quite settles; the track’s always seem to take a turn here or there, offering a little wrinkle that allows things to continuously captivate listeners and sound fresh.