Back in the day, shoegazers were famously labelled as being the ‘scene that celebrates itself’. But for a long time, Hong Kong’s shoegaze, noise-pop and post-punk scene hasn’t really had too much to celebrate. Or even enough bands to really call it a scene. The Yours have long been the magnetic poster boys for all lithe hipsters into these throw-back sounds, but rarely have we seen any other bands come along with a similar kind of combination of aesthetic cool, noisy lo-fi influences and irreverent rock’n’roll charisma. That’s why we’re generally excited by the state of things at the moment.

In the past year, a handful of such outfits have emerged, played gigs and, yeah, created a bit of a scene. Bands like dark and loud shoegazers Laura Palmer, garage-pop OWK, and the pulsating The White Wave have all started making plenty of noise, banging the drum and [insert other pun of choice here]. But perhaps the one that has us most excited is Dada Baba.

There’s probably no more unique sound going around in the local scene at the moment. This Hong Kong four-piece throw together a late 80s Ride-esque English sound and a touch of obligatory Suede, and mix it in with occasional traditional Chinese folk sounds – and they’re definitely not afraid to mix it up. Their song Chinese Fried Rice tumbles along with grassfields-evoking rattling guitar, some near-on throat singing and a chorus of falsettos, while Ya Ya Ya strips it back with militant rhythms, a single searing guitar line and Brett Anderson-esque vocals. They’ve been playing plenty of gigs recently, including a couple out Shanghai-way, and their next sees them getting up alongside 31G, Ketchup, Noughts & Exes and Tuesday Morning Surfing Club at People Mountain People Sea’s next Giga-Guerilla outing. We do love seeing them live, but we’d love to see something recorded soon too – if for nothing more than to have something to celebrate.

Dada Baba play Y Theatre on Saturday October 29. Tickets: 2734 9009; urbtix.hk.

Mark Tjhung