SOFT PLAY - "HEAVY JELLY" (2024)

SOFT PLAY used to go by the name Slaves and have taken some significant time off as a band due to due some significant life events happening to both members of the group (Isaac Holman - drums and vocals, Laurie Vincent - guitar). Their last appearance was on Gorillaz' Momentary Bliss track way back in January 2020, and the last release of their own was in 2019, and was just essentially a leftovers EP from their last full record in 2018. So it has been a while! Understandably so, considering Laurie lost his wife to cancer in 2020 and Isaac has alluded to having a mental breakdown and has been struggling with OCD, alongside the duo experiencing the loss of a few other significant people in their lives during this time.

Now the band are back with a new name as they were fed up of having to continually justify their previous name choice to a pretty valid criticism that they themselves actually agreed with. The name change is the core conceit of their comeback single (and lead single for HEAVY JELLY), Punk's Dead. The track is essentially a pre-emptive piss take of fans angry about the apparent 'wokeness' of the name change. The song is super heavy, with gnarly garage punk riffs, and also super funny, with some killer lines and a feature from Robbie Williams on the bridge. 

I think Punk's Dead epitomises the change in sound on HEAVY JELLY, it's heavier and also funnier than the group's previous output. Not that the band were ever serious, but on their records in the past, the humour was much more observational and targeted at others (think Girl Fight and Rich Man). Whereas on HJ, the band lean more into absurdism or writing from a first person perspective - making the jokes feel less cynically targeted at individuals and more of a wink and a nod just to bring a smile to peoples faces. On the sound side of things, the sound is much heavier, with super heavy, fuzzed out riffs that border on metal in places. Similarly, Isaac's shouty vocals are so much more intense and also border on a metallic scream - particularly on the opener All Things.

As the record is just a straight up 30 mins of blistering punk rock, I don't feel the need to going in depth into every track here, but here are a few highlights. The story of someone knocking Isaac's shopping out is hand and his completely disproportionate reaction on Act Violently is hilarious, as is his outsized reaction to a leaky bin bag on Bin Juice Disaster. Worms On Tarmac is an absurdist tale of a worm that is lost in the human world of tarmac and concrete who is longing for mud and swamps. Isaac Is Typing... humourfully details Isaacs struggles with OCD against sludgy alt-metal riffs. Mirror Muscles and Working Title are more akin to older targeted piss takes, being about 'roided up gym freaks and people playing the Hollywood game. Both are worthy targets, and make great songs.

That leaves the closer, Everything and Nothing, which is a bit of an oddball in the tracklist, being a jangly mandolin led post-punk / indie rock tune and is the only one that is explicitly about the trauma the duo has been through over the past few years. It is an outpouring of grief that feels so earnest and beautiful. It really touches a nerve, being dedicated to a friend of Isaac who he lost, but with lyrics referencing the death of Laurie's wife and just general isolation and the longing for connection. 

I think that the fact that Everything and Nothing follows a record that up to this point has been silly, fun and irreverent only enhances its impact, and the profundity of the record as a whole. Instead of falling into it all and losing themselves, Isaac and Laurie reformed the band, made a bunch of fun songs that brought a smile to their faces, the faces of their fans, and reconnected with the world around them. And in doing that, the band have made their best album to date.

Top Tracks: All Things, Punk's Dead, Act Violently, Isaac Is Typing..., Bin Juice Disaster, Worms On Tarmac, Mirror Muscles, Working Title, Everything and Nothing

8/10

Declan McKenna - "What Happened to the Beach?" (2024)

Declan McKenna's first two records were albums that showed promise, with a handful of impeccable songs on each, but were contained within messy records that felt less than the sum of their parts overall. I liked him enough that I was always going to check out his third record, but I am pleasantly surprised by how into it I am, and how frequently I have been giving it a spin in the months since its release.

On What Happened to the Beach?, Declan has ditched a lot of the glam rock aesthetics that characterised his previous release, Zeros; replacing them with influences of 60's psychedelic pop and sunshine pop, alongside more modern neo-pysche and hypnagogic pop. I can here shades of The Kinks, The Beatles, MGMT and a whole host of others on the these tracks, and I think this vibe suits Declan's persona much better. On WHTTB? Declan comes across like some weird Hollywood old-timer, who's spent a little too much time in the sun and is just on a planet of his own. He sells this subtle off-kilter weirdness so much more easily than the ostentatious glam rockstar he was playing on Zeros. Similarly, the hit or miss social commentary of Declan's previous work is largely absent, replaced with more personal and introspective lyrics mostly focusing on the social disconnect and pressure of expectations that come with fame. All of this together creates a woozy and hazy vibe, like some sort of summer malaise.

The record opens with the worbly and distorted intro track, WOBBLE, where the album title is repeated again and again, before launching into the breezy but moody Elevator Hum. This track, alongside Mullholland's Dinner and Wine capture this summery yet melancholic vibe perfectly. Both have this feeling of existential longing to them, and are the best tracks on the album. On Elevator Hum. glistening synths are set against a trip-hoppy breakbeat and faint distorted horns that finally poke through the mix towards the end of the track. Mullholland's Dinner and Wine similarly fuses a chill synth-funk bassline with woozy distorted horns and some really existential lyrics where Declan describes all of the things fame has given him but how he's still not satisfied.

There are some other great moments on the first half of the record. I Write The News starts off as a Lennon-esque acoustic guitar cut with lyrics that in typical Lennon fashion appear to be profound on the surface, but are actually just nonsense upon closer inspection. The track then flips on its head, with the guitar swapped out for bouncy psychedelic synths. Nothing Works is a catchy indie pop rock tune, with fuzzed out and noisy production that gives it a real sense of energy that matches some of Declan's biggest hits. This is followed by the raucous The Phantom Buzz (Kick In), which is about the last remnant of the glam rock aesthetic of Zeros. The guitars roar and Declan Howls on the mic.

Not everything on the record lands as well as these moments. Lead single Sympathy is such a straightforward sunshine pop tune, it feels kind of derivative and lacks any of the genuine oddball energy that permeates the best of the record. It just sounds like a Kinks pastiche in all honesty. Breath of Light feels like an attempt at the weirder, uncommercial side of MGMT's music, and is fine but nothing particularly interesting. Honest Test is a crooning lounge pop song that reminds me of Arctic Monkey's excursions into the genre, although I'd say its closer to one of the duds on The Car than the genuinely interestingly written stuff on Tranquillity Base. 

The record comes to quite a sleepy and uneventful close, although the final couple of songs have grown on me to an extent. The gentle acoustic guitars and simple vocal melodies of Mezzanine have such a low-key summery vibe, and the subtle swelling of horns and electric guitar as the song progresses is actually really nice. The penultimate track, It's An Act, is in effect the closer, as the final track is essentially just a short little coda, and is perfectly serviceable, although pretty uneventful and unimpactful.

I feel like Declan has found a sound that really fits him on this record, and has produced his most consistently enjoyable album thus far. Not every song hits as hard as others, and there are points that feel a little derivative, but its a good time with more wins than losses.

Top Tracks: Elevator Hum, I Write The News, Mullholland's Dinner and Wine, Nothing Works, The Phantom Buzz

7/10