Pulp - "Different Class" (1995)

 

As I mentioned in my review of the new Elbow EP, a lot of great music has come out in the past month or so, including the new Pulp album - their first in 24 years. So instead of talking about that (maybe I will if I get time), I'm going to talk about their most critically acclaimed and commercially successful record, Different Class. I've been a casual fan of the band for years; I grew up on Common People and Disco 2000 and I've had their greatest hits on my phone since the days before I had Spotify. However I never really got round to delving deeper into their discography until now. I've been on a bit of a Pulp kick recently with the new album coming out and their fantastic Glastonbury set (the best of the weekend in my opinion). I'm also currently reading Jarvis Cocker's book about him cleaning out his loft and discovering all the random junk he has accumulated over the years.

Different Class, alongside Blur's Parklife represent the quintessential elements of Britpop as a scene and genre. Both are albums telling irreverent tales of every day British life set to singalong anthems ready for a festival field. However, where the songs Parklife had this very Kinksian detachment from their subject matters, Different Class is much more close and autobiographical. How true to his life and / or embellished the narratives Jarvis Cocker presents are is a different question, but he certainly wants you to believe that the feelings described by the protagonist of these songs are genuine. 

As an aside, I find it interesting to view Pulp's career as a sort of dark reflection of Blur's: both bands released early work that didn't make (that) much of a splash, then an album that set the groundwork for their mainstream success (His N Hers for Pulp and Modern Life Is Rubbish in Blur's Case) followed up by a mega smash (this album and Parklife). Both bands then pivoted into slightly darker, less commercial territory - which for Blur resulted in some of their most critically acclaimed work and set Damon Album up for even more success with Gorillaz. However Pulp's pivot away from the singalong anthems was ultimately met with a bit of a shrug from fans and critics alike and has resulted in the 24 year gap between records.

Also much like Parklife, Different Class is the kind of record where nearly every song could have been a single and therefore the record almost feels like a greatest hits playlist - quickly moving on from one big bombastic singalong to the next. The album spawned five actual singles in total; the aforementioned Common People and Disco 2000 (which still regularly get as much airplay as the biggest Blur and Oasis songs), Mis-Shapes and Sorted For E's & Wizz as a double A-side, and the slower ballad Somethings Changed. I'm not going to spend too much time talking about Common People or Disco 2000 as you must be living under a rock to have never heard these songs, but they just perfectly encapsulate the cinematic scale of entering your late teenage years / early 20s and all the opportunities and shenanigans that you are presented with; and the realisation that not everyone around you walks the same path as you or will be on the same path as you forever. The songs also incorporate something that sets Pulp apart from all their contemporaries - Disco. These song's are fun and tongue in cheek and made for wedding discos.

Sorted For E's & Wizz has grown into one of my favourite Pulp songs over recent months. The goofy retelling of going to a rave and getting off your face never ceases to make me smile. Mis-Shapes opens up the record with a call to arms for all the misfits and 'Mis-Shapes' to take centre stage against a jangly indie rock riff and Jarvis's typical dramatic crooning, with the song slowly progressing into a tighter, faster paced anthem. Something's Changed is a sweet love song set against some cinematic strings and a bluesy guitar solo - and is probably one of the most earnest moments on the record.

As for the other songs on the record, Underwear has grown into a fan favourite, tongue in cheek, raunchy love song and personally I think it does a better job of it than Something's Changed. Pencil Skirt is an equally raunchy smooth soul pastiche about having an affair with a married woman. I Spy is a moody and theatrical piece that instrumentally gives vibes of the darker side of new wave - the likes of Marc Almond and Pet Shop Boys. The song also tales the tale of lust infidelity, however presents it in a much less harmless way. Cocker is very much playing the villain in this tune. Live Bed Show feels like a mid point between the moodiness of I Spy and the slinkiness of Pencil Skirt that is once again about sex, and has a few Bowie-esque inflections in Jarvis's voice. It's a fine song, although it feels outshone by the tracks already preceding it on the record. 

The back end of the record does slow down a little. F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.LE.D.L.O.V.E is an odd art rock tune with a massive sounding chorus, but the verses are comprised of erratic spoken word vocals from Jarvis and strange atmospheric synth instrumentation. It's an interesting song but doesn't fully come together for me. Similarly Monday Morning Incorporates a ska rhythm, although doesn't really go hard enough to really capture the energy of the genre, and the chorus does just do away with it for a default-pulp singalong affair. Bar Italia is a little less full on as a closer, and doesn't really move the needle for me. None of these songs are even really bad in any way, but I think the best of Different Class is so many leagues beyond them that it becomes more noticeable.

Different Class is a classic, just for the singles alone. However much like Parklife, I feel like it's biggest shortcoming is that the compartmentalisation of the songs and just general vibe of the record makes the sequencing kind of irrelevant. The fact that Common People is the third song on the record does nothing to elevate it. It could have worked as a bombastic opener, the main centrepiece at the midpoint or a show stopping finale. As the title suggests, the record is different class, but I don't feel like it's necessary to listen in full, front to back to get maximum enjoyment from it. Putting the songs on a throwback party playlist or jamming out to them when they come up on shuffle works just as well.

Top Tracks: Mis-Shapes, Pencil Skirt, Common People, I Spy, Disco 2000, Sorted for E's & Wizz, Underwear

8/10

Elbow - "AUDIO VERTIGO ECHO elbow EP5" (2025)

Loads of great music has come out this past month, so lets kick things off with a quick one. Elbow have released this little companion EP to last years AUDIO VERTIGO record, with the frankly quite stupid full title of AUDIO VERTIGO ECHO elbow EP5". Not sure the band's name and that it is their 5th EP was strictly necessary but I guess that's what they've decided for some aesthetic reason. Anyway, written in some spare studio time after the AUDIO VERTIGO tour last year, the EP is very much a continuation of the album's musical ideas. The songs are quite high tempo and with a greater focus on groove and rhythm than a lot of the band's back catalogue.

The ECHO EP takes this one step further with borderline dance-rock grooves and a very bright, sunny atmosphere. Opener Dis-Graceland 463-465 Bury New Road matches a chunky, steady groove with prog-rocky synth sections and filtered, distorted vocals from Guy Garvey. The closer, Sober, takes heavy influence from Talking Heads with it's dance rock beat, chanted choral backing vocals and bizarre lyrics about "Where has all the money gone?". All very David Byrne. Timber is a slower track with a moody, creeping groove and eerie lyrics. The distant, twangy guitars and hazy synths add a lot of atmosphere to the track. The only moment I'm not as keen on is the single, Adriana Again. It is a quite rough and ready garage rock tune. It's far from bad, but feels quite basic by Elbow standards. The riff is simple and the melody gets quite repetitive by the end of the song.

The ECHO EP feels like a great continuation of what the band was doing on AUDIO VERTIGO without some of the awkward aesthetic choices that hindered a couple of the tracks on the album. These songs feel built from the ground up to be chunkier and groovier while still retaining the bands proggier instincts.

Top Tracks: Dis-Graceland 463-465 Bury New Road, Timber, Sober

8/10

Black Country, New Road - "Forever Howlong" (2025)

Forever Howlong is the third studio LP from the now critical darlings Black Country, New Road. And it has been hotly anticipated following the release of their truly sublime second record, 2022's Ants From Up There, which has grown into mine and many other's favourite record of the 2020s so far. It is such an unashamedly raw and heart-breaking look into the psyche of frontman Isaac Wood. The man was clearly heavily struggling during the creation of the record: and as has become part of the albums 'mythos' at this point, left the band just days before the albums release due to protect his mental health.

This left the band in a difficult spot, having lost their vocalist and one of the biggest driving forces behind the bands direction - and a tour booked that they did not want to cancel. They quickly wrote a bunch of songs to fill the set with, resulting in the release of the Live at Bush Hall live record. While honestly still a really great record, it certainly felt like a transitional moment for the group. While it retained some of the moodier post-rock and experimental rock stylings, it was nowhere near has dark and harrowing as the band's output with Isaac. Instead the band further delved into the chamber pop instrumentation that AFUT toyed with, and included more influence from 60's prog rock and folk music. Similarly, to ease the pressure of any one member being the primary vocalist, three members came forward to share vocal duties: bassist Tyler Hyde, keyboardist May Kershaw, and saxophonist Lewis Evans. And now with the release of Forever Howlong, the live album very much feels like a mid-point between the old and the new.

Forever Howlong pretty much does away with any of the remaining edge that was retained in Live at Bush Hall, basically being a full on baroque pop and progressive folk record. There is barely any electric guitar on the record. Evans has also has stepped away from vocal duties, having decided that its just not something he enjoys. In his place, Georgia Ellery (the group's violinist) has filled the third slot. This makes the most sense to be honest, as Georgia also fronts the art pop duo Jockstrap and is probably the most suited to the limelight in the band. The opening cut and lead single, Besties, exemplifies the records ethos compared to the band's past output. It is a lush, twee, somewhat Beatles-y baroque pop ode to friendship. It is very straight up and earnest, with none of the deflective references or tortured lyrism of before. All in all, it is a very cute tune and sets out the albums vibe and atmosphere very well.

Ellery takes the lead on two other tracks; Two Horses at the mid-point of the record, and the closer Goodbye (Don't Tell Me). These are two of my favourites on the record as Georgia has very confident vocal presence and the tracks as a whole are two of the least understated songs on the album. They feel like tentpole moments with their placement at the middle and end of the record. Two Horses is a galloping, multi-phased prog-folk tune that is initially quite stripped back and moody. The instrumentation slowly builds up, through the woodwind, mandolin and strings. Half way through, the percussion kicks in and the pace picks up. The plucked guitar style gives off a very Nick Drake feel to me. The track then gallops over itself into a sinister sounding climax as the protagonist of the song is betrayed and her titular horses are killed by her former love interest. It is a fantastical and theatrical song that really doesn't get old for me. Goodbye (Don't Tell Me) is probably the closest to an indie rock song, with its gentle acoustic strumming, whooshes of reverby electric guitar and quite a catchy hook. It nicely rounds off the themes of friendship that run through Georgia's tracks; and to bring back The Beatles comparison, it has that kind of full-circle feeling that Stg. Peppers has.

Kershaw also takes three songs, and much like Live From Bush Hall, they are most whimsical on the record. The Big Spin makes reference to fruit and vegetables and baking in a very retro, 'cottage-core' way; however has this subtext of letting go and cutting someone off in a way that seems like quite a traumatic experience. The title track also has this very whimsical presentation of mundanity of daily life, with lyrics about the waves of tiktok wellbeing videos and daylight lamps used for seasonal depression. Both tracks are understatedly really quite sad, but in a hazy, malaise-like way. This is is further enhanced by the very stripped back and spacious instrumentation on Forever Howlong, which is mainly focused around the woodwind section, with a handful of flourishes from the other instruments. For the Cold Country is certainly the most dramatic sounding of May's songs, and follows on from the fantastical story telling on Two Horses. It reads as a tragic lovestory between a knight and a maiden where he goes off to fight for glory and ultimately meets his downfall. The song develops from something very stark and simple into an elaborate, crashing crescendo that is one of the few moments on the record that sounds akin to AFUT.

As I expected from Live From Bush Hall, Hyde takes the most leads on the record; with those songs being the more moody and sombre tracks on the album. Socks initially meanders around spacious instrumentation, but at the 2 minute mark the percussion kicks in and all the other instruments slot into groove for the chorus. It all drops out again for the second verse before settling into a very 60's vintage pop sounding bridge and outro. Salem Sisters is also quite dynamic, but at just over 3 minutes it does feel like the track is doing a bit too much in not enough time. It features some great backing vocals from May and Georgia. Mary similarly acts as a bit of a reset in the middle of the album after the drama of Two Horses, and is a fine enough song but not a massive highlight of the album for me.

Tyler's two most significant songs on the record are her two on the back end, Happy Birthday and Nancy Tries to Take the Night. Happy Birthday is easily the rockiest song on the record, with some crunchy electric guitars popping into the mix. The themes around inherent sadness in people who, on the surface, appear to have everything they need is also quite poignant and well written. It has one of the punchiest hooks and radio-friendly climaxes of the record - probably why it was chosen as the second single. Nancy Tries to Take the Night is a multi-versed opus telling the tale of the fallout and stigma of an unexpected pregnancy. It is the kind of melodramatic showpiece that the band has steered away from since Isaac left; and while it doesn't have the wailing screams and cacophonies of sound of tracks like Sunglasses or Basketball Shoes, it certainly feels like one of the weightiest and commanding tracks on the record.

One thing I will say about record, and it is not necessarily a criticism, is that each song feels rather segmented from each other - leaving the arc and flow of the record as a whole quite flat. In some ways I quite like it, as it almost feels like the record is out of time and frozen in another place where the world doesn't move so quickly. But on the other hand, the sequencing of the record feels like it really doesn't matter, and most of these tracks could be placed anywhere else on the record (the fact that there is a collectors edition out there with different sequencing further highlights this).

I'm glad I've let Forever Howlong sit with me for a little bit, because it is a slow burner. But the longer I let it seep in, the more I like it. It's imaginative and unique, and takes me out of the grim realities of the modern world with these whimsical and fantastic stories. But they are all layered with a very real and meaningful subtext, making them very multifaceted. It doesn't feel quite as focused or cohesive as the groups first two record; but on a track by track level it is as good as the debut for sure.

Top Tracks: Besties, The Big Spin, Socks, Two Horses, Happy Birthday, For the Cold Country, Nancy Tries to Take the Night, Forever Howlong, Goodbye (Don't Tell Me)

8/10

Squid - "Cowards" (2025)

 

Squid are back with their 3rd LP, Cowards. Following on from their excellent 2023 record, O Monolith, Cowards delves deeper into the band's more experimental and post-rock tendencies. The whole album revolves around the central theme of evil, and while Olly Judge's lyrics and vocal approach regularly dipped into manic and unhinged territory on their past material, the themes and narratives of these songs are way more upfront and explicit.

The opening cut Crispy Skin, for example, is quite obviously from the perspective of a cannibal who is having a moral crisis over their actions, flitting between questioning their decisions and a sort of psychosis where their brain is trying to force them to forget that they actually have done that. Musically, it feels like a bridge between the more wiry post-punk grooves of the debut (Bright Green Field) and the linear Krautrockian song progressions from O Monolith. Blood on the Boulders is this creeping post-rock slow burn and is much more stark and simple than anything Squid usually creates. The track has a hot desert-ish atmosphere that compliments the cultish lyrics detailing a murder under the California sun and the obsessiveness of true crime fanatics wanting to know every last detail. The track slowly unravels from this slow and plodding pace into a typical noisy Squid climax, with the contrast really paying off. Fieldworks II similarly has the atmosphere of a slasher flick, referencing broken bones and wiping blood from ones face against a backdrop of chiming guitars and cinematic strings. The closing line "I don't look in the lake." is particularly chilling.

The other tracks in the first leg of the record aren't quite as interesting, which leaves it feeling a little lopsided. Building 650 is essentially a musical retelling of the Japanese crime novel In the Miso Soup, which is about a serial killer, with none of the deeper commentary or weirdness that other moments on the record have. The track is also musically the most bog-standard Squid. It's not bad (there are definitely songs off BGF that are weaker), but it lacks the unique bells and whistles that most Squid songs have. Fieldworks I acts more as an interlude at the mid-point of the record than as a lead into Fieldworks II but also doesn't really stand on its own, so does just feel a bit odd and unfinished.

The second half of the record is where it really gets into its groove, starting with Cro-Magnon Man. Similarly to Building 650, it's stylistically quite classic Squid, but the weird as hell lyrics about the odd-ball, vintage horror film-esque titular character and frenetic keyboards really draw me in. The title track is a slow jazzy post-rock piece that reminds me of a cross between Kid A era Radiohead and the quieter moments on Black Country, New Road's debut. Showtime! really is the albums piece de resistance, going through multiple phases - starting as a erratic, scratchy post-punk track before moving into an expansive space rock section that then settles into a driving krautrock finale. The closer, Well Met (Fingers Through The Fence) is drawn out and patient, building up the tension through its claustrophobic first half which is then let out in the spacious and ascending second half.

Cowards is another good (and sometimes great) album from Squid. It's not quite as consistent as O Monolith and I think I prefer the quite alien and otherworldly atmosphere of that record to the more gritty and down to earth approach taken to the songwriting here. It's still very inventive and engaging and well worth checking out if you like this kind of neurotic experimental rock.

Top Tracks: Crispy Skin, Blood on the Boulders, Fieldworks II, Cro-Magnon Man, Showtime!, Well Met (Fingers Through The Fence)

7/10

The Smile - "Cutouts" (2024)

As I mentioned in the last post about Wall Of Eyes, The Smile went on to release a second album in 2024, being this one, Cutouts. Partially recorded in the same sessions as WOE, the band insist that it is not just a leftovers record; but honestly it does kind of feel like it is. Some of the tracks here fit the much more low key, ambient soundscapes of WOE and others are more reminiscent of the more energetic post-punk and krautrock tracks on the debut. It makes the record feel lacking in identity when compared to either - sort of caught in the middle.

This feeling of inconsequentiality is further felt by the general quality of the songs as well. The record kicks things off with the very low key and not particularly interesting Foreign Spies and Instant Psalm. These songs don't really go anywhere and lack the space and texture that made the slow moments on WOE so enveloping. The record then kicks into gear with frankly the two best songs on the record, Zero Sum and Colours Fly. Zero Sum takes the rhythmic post-punk of the debut and turns it up a notch into full blown math rock. Colours Fly is an atmospheric slow burn that slowly builds into a dramatic climax. The jazzy drum patterns and the dynamic guitars and strings that rise and fall in the mix create such a sense of unease. It would have fit snugly on WOE and I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of the tracks recorded from those sessions. 

The weakest track is definitely Don't Get Me Started, which is built around a very repetitive dirge-like electronic beat. Musically the song isn't very interesting, which is then compounded by the way Thom's lyrics read. The come across as very non-specific "You've got me wrong / You don't understand me" pity party, which to anyone in the know about the heat Thom and Johnny have received about their somewhat flimsy stance on the Israel / Palestine this year conflict comes across in such a bad way. The lyrics are, in typical Thom fashion, vague and non-specific; so if it is supposed to be a comment on the criticism they've faced - at least have the balls to say it. And if it's not, surely they knew how it would read.

Nothing else on the album stoops so low, and is the expected baseline of quality for these guys. Eyes & Mouth is a nice middle ground between the the band's two lanes, with groovy lead guitars but a lot of additional layers and flourishes. Tiptoe is a nice bit of ambient piano music, and The Slip is a groovy mix of electronic beats, jazzy drumming and angular guitars. No Words is that driving krautrock jam that Thom and Johnny do so well, but it does feel at this point that we've heard it several times before on previous projects. Bodies Laughing closes out the record in a spooky and unsettling way, with its odd mix of a bossa nova groove and quite eerie and uneasy synths. It's a fine song but pretty underwhelming as a closer in all honesty.

Cutouts is by no means a bad record, and does have a couple of great moments - but it certainly lacks the attention to detail and flow of the previous records. It feels somewhat redundant and lacking in much of its own identity. It's solid enough and enjoyable if you're in the mood for this brand of Radiohead-adjacent music but it definitely has nothing on the first two records from The Smile.

Top Tracks: Zero Sum, Colours Fly, Eyes & Mouth, The Slip

6/10

The Smile - "Wall Of Eyes" (2024)

Nearly a year ago now The Smile released their second record, Wall Of Eyes. It came at a point in time for me that I couldn't truly get into it or appreciate it to its fullest extent - partially because we've had a lot of Radiohead-adjacent projects over the past few years, and partly because the slow and meditative nature of the record didn't fit with how busy and exhausting my life at the time was. But it's intricacies and overall quality has stuck with me over the past year, and is certainly a step up from the already good debut record from 2022.

My main criticisms with the debut record was that it was a bit too long and unfocused, and somewhat lacked its own identity outside of the Radiohead legacy. Many of the tracks felt like they could've cropped up on a number of Radiohead albums. Wall Of Eyes definitely rectifies this, being a tight 8 tracks that takes the subtler more jazz and post-rock influenced moments of the debut and pushes further in that direction. What results is a very quiet and meditative record that really seeps into your bones as you listen.

The record opens with the gentle strumming and distant bossa nova drumming, before Thom Yorke's nazal-y falsetto vocals and layers of washed out synths and strings come into the mix. The structure of the track is fairly simple and repetitive, with the emphasis much more on the texture and atmosphere created. Teleharmonic further builds on this pensive and low-key mood, pairing Thom's voice up with a simple metronomic drum beat and some deep, warble-y synths. The first half of the track is eerily spacious. The bass kicks in from the midpoint and the drum patterns become more complex as Thom's vocals become more impassioned. The linear build of the song is very intricate and subtle and does feel like the band is taking you on a journey through an eerie and unfamiliar setting.

Read The Room is an interesting switch up from the first two tracks, being a more immediate crossover between krautrock and psychedelic Anatolian rock. The guitars are heavier and crunchier, the drumming is rhythmic and hypnotic. The vocal and guitar melodies spiral and wrap around each other. It's something I haven't really heard Thom or Johnny do before and I think they pull it off really quite well. Under Our Pillows continues this more uptempo pace, although it is my least favourite of the record overall. The song is a nervous, twangy post-punk / krautrock track that would have fit snugly alongside many of the tracks from the debut. It just feels like a bit of a leftover amongst the rest of the tracks which are much more patient and focus on texture and timbre rather than the scitzo energy of those moments on the debut. 

Friend Of A Friend is a slow piano ballad that unravels into a jazzy climax with some brilliant chord progressions. The song becomes quite dynamic as it progresses. I Quit is a washed out and reverby bit of ambient pop reminiscent of the atmospherics of A Moon Shaped Pool. The song is drenched in this cinematic strings and would be at home on a film score. This leads into the grand centrepiece of the album, the 8 minute Bending Hectic. This track is just as cinematic as I Quit, as Thom details essentially driving his car of the side of a mountain in Italy with such vivid and colourful imagery. The song slowly builds from discordant strumming and erratic drumming into dramatic and swooning strings, highlighting the difference in emotions between the initial panic of what he's just done into the euphoria of feeling like he flying. The track then progresses into its menacing final section as he's hitting the ground - the guitars are overdriven and wailing, the drums pummelling. It's a brilliant piece of progressive rock. After the climax of Bending Hectic, the record closes out with the quite stark comedown of You Know Me. I think its a great closer for the record. It has a wistful and longing energy that I really enjoy.

Wall Of Eyes really showed why The Smile exists and is an improvement on the debut in every way. It's one of the least rockiest out of any of the Radiohead side ventures, but I think that is to its strength, because these tracks are all about their texture and atmosphere and they sound beautiful and intricate. It's a shame that the 3rd record, Cutouts, was released so quickly after this and didn't really continue in this direction, because I think they had really hit on something here.

Top Tracks: Teleharmonic, Read The Room, Friend Of A Friend, I Quit, Bending Hectic, You Know Me

8/10

Everything Everything - "Mountainhead" (2024)

EE's last record, 2022's Raw Data Feel, never really clicked with me despite generally being critically acclaimed and viewed as something fresh and new for the band by many. It stripped away a lot of organic grooves and progressive, linear song structures that characterised a lot of the bands older work, and replaced them with a much more rigid synth pop aesthetic and a smattering of glitch pop and alt dance stylings that felt more gimmicky than genuinely inventive. Similarly the core lyrical concept of the record focusing around AI generated lyrics and the messy, half formed narrative also came across rather gimmicky and almost a self-parody of the band's usual eccentric 'logical extremes' writing style. 

Thankfully, Mountainhead is a return to form for the band, returning to a lot of the kinetic grooves and colourful sound pallets (with that menacing and uneasy undertone) that put the band on the map. I'd say its the closest sounding thing the band has made to their magnum opus, Get To Heaven, in the years since. The record, much like RDF, has a core concept and a semi-linear narrative; however it is much more clearly defined and thoroughly explored. The lead single, Cold Reactor, is essentially the blurb for the world the band has created on Mountainhead and captures the mood and tone of the record effortlessly. Mountainhead is a world where people try and climb the titular mountain by digging deep into the earth for materials to ascend, growing the mountain ever larger and the pit ever deeper. At the top sits only a mirror for those who mange to climb to the top, and at the bottom of the pit roams a giant golden serpent ready to consume those who fall too far in. Quite an obvious allegory for the modern capitalist world, but one that allows for some pretty evocative imagery and for the band's eccentricities to really flourish. Cold Reactor as a song is quite a straightforward driving new wave tune, but probably the bands best crack at that style, with dense lyrics that evoke strong feelings of loneliness and a desire for connection. 

Wild Guess opens up the record in quite a ballsy way, with a minute and a half driving, fuzzed out guitar solo, before Jonathon Higg's vocals come swooning in like some deranged salesman, with rhetorical questions and telling us "this will be the most important thing you'll ever buy from us". It's not clearly painted out for us, but my interpretation of the song is that it is from the perspective of one of the 'Hellcat priests' within the lore of the album, a religious organisation who's end goal is to grow the mountain and keep believing in the cycle and that one day they will make it to the top themselves.

The second single, The Mad Stone, is more obviously from this perspective, and is sonically probably the most out there on the record. The track bounces between these weird 'plink plonky' verses and these massive multi-tracked choruses, it sounds like some deranged cult chant.

The rest of the first half is really consistent as well. The End of the Contender is quite a stark pop song that really focuses on the lyrics inspired by an incident where some armature boxer from the 70's got in a road rage incident and was acting as if he was some sort of celebrity, even though the other person had no idea who they were. The pulsating bass heavy groove and hazy guitars of Buddy, Come Over is very reminiscent of A Fever Dream, and the ear-catching lyric of "Elvis sitting dead on the toilet" really draws you into the moody and sinister atmosphere of the song. The snappy dance beat R U Happy? reminds me of what the band were trying to go for RDF, however feels much more natural and less gimmicky here, without the entire kitchen sink thrown in. TV Dog rounds out the first half with a simple string laden cut that we haven't really seen from the band since Arc. The weird reversed backing vocals sound really sinister and ominous.

While the first half is probably the most consistent 30 mins of music the group has made since Get To Heaven, the band settles into more predictable pop song writing into the second half, which makes the record feel a little lopsided overall. The skittering percussion and deep bass of Canary are juxtaposed against the delicate vocals and woozy lead guitar, which really sells the 'canary in the coal mine' themes of the song. Don't Ask Me To Beg features some really prominent vocal melodies set against a meaty alt dance groove. Dagger's Edge is the closest the record comes to that pure batshit energy of the likes of Blast Doors or Ivory Tower, but is honestly quite reserved in comparison. The song acts as sort of the turning point of the albums themes, from the perspective of someone who has made it to the top of the mountain, but is still not content, watching over his shoulder for people in this dog-eat-dog world and realising he could fall off the 'dagger's edge' at any time. It is the moment where the social commentary on the record turns to the listener and essentially tells us that the game of life presented through the mountain is ultimately all consuming and will never leave you fulfilled.

It does make the tone of the closing two tracks rather nihilistic and gives no real satisfying conclusion the the album. They're both quiet and reflective, and on their own are decent songs, but the placement as the album's final impression is quite unsatisfying. Following the revelations of Dagger's Edge, City Song is from the perspective of someone stuck in the corporate 9-5 where no-one in their company even knows their name. It is very OK Computer, but very mid-point OK Computer, before the rejection of that way of life on the last two songs of the album (Lucky and The Tourist). Everything Everything know this too, as on Get To Heaven, the insanity of that album was rejected in the last two songs, offering an alternative - hope. I do understand the creative decision behind this, its probably more realistic to say that there is no real escape from the mountain, but its certainly not a satisfying conclusion to the record and sours the experience overall; especially as Dagger's Edge was building towards that and it feels like a bait and switch.

Mountainhead has a lot going for it, the concept and narrative are solid and inventive, it features the return of the band's more progressive and challenging song writing. I just wish it went a little further, as the second half is nowhere near as ambitious as the first, and ended in a more satisfying way. But as it stands, it is a return to form that is certainly better than the band's last couple of records.

Top Tracks: Wild Guess, The End of the Contender, Cold Reactor, Buddy, Come Over, Mad Stone, TV Dog, Don't Ask Me To Beg, Dagger's Edge

7/10

Elbow - "AUDIO VERTIGO" (2024)

I had a suspicion that Elbow's previous album, 2021's Flying Dream 1, would grow on me; and it definitely did. Recorded during the malaise of pandemic lockdowns, it was a very subtle and patient album that was soaked in nostalgia and appreciation for the smaller things in life. When it first released, I was not in a place in my life where I could really resonate with its beautiful simplicity and wholesomeness, but with time I grew to really appreciate it. AUDIO VERTIGO, by contrast is in some ways pivot back to the larger scale anthems that the band are know for; although quite the shake up in the methods used to achieve those arena sing-alongs.

On AUDIO VERTIGO, the band has made a conscious effort to include more prominent and groovier drum rhythms, resulting in 'chunkier' feeling tracks with more urgency and kinetic energy to them. Alongside this, the symphonic string sections that are hallmark of Elbow's sound have been replaced by bombastic horns and fuzzy 80's prog-rock synths. The songs are shorter and more immediate, and at twelve tracks (ten if you don't count the two interludes) and a trim 39 minutes, it is as about as in your face as the band have ever been. For a band that is known for their delicacy and 'sophistication', it is far from that.

Guy Garvey's trademark lyrical prowess is still firmly on display, though. The opening track, Things I've Been Telling Myself for Years, details an alternate history of the band if they broke up after the release of their first record, Asleep In The Back. Garvey plays the character of a smarmy, washed up rockstar against a chugging rhythm section reminiscent to Asleep In The Back's opener, Any Day Now - a nice call back which fits the moody atmosphere of the song perfectly. This launches into the two big singles of the record, Lover's Leap and Balu. Lover's Leap is built around a rumbling drum and bass groove and looping triumphant horns. The lyrics are fairly broad and non-descript, painting a picture of a dramatic, all-consuming romance, but they are merely set dressing for the bombastic groove of the song. The brief interlude before Balu describes the following song perfectly. "Give it fat, wide wheels" Garvey remarks in a studio snippet, which is exactly what the song sounds like. It's gnarly and raucous, with chunky riffs and and fuzzy, descending synth lines. The titular character is an amalgamation of all the 'bad-influence' drinking buddies Guy Garvey has had over the years, and the lyrics of the song imply a kind of 'Icarus flying too close to the sun' motif to the story, which adds a lot of depth and intrigue to the track.

The album slows down at this point, while retaining the chunkier and blockier feel to the rhythm section. Very Heaven is a nostalgic look back at Garvey's late teens after moving out for the first time. It's a cute and simple song, but I feel it is a little restricted by the bands desire for every song to have a more prominent grooves on every song. The rhythm on this one feels a little clunkier than those that preceded it on the record, and stops me fully seeping into the dreamy nostalgia the lyrics try and convey. The song is at it's best when the groove takes a backseat and is swallowed up by the atmospheric synths and chiming guitars during the chorus. On the other hand, I really like the way the grooves on Her to the Earth are presented. They're much stronger, and slightly funky, allowing for Guy's beautiful vocal range to show off a bit (with the addition of a nice backing choir for a little extra). The track contrasts between these funky, synth-y sections and more traditional Elbow chiming guitars and swooning vocals. It's the track most reminiscent to me of the sounds of the 80's prog rock that I mentioned earlier.

The second half of the record kicks of with The Picture, which is just a raw unleash of energy. The band ditches the drum grooves for something more straightfoward, and the guitars chug along. There are little progressive touches to the song (the little countermelodies just before the chorus kicks in are a lot of fun), but at its core, its just a straight up energetic rock song. The lyrics are also some the best on the record, focusing on the breakdown of a messy relationship, but their being a picture on the internet somewhere of the couple just enjoying themselves before it all hit the fan that is unable to be located and deleted. The idea using a picture to convey the decay and shades of grey in a relationship dynamics is a really inventive lyrical device and the song has a lot of fun with it.

Despite the strong start to the second half, as whole it feels a little thin on the ground compared to the first leg of the record. Poker Face is less than two minutes and is over in a flash, and Embers of Day is another short interlude track. In-between these sits Poker Face, which is a song that has grown on me quite a lot since first listen. It is a sombre break-up ballad, and much like Very Heaven, on first listen I thought the chunkier groove to the song didn't suit the vibe all too well. But on repeats I've really begun to appreciate the way the track layers up as it progresses, creating an atmosphere that is subtly disorienting, particularly as the jangly and chiming guitars come in during the last minute.

Embers of Day brings us into the grand finale of the record, which in typical Elbow Fashion is a massive sounding anthem in the penultimate spot followed by a quiet and reflective comedown to close out the record. Good Blood Mexico City is this records 'anthem', but in reality its nothing like One Day Like This or Open Arms. It is just a straight up rock banger that is just shy of three minutes. The song opens with a short verse section with chiming guitars before the chorus hits with a wall of thrashing distorted guitars and chanted vocals. It's even kind of punk-y (for a band that is about as far from punk as rock music gets). From the River slows it down again, and is the longest song on the record, but unfortunately I don't feel it does all that much with the length and suffers from the same problems that a lot of the other slower cuts have thus far. The groove is just a bit clunky and I feel subtler instrumentation would have suited the whimsy of the song much better.

AUDIO VERTIGO has some really excellent moments, and shows that the band have no ideas of just settling into safe and predictable song writing that a lot of artists do at 10 albums into their career. However it doesn't always pay off and it is probably the groups least consistent record for me. But there still isn't even a meh track here, and I can see the merits in all of them (even if some of the aesthetic choice don't land 100% of the time). I had the pleasure of seeing the band live last month and I can say these songs certainly hold up in the live setting next to the bands very best.

Top Tracks: Things I've Been Telling Myself for Years, Lover's Leap, Balu, Her to the Earth, The Picture, Knife Fight, Good Blood Mexico City

7/10

Squid - "O Monolith" (2023)

With life becoming busier and busier post-pandemic and post-uni, the blog has become more and more of me just trying to keep up with new releases from artists I already follow, and less about new discoveries. I do want to change that in 2024, and get back to going through that 100 albums poster and also the David Bowie chronology I started doing in 2020 - but one record from 2023 that I really do want to cover is this, Squid's second album, O Monolith. Squid broke through in 2021 with their debut record, Bright Green Field - an experimental post-punk record which drew comparisons to black midi and Black Country, New Road and kind of made them the third part of the triarchy of the then still emerging post-Brexit / experimental post-punk scene. I didn't get around to talking about it here, but it was a good record with some great tracks, although a little bloated and not quite at the same level as the comparisons to bm and BC, NR would suggest.

O Monolith takes everything that worked about the debut and pumps it up to a new level; its' tighter, less derivative, more inventive and experimental, and certainly more wild. The band incorporate a more hypnotic and krautrock-ian sense of rhythm that draws you into this otherworldly place in which the album sits. There is something unhuman and unhinged about it, which to compare the band to their contemporaries once again, reminds me of black midi's debut, Schlagenheim. While that album achieves this feeling through pure shock value, O Monolith gains it through the atmosphere and tension it builds. At a tight 8 tracks and a sharp 42 minutes, it reminds me of some of the post-punk classics from the vinyl age where every track was vital and there was no superfluous fluff.

Swing (In A Dream) opens up the record with twinkling synths and repetitive chiming rhythm guitar, which sets you straight up to fall into this groovy but sinister record. Ollie Judge's vocals command you to "Live inside the frame, Forget everything, Swing inside a dream" like some evil hypnotist. The track breaks down into a flamenco style sax solo towards the second half before the rest of the instruments come crashing back in with a super thick and meaty bass guitar added to the mix. It's disorientating, chaotic, and disarming. This is followed up by Devil's Den, which starts off much more low-key. The track begins as a quiet swaying tune built around delicate flutes, but in the second half it is flipped on it's head, Ollie starts screaming, the discordant guitars come crashing in and the whole track descends into complete chaos.

Siphon Song really slows it down, bringing OK Computer style robotic vocals set against a slow building post-rock-y rhythm section. The track linearly builds to something louder and more dramatic, but nothing as chaotic and mental as the first couple of songs on the record. It really gives off that late 90s early 2000s art rock vibe. Stick this on a Radiohead or an early Elbow album and I wouldn't have batted an eyelid. Undergrowth returns to the off-kilter grooviness of Swing (In A Dream), complete with a bigger part from the horn section. The horns provide the pulsating beat to the song as Judge sings "I'd rather melt, melt, melt, away". The whole track feels creepy and deranged.

The Blades kicks off the second half and is perhaps my favourite track on the record (and maybe my favourite Squid track overall). The song is built of this descending, spiralling guitar rhythm, and spiky accentuating lead guitar parts. The song is so dynamic, rising up and then slowing down, and then rising back up again. The sinister paranoia of the song is also very much to my taste, as the song slowly morphs from the half way point, becoming more and more tense as Ollie's vocals become more and more insane. The horns sound more and more like sirens and the rhythm section becomes am overwhelming wall of sound, before it all just cuts back to a restrained outro featuring just a chiming guitar and quiet, restrain vocals.

After the madness of The Blades, After The Flash is at a much more plodding march-like pace. But it is equally as sinister, feeling like a march of the undead or some other kind of possessed figure. Like Siphon Song its a much needed breather in the pace of the record. The song progresses in its second half from something sinister to something more heavenly, as the riff ascends upwards - as if the protagonist of the album is attempting to escape whatever trance they are in. This clearly ultimately fails, as the deranged horn section comes slowly back in and descends back down towards the very end of the song, transitioning into Green Light, which is the most has the most intensely repetitive and aggressive groove of the album thus far.

The album closes out with If You Had Seen The Bull's Swimming Attempts You Would Have Stayed Away (what a title I know...). The song was written by the band's guitarist Anton Pearson, and while I do enjoy it to an extent, it does feel a little disconnected from the rest of the record. It's nowhere near as wild as the rest of the album and feels a little out of place because of it. The last minute of the song does build to an intense climax but as a whole the song would've fit much better on Bright Green Field than here.

O Monolith is a great development for Squid and really sets them up as something special, not just another band in the scene. It's intense and atmospheric, and also challenging and chaotic. For me, it has pushed them past black midi as scene leaders (alongside Black Country, New Road), as while bm are still just trying to shock you 3 albums in, Squid are trying to build something greater and more atmospheric (not to knock black midi, I still think Cavalcade is great). If your a fan of the scene, please check it out.

Top Tracks : Swing (In A Dream), Devil's Den, Siphon Song, Undergrowth, The Blades

8/10

Queens of the Stone Age - "In Times New Roman..." (2023)

It's been 6 years since the last QOTSA record, Villains, in which a lot has happened in the world and in Josh Homme's life personally. Grieving the deaths of several friends and battling cancer himself (which he has since recovered from), all while undergoing a messy divorce; Homme was simply not in the mood to make music. The last point I want to dig into a little further, as it's important not to gloss over difficult topics and 'separate the art from the artist', particularly when this album is clearly shaped by the divorce. Josh's ex-wife Brody Dalle (frontwoman of punk band The Distillers) filed for divorce citing Homme's drug and alcohol usage. During the divorce proceedings she accused Josh of violence towards their children and filed a restraining order on their behalf them, which was subsequently overturned. Josh has now sole custardy of the children and it has been reported that Dalle's current boyfriend forged the restraining orders, however Josh has a history of violent and aggressive behaviour while under the influence so it wouldn't be the hardest thing to imagine - it might just be the case that Josh is the more famous of the two and can afford the better lawyers. I doubt we will ever get the full story, but it's certainly not happy families.

In Times New Roman... follows this turbulent period and is evidently shaped by it, being quite a brooding and jaded record following up on the themes of the impermanence of the world and the people in it established on 2013's stellar ...Like Clockwork. The record as a whole feels much like an amalgamation of Queen's work since Lullabies To Paralyse. It has the sinister and creepy atmosphere from that album, Era Vulgaris' wonkey and weird production, the themes and art rock elements from ...Like Clockwork, and even incorporates some of the glam rock camp from Villains.

Obscenery sets the scene with scrappy guitar led verses leading into cinematic string-laden choruses. The chunky, lopsided production of the song leads you into the albums uneasy and distrustful world, always keeping you just a little bit on edge. This leads into the thrashing rager of Paper Machete. The track is the simplest on the record, being a straightforward alt rock banger akin to some of the bands big hits from the naughties. Time & Place plays with dual time signatures and results in a super groovy and driving tune that spirals into a hypnotic trance. Carnavoyeur is the big cinematic centrepiece of the record, with spooky synths, dramatic vocals and soaring strings. What The Peephole Say is the most tongue in cheek song on the record. It's a cheesy glam throwback song and is just an absolute blast. It would probably fit more at home on Villains with how much lighter it is compared to the rest of the album, but its just so much fun. The record cumulates with its 9-minute behemoth closer, Straight Jacket Fitting. The song encapsulates the albums atmosphere perfectly, progressing through a messy and stumbling first section into a swaggering blues rock second part which slowly phases into a dramatic and anthemic string-backed third portion before circling back to the wonky and uneasy first part, before a final moody acoustic guitar passage closes the album out.

Even the weaker tracks on here have some really interesting ideas and moments that I love, even if the whole tracks don't fully come together. Negative Space has a great chorus reminiscent of the ones on ..LC, as does the lead single Emotion Sickness. "People come and go on the breeze / For a whole life? Possibly..." is one of the best lines on the whole record. Sicily is an incredibly dynamic song with a really creepy atmosphere and only really needs a bit more of a memorable hook to draw me in. And finally, Made to Parade is quite a sluggish plodding song (clearly emulating a parade march) and doesn't do much for me, until about 2/3 of the way through it changes key into its climax, which hits like a truck and I absolutely love.

In Times New Roman... is another good record from Queens, who's releases never really dip too much in quality. Its broody and sinister, and a little bit cynical and definitely hits the mark for me as a whole package. Not every individual moment is the best the band has ever been (both Songs for the Deaf and ...Like Clockwork take a lot of beating), but is still a really solid record on the whole. And the circumstances surrounding the creation of the record are also worth discussing, as regardless of what the truth of what happened during the divorce, there is a longstanding culture of sweeping problematic issues under the rug, particularly involving established rockstars with a legacy and influence (Go look up the 70's LA "baby groupie" scene). Anyway, that's a bit of tangent - the QOTSA album is good.

Top Tracks: Obscenery, Paper Machete, Time & Place, Carnavoyeur, What The Peephole Say, Straight Jacket Fitting

7/10

Black Country, New Road - "Live at Bush Hall" (2023)

This is the first time I've reviewed a live record on the blog, as admittedly I tend to dismiss them as less essential parts of an artist's catalogue (a totally wrong assumption I know!). However, this one has a particular significance that I think will define it as an important listen years from now when going through the band's discography. That being that this is the first release since the departure of the group's vocalist and integral member, Isaac Wood. So unlike a typical live album, this isn't versions of songs we have already heard, but entirely new ones that the group have written and toured live since Isaac's departure last year. And judging by comments the band has made in relation to this live album, it's unlikely they are going to get the studio treatment for the groups third LP. So in effect, this live album is the band's third studio album, except that it is recorded live and in front of an audience.

I've been anticipating what direction the band will take since Isaac left, as his unabashedly honest and neurotic (and sometimes borderline unhinged) persona behind the mic was a big draw of the band for me and many others. While there are a lot of changes to the sound, I am surprised by how consistently it follows on from last years LP, Ants From Up There. Despite how Isaac's personality is so intrinsically tired to that record, the band quite effortlessly follow on in that musical direction on this album. It leans a little more into the chamber pop and indie sides of AFUT rather than the progressive and post-rock parts of that record, and the band has chosen to have three lead vocalists rather than one, but its not a hard switch up in sound (I'd say the progression from the debut to AFUT is more jarring).

The record opens up with the Triumphant Up Song, which comes across as the mission statement of the record. Crashing baroque pop crescendos are matched up against bassist Tyler Hyde's emotive but optimistic vocals singing the group's catchiest pop hook yet - "Look at what we did together, BC, NR friends forever!". The song feels very much like a celebration of the band's achievements thus far, while still be forward looking and optimistic for their future without Isaac. Regardless of whether it ever ends up on a studio release, it feels like an anthem which will remain in their live set for a long time. The record ends with a reprise of the song, which only amplifies the weight of it to the band.

Hyde has the most leads on the record, singing on 3 of the remaining 7 tunes, which I can see her being positioned as the band's lead vocalist going forward. This makes sense as her vocal and lyrical style is the closest to Isaac's out of the three. While nowhere near as dark and uncomfortable, she brings a sense of upfront rawness that lines up with the band's output on the studio albums. I Won't Always Love You quite bluntly progresses through the slow disillusionment felt at the end of a relationship, with the first line being "I will always love you" and the last being "I won't always want you". The track linearly builds from slow, folky acoustic guitar through to some meaty bass and finally a cacophonous  crescendo of piano, sax and guitar. Laughing Song shows the other side of the coin, with Hyde quite obviously blaming herself for the end of this relationship, exposing her character flaws and claiming that she let the 'best person she knows walk away' on the bridge. The track is one of the slower and more reserved on the record, but still feels like it has so much weight and heft to it as it builds to it's thunderous refrain. The last of Hyde's tracks is the penultimate song, Dancers. It's the only track here that I haven't really connected with like the others, it's the only one that does feel like it's a work in progress. The story of the song isn't particularly fleshed out, and the refrain of "Dancers stand very still on the stage" does start to wear thin by the end of the track. 

Saxophonist Lewis Evans and keyboardist May Kershaw lead two tracks each, and both bring a very different vibe and tone to the songs they feature on. Evans' tracks have a earnest sense of joyousness and hope to them, with his slightly nasal and very English sounding vocals. His presence on these songs gives me the same vibe as the awkward, lovable English guy that Martin Freeman and Eddie Redmayne are typecast in films. Across The Pond Friend is so sweet, telling the story of a long distance relationship and the longing that comes when you're an ocean apart. It's just very wholesome with its ascending piano lines and swells of sax. The Wrong Trousers is similarly earnest, with Evan's revealing the impact of Isaac's departure from the band on him. The track is more low key than Across The Pond Friend, and presents the situation from that same awkward, lovable guy perspective. Lewis is not mad that Isaac left, just proud of what they achieved together as a band. The Wallace and Gromit reference in the title is also a great touch.

Kershaw's songs are definitely the most different from anything else from the band's output, both with Isaac and on this record, being very indebted to folk and singer / songwriter styles. The record's second track, The Boy is a folky, multi-part story of a robin with a broken wing on a journey through the forest to find someone who can fix it for him. It has quite a theatrical and vintage feel to it, like something you'll here in a local folk festival (as opposed to the band than made a track like Sunglasses 3 years ago). It's very different for the group and works incredibly well. Kershaw's other track is the nearly 10 minute slow burn, Turbines/Pigs. The song starts off as a simple tune comprised off a simple piano melody and Kershaw's vocals, slowly progressing through the song allowing her isolating and evocative lyrics to resonate deeply. Kershaw imagines herself as pig flying up into the air, above turbines, leaving everyone and everything behind. It's hauntingly self deprecating as she sings "Don't waste your pearls on me", as if she's telling us she doesn't feel good enough for anyone's affection. The track slowly builds to a cathartic climax. It's a beautiful song and one of the real highlights of the record.

Live at Bush Hall is definitely more than a footnote in the BC, NR's story, and it clearly shows the band are still on top form despite such an important shift in personnel. It's not quite on the same level as AFUT, but that is a ridiculously high bar to set. I do hope a fair few of these songs get the full studio treatment, as they absolutely deserve it. I'm left even more intrigued about the band's next steps now, as on this record it doesn't seem like there are any definitive direction's on who the lead singer will be going forward (or whether it will remain all three), or quite what style they should follow for LP 3. I also think it might be a good gateway into the band for people who found Isaac's vocals and lyrics a little to off-putting and pretentious.

Top Tracks: Up Song, The Boy, I Won't Always Love You, Across The Pond Friend, Laughing Song, The Wrong Trousers, Turbines/Pigs

8/10

Arctic Monkeys - "The Car" (2022)

Arctic Monkey's last album, 2018's Tranquillity Base Hotel + Casino, proved to be quite divisive - discarding AM's pop rock riffs and coked up bravado that blew them up into global superstars in favour of a tongue-in-cheek 70's-esque lounge pop sound and Alex Turner rambling about about a hotel on the moon. I, for one, loved it. AM's swaggering cockiness always felt a little one note to me, and the shift to taking themselves a little less seriously (once again) made for a much more interesting listen. It also helps that the songs are actually really well written and there is a fair amount to dig into with the themes and subtext of the record beyond Alex pretending to be some washed up rockstar singing in a lobby of a fictional moon resort. The Car, on the surface, appears to be following in TBH+C's footsteps, forgoing any semblance to indie rock for a 70's inspired baroque pop and soul record. But when digging a little deeper, it feels a lot closer to AM than TBH+C, and not in a good way.

What I mean by that is that it feels much more earnest and self-serious, and somewhat of a pastiche (or even a novelty) of the genres it's mimicking. AM borrowed from 70's hard rock riffs and matched them with Alex's fairly generic 'rockstar' posturing - 'sex, drugs and rock'n'roll' and the like. The Car does the same thing, but replaces these elements with layers of lavish strings and pastiche funk guitar likes, and Alex's formless, lounge-y vocals sprawling over these tracks with little regard for metre or consistency. He did this a bit on TBH+C, but it was much more restrained there, and also fitted with the character he was playing on that album. However, when this album is clearly trying to be taken a lot more earnestly, it just comes of as a kind of bad vocal performance. In places, it feels like he is trying (and failing) to do his best Bowie impression, which made me associate the album with a phrase Bowie said to describe his foray into soul and funk - "plastic soul". Bowie used it as a reference to how he originally wasn't part of the soul scene and he was a plastic imitation of it (I disagree - and I'll get back to the Bowie reviews I promise); but that descriptor seems apt for The Car. While as lavish and ornate as it sounds, it just feels plastic-y and uncanny.

The record opens with by far its best track, the lead single There'd Better Be A Mirrorball. It's the only song I wholeheartedly love on the album and I think best represents what the band is going for on here. It is a heartfelt and sentimental break up ballad set to swooning and cinematic strings and a warbling synth line. The lyrics are some of the sweetest and most grounded Alex has ever written, and the track builds such an atmosphere to accompany them. It certainly feels like it could accompany a movie scene of someone walking back to their car in the rain post-breakup. This atmosphere is unfortunately killed right away by the following track (and first one they teased live) I Ain't Quite Where I Think I Am and its tacky 'wah-wah' funk lead guitar part. The song just feels like such a hodgepodge of ideas that never really connect together. The lyrics are disconnected and all over the place, supposedly reflecting a disconnect Alex feels between himself and the environments he finds himself in, but there's too many obtuse references and metaphors masking any sort of depth in the lyrics. I do quite like the string instrumentation that comes in for the chorus, but the cheesy funk guitar comes straight back in for the second verse and takes me straight out of the song. The song feels like a half formed b-side, not one of the big singles from the record.

Sculptures Of Anything Goes has drawn comparisons to AM, which I can certainly see as the mix is mainly comprised of Alex's vocals set against a super-heavy Moog synth bass part - similarly to AM's bass heavy mixes. Once again there are parts of the song I do like; the focus on the synth bass gives the track a lot of tension, and the contrast between it and the strings in the back half of the song is some of the most dynamic use of the orchestra on the album. However, similarly to I Ain't Quite Where I Think I Am, the themes of the song are buried in obtuse references that take away from the emotional resonance; and Alex's performance frankly doesn't do it any favours - he just sounds so underwhelming when set against the drama of music. Jet Skis On A Moat is perhaps my least favourite on the record, with Alex cringily crooning over returning 'wah-wah' guitars. The whole thing feels like the edgeless smooth.fm soul designed to appeal to the type of boomer that can't stand any passion or fire in their music. It really rubs me the wrong way. This leads into the big centrepiece of the record, Body Paint. The track does have its moments, but much like many of the moments on the first half, aimlessly meanders through its disparate sections not really building to a greater whole. It also may be Alex's weakest performance on the record, where the inflections are the most egregious and his voice in general coming across strained and raspy.

The second half of the record is more consistent, sonically and quality wise. The album settles into a more run of the mill vintage baroque pop sound, and Alex's delivery becomes more restrained and professional. However, I will say while there's not much I outright dislike about these songs, they also don't have that much unique going for them to make them stand out. They don't even sound particularly 'Arctic Monkeys' - they're just missing a bit of the snark and tonge-in-cheek fun. There are a couple of songs on the back half that I do enjoy, being the title track and Hello You. The Car is nostalgic look back at childhood memories related to the family vehicle, and features some lush jangly acoustic guitar and melancholic piano. The track feels quite tense, and is so close to being really good - I just wish it had more of a fully formed chorus or climax to pay off that tension. Hello You is apparently the only track that survived the band's first attempt in the studio back in 2019, and certainly feels the closest to TBH+C with it's oddball stream of consciences lyrics and more playful, quirky energy. The song is one of the most dynamic on the record, with a catchy chorus and a somewhat bouncy interplay between the lead guitar and string parts on the song.

It's a shame that following Hello You, the album limps out with two of its least notable and most underwhelming tunes. Mr Schwartz is a fine, bog standard bossa nova cut, and the closer Perfect Sense feels like it's attempting to be some semblance of a big cinematic closer, but then chickens out before it ever gets there, and then the album just kind of ends. My first listen to the record was while doing some jobs and I wasn't looking at the tracklist and I genuinely thought "Oh is it over?.." when the track finished.

The Car isn't an awful album, and it's not like I don't think it's a sound that the band can't do. I loved TBH+C and Alex's two albums with The Last Shadow Puppets that play in a lot of similar soundscapes. It's just I feel that these are easily the weakest crop of songs the band has come out with so far, and some poor aesthetical choices particularly in the first half make it a kind of drab and tiresome listen. As much as I personally have problems with AM, at least that album succeeds in having a load of fun catchy hooks to draw you in, so I can safely say that this is my least favourite record from the band thus far. (I'd still take it over the boring, commercial, 'safe for Radio 2' garbage that a lot of the bands from this generation are making nowadays).

Top Tracks: There'd Better Be A Mirrorball, The Car, Hello You

5/10

black midi - "Hellfire" (2022)

Following straight on from last years Cavalcade, black midi are back with their 3rd record, Hellfire. The band claimed that 'if Cavalcade was a drama, Hellfire is an action movie', and that certainly is the case with all of the elements that made up that record returning but with supercharged intensity and ferocity. The complicated, technical grooves that build the base of their sound are here, alongside the fusions of classical and jazz instrumentation that Cavalcade brought along - but is all brought forward in a much more immediate and forceful way. The record is two tracks longer than Cavalcade yet is nearly four minutes shorter, so it doesn't have time to ebb and flow in the same way as that album. It's a breakneck rollercoaster to the finish. 

The most obvious change to create this sense of immediacy is the approach to lyrics and themes. This is the first time a bm record has presented its ideas so blatantly, with the stories these tracks tell actually intelligible - as opposed to the obtuse doom propheteering of Cavalcade and the general psychotic ramblings of Schlagenheim. The titular intro track spells out all that Hellfire is, being the grim reality of mortality and death, the graphic brutality of war and the ideas of sin and damnation that try to make sense of all the madness. 

The more upfront lyrics of the album combined with the sprint to the finish pace make it probably the most accessible bm record of the three, with the tracks on the first half of the record just rolling into each other with no room to let up. Following on from the intro track, Sugar/Tzu opens with a theatrical sporting announcement before exploding straight into pummelling arpeggios and bombastic horns - reinforcing the themes of the trivialisation of war through viewing it as some kind of game where personal glory can be gained. The end of the song crashes straight into Eat Men Eat, a less brutal but just as tense track sung by bassist Cam Picton. The sinister flamenco groove of the song perfectly matches the creepy and graphic tale of mutiny and food poisoning as a mine captain tries to poison his workers to produce stomach acid to be the secret ingredient in has wine production. It's graphic and weird and reminds me of those slightly traumatising kids stories you'd see on CBBC in the 2000's (obscure reference, I know).

This then bombards straight into Welcome To Hell, the lead single and anchor for the albums themes. Geordie Greep plays the role of a WW1 recruitment / training officer, luring in the character of Tristan Bongo to sign up with tales of glory and adventure, before revealing his true intentions about using him purely as a tool to kill others in the 'game of war' and descending into abuse and eventually discharging him for not withstanding the trauma and developing PTSD. Musically it is perhaps the most refined of the bm cacophonous walls of sound / pummel your face off type tracks which matches the vocal delivery from Greep perfectly. Still is the first time the album lets up, and after the intensity of instrumentation and lyrics of the first four tracks it is a necessary breather. Lyrically it is the most lightweight on the record, being a mere breakup song - as opposed to the traumatising horrors of humanity thus far. It has a country twang to it and there's a particular part towards the end where it progresses into a kind of barn dance breakdown that I really like and wish lasted longer than a couple pf bars. As much as I like Still, it does feel at odds with what comes before and after it in the record. Where every other song is about the traumatic depths of humanity, Still is just a kind of sad but generally calm and unemotional breakup tune.

Half Time brings back the sporting themes from Sugar/Tzu and signals the transition to the back half of the record, which unfortunately doesn't grip me like the first half. The Race Is About To Begin picks up the story of Tristan Bongo after Welcome To Hell, where he descends into a gambling addiction betting on horses. The song has musical similarities and call backs to that track, which in my opinion means it struggles to set itself apart in its first phase. As the track progressive, Greep's vocals descend into this staccato semi-rapped / semi spoken word delivery reminiscent of a horse racing commentator; and while it does distinguish it from Welcome To Hell, it feels a little gimmicky and the track as a whole goes on way to long. On every listen for me, Dangerous Liaisons and The Defence slide into background, they're just fairly unremarkable compared to the front end of the record and black midi in general. They follow the same themes as the rest of the record, with more of a religious slant dealing in temptation and sin and hypocrisy. Perhaps it's just the sheer bombardment of words and ideas of the record up to this point that I am just desensitised to the themes by this point.

27 Questions Closes out the record and one again brings back some of the lost intensity with thunderous pianos and crashing percussion, sounding like some kind of march towards inevitable death. Which is what the song is about as the protagonist escapes awful weather out in town one night in a free admission show by the character Freddie Frost, a washed up actor making his last play about his life's achievements as he is on deaths door. The whole first half feels sinister and foreboding as the play tries to dress up Freddie Frost as a grand and accomplished figure, before the second half completely unravels it. It's sung from the perspective of Freddie, and becomes the play he has written, which he finishes off by listing off his 27 questions about 'life the universe and everything', completely demolishing the fake grandeur of the performance, declaring it pointless and farcical in the face of death, becoming completely self-deprecating before he drops dead on stage before he could even finish his 27 questions. I am really mixed on the track, as I get what it's trying to do, and I really love the musicality of the first half. But the flip to Freddie's perspective both musically pushes the theatricality of the album just a little over the edge into a territory I can't really take seriously, and also feels like the record descends into that kind of sixth form 'nihilism = clever' territory.

I guess that's my biggest problem with the record when compared to Cavalcade. As the lyrics and themes are more prominent this time around, its more easy to see that when you strip back the technical musicianship and wordy, meaty lyrics, its just plain nihilism. And while there's a place for it in music, dressing it up as something more profound than it actually is does rub me the wrong way a little. It gives off that 'look I'm more clever than you' vibe. Cavalcade was more patient, and more mysterious and wonderous, and more consistent. That being said, I very much enjoy the first few tracks here, musically and lyrically; and on the whole I'd take it over the somewhat shock value allure of Schlagenheim.

7/10

Top Tracks: Hellfire, Sugar/Tzu, Eat Men Eat, Welcome To Hell, Still

The Smile - "A Light For Attracting Attention" (2022)

The Smile is the latest in the long line of Radiohead side projects, consisting of the band's Thom Yorke, Johnny Greenwood alongside drummer Tom Skinner from the jazz band Sons of Kemet. The unveiling of the band and the release of this debut album has been a unique one for the wider Radiohead associated canon, with the band making their debut performance at last years Glastonbury Pilton-party livestream before going quiet for 6 months until the start this year where singles from the record would drop every couple of weeks until the full album released last month. This is in stark contrast to the last few Radiohead albums which would have a pretty quick turn-around between announcement and release, with only one or two singles (or maybe even none) released beforehand. And as each of the six singles released, I found myself thinking with each one, "This sounds just like a Radiohead song, why is it coming from a new side project just to sound like the main band?"

But after hearing the record in full, I think that's kind of the point. Each Radiohead record over the past 25 years has been something new from the last, whereas A Light For Attracting Attention feels like a conglomeration of a lot of the sounds and styles that were new and novel on those records. Besides from not featuring half the members, if this was labelled a Radiohead record, I feel it would be considered a disappointment for not being something wholly new and fresh. Not to say that the album cover any new territory of its own, because it certainly does. The record has a straightforwardness to it, lyrically and in terms of song structure, which brings out a post-punk energy to the thing that most Radiohead albums don't really veer into. However, it still retains its artiness with the record being the most indebted to krautrock and jazz since Amnesiac.

The record opens with the pulsating electronics of The Same, a slowly building linear tune where Thom Yorke proclaims "We all want the same". This is the first introduction to the major theme of the record, blunt political venting. The lyrics on the album are pretty easy to follow, compared to Thom's usual cryptic, word-salad approach to lyrics. This track is immediately followed by The Opposite, a tune built around a jangly, repetitive guitar groove and features lyrics juxtaposing the universalism of the opener, drawing lines in the sand between the people and "the opposite" (i.e. the ruling classes). This leads into the first single and real highlight of the record, the noisy and scrappy You Will Never Work In Television Again which tears down gross men in positions in power - making specific reference to Harvey Weinstein and Berlusconi.

Pana-vision is the first of the jazz infused cuts on the album, building tension through its ascending piano line which doesn't quite resolve. The horn and sting sections on the track sound emasculate and Thom's vocal performance is stunning. The Smoke is an interesting fusion of a simple post-punk guitar loop and jazz instrumentation. While the upper layers of the track sound great, the base loop is a little too repetitive and simple for me, meaning the song only really gets interesting when the jazz elements come in. However they don't progress into much, leaving the song feeling a little flat.

Thin Thing is a hypnotic and raucous krautrock jam that throws tightness to the wind, making the song feel really chaotic as Greenwood's heavily distorted guitar winds round and round and the layers and effects build up in the track. It might be my favourite of the record. It feels like being caught up in a random storm that has appeared out of nowhere and you are entirely disorientated. We Don't Know What Tomorrow Brings has a similar bite to it, although sounding more straightforward and direct. It feels like the little brother to In Rainbows' Bodysnatchers with its crunchy guitars and snarled vocals. A Hairdryer is a twangy and groovy song that has a great moment where the track builds and builds to a climax that doesn't actually come, instead moving into a much more restrained lengthy outro, which I think is quite a creative and subversive bit of song writing.

Two ballads sit at the centre of the record, being Open The Floodgates and Free In the Knowledge. The former features Thom crooning about fame and the expectations of live shows, where fans only want to see the singles and not the slow deep cuts and heart wrenching moments. The song is pretty beautiful with the twinkling electronics and piano chords. Free In The Knowledge is a more traditional acoustic rock ballad about hoping for better days and the concepts of 'the truth will come out' and free speech. Its perfectly serviceable, however doesn't quite do it for me. It just feels a little impersonal for a slow acoustic ballad. There is also a moment on the song which Thom sounds like Chris Martin, which exemplifies the sort of nearly-radio 2 listener appropriate the song comes across.

The record closes with Skrting On the Surface, which brings back the jazz elements from earlier on in the record and has existed as a half finished Radiohead song for years (occasionally being played at live shows). Much like The Smoke, the jazz instrumentation lifts this song up considerably, with the base song kind of feeling like it never ended up on a project before now for a reason. Its just okay, not awful but not remarkable either. The swells of saxophone also feel sort of bolted onto the track to give it some weight and intensity to end the album on and don't really gel all that well with the core song here.

ALFAA is a good album, Thom and Johnny are insanely talented songwriters and there are some great moments on here. However it does feel a little unremarkable considering it sounds so similar to a main Radiohead album and doesn't do that much that we haven't already heard from them. There's no serious dips in quality here or weird diversions into completely different styles, so as an album in itself it flows really well and is easy to listen to. It's basically more Radiohead if you like Radiohead.

Top Tracks: You Will Never Work In Television Again, Pana-vision, Thin Thing, Open The Floodgates, A Hairdryer, We Don't Know What Tomorrow Brings

7/10

Black Country, New Road - "Ants From Up There" (2022)

Quickly following up from their breakthrough debut last year, Black Country, New Road's second album feels notable in quite a few ways. Much like their fellow scene contemporaries, black midi, the group have change up their sound a great deal for their sophomore record. However, where black midi traded the most abrasive elements of their sound for something less harsh, yet more technically complex and experimental; BC, NR have switched their experimental and jazz leanings for a much softer fusion of post-rock and chamber pop, with some actual pop hooks to boot. The record is also significant because the band announced the departure of lyricist and vocalist Isaac Woods just days before the records release to prioritise his own mental health. It's important to acknowledge that as the record is clearly revolved around Isaac's mental state with some deeply personal and haunting lyrics.

The record runs as if it is a break up album, although it is hard to to tell whether that break up is recent, or something Isaac is struggling with even a long time afterwards. But it also feels so much deeper than that, like a real personal deep dive into Woods' psyche - it's one of those raw, no restraint mental breakdown records that just don't let up. This remedies my only real criticism of their debut, which was the lyrics of the tracks sometimes verged into absurd in-jokes as Woods was voicing his struggles through much more obnoxious and extreme characters. Here, the earnestness of the lyrics resonate so much more deeply, despite how sad and crushing they may be.

Accompanying the more grounded and consistent lyrical approach, are more sonically consistent and mainstream-palatable instrumentals. Gone are the dramatic shifts from klezmer to jazz to abrasive noise rock. All of the tracks here combine a mix of chamber pop and art rock and post-rock, and this consistent style allows for the impeccable song writing to shine even more so on this than For the first time. Despite half the tracks running over 6 minutes (some well past that), each song is so incredibly tight and perfectly paced. Instrumental switch-ups and swells come in at just the right times, with one of my favourite being the transition of Bread Song from meandering melancholy to tense regret just from the addition of the drums. The the complete switch-ups of the multi staged 12 minute closer, Basketball Shoes, keeps me engaged for the entire runtime; and I can't not mention the massive, cathartic swells of the choruses of Good Will Hunting and The Place Where He Inserted the Blade. They hit as these massive walls of raw emotion that you just can't help but be moved by.

Chaos Space Marine is the poppiest song the band has ever written, being a three and a half minute glam rock / piano rock song about how Isaac feels so disconnected from reality that he compares himself to a space marine. The song just goes for it in the second half and doesn't let up. The following song, Concorde, is much more of a slow burn; slowly building to an intense finale where the ornate chamber pop instrumentation comes crashing down. This song, along with Good Will Hunting, is the most overtly breakup-song the album gets, with lyrics as straight up as "I miss you" and "I was made to love you". The penultimate song, Snow Globes, breaks into cacophonous free drumming towards its end as Isaac repeatedly sings "Snow globes don't shake on their own", alluding to maybe how stuck he feels, looking to someone or something greater for help. The only part of the record that doesn't feel quite at the same level as the rest is the much calmer and reserved duo of Haldern and Mark's Theme. They are still both incredibly well written tunes, and I get that the album needs some breathing room, but they just lack that one moment of just complete awe that every other track here has at least once.

Honestly this album is phenomenal, and is such a great evolution from an already great debut. It proves that trading experimentation and novelty for accessibility is not a bad thing at all. It's still not a pop album, it's long, slow and deeply sad; but the song writing is brilliant - and some of the hooks will definitely be rattling around your head after you listen. This is probably going to be the best album I'll listen to this year, and it came out in February - its just that good!

Top Tracks: Chaos Space Marine, Concorde, Bread Song, Good Will Hunting, The Place Where He Inserted the Blade, Snow Globes, Basketball Shoes

9/10

Elbow - "Flying Dream 1" (2021)

 

Elbow have spent the past couple of years in lockdown quite reflectively, reissuing vinyls of all their previous albums, adding previously unavailable live albums onto streaming, and releasing a 20th anniversary edition of their debut, Asleep In The Back, complete with their earliest EPs and B-sides as bonus tracks. This mentality has clearly rolled over into this new record, with tracks like the title track and The Seldom Seen Kid referencing previous songs and albums in the bands catalogue. Written in lockdown, and then recorded in the Theatre Royal in Brighton before it reopened, the record sounds both live and warm; yet airy and quiet - like Guy Garvey and co are playing to an empty audience. Which is kind of what they are doing.

Written without the usual idea of an album cycle consisting of radio-ready singles and performing live on tour; the band has gone further down the subtle and gentle route they have been starting to head towards with their past couple of albums. This is the biggest departure from the anthems of The Seldom Seen Kid and Build A Rocket Boys era of the band. There's not a single soaring anthem for TV montages or crunchy, bluesy guitar riff on here. All 10 tracks are slow, patient ballads with beautiful instrumentation reflecting on good times gone by and the small joyous things in life that we all had to focus on to get by during much of 2020 and 2021.

In typical fair for Elbow, the songs here are quality. This is a band that just doesn't release bad songs, even 9 albums in. However, I will say this is perhaps the Elbow album I've connected with the least on release. I think its more due to where I am in my life currently, 2021 has been a whirlwind, and songs about quiet moments with your family and memories of old friends. I feel like I would've found more connection to this record if it actually came out in lockdown; rather than the frenzied rush of life afterwards. Like I said, though, it is still a quality record with some really enjoyable songs on it.

The two singles are particular highlights, being truly beautiful ballads that just feel so pure and heartfelt. Six Words is a patient love song that slowly unravels from stripped back, plucked orchestration to a much fuller and warmer sound filled with drums and bass. The Seldom Seen Kid is an ode to Bryan Glancy, a late friend of the band, and captures the feelings of nostalgia and longing so perfectly. Garvey sings to his wife "Babe, if you met him" and it feels so bittersweet and pure against the open airy woodwind instrumentation and emotional piano solo.

The first half of the record on the whole feels quite cold, almost as you can feel the emptiness of the theatre. Flying Dream 1 and Is It a Bird feel stark and simple, barely filling the mix out with a lot of empty space. They have some beautiful lyrics and melodies, but they don't flaunt them. After the Eclipse sits in-between them and is certainly a much warmer sounding song. It is dreamy and woozy, with very Pink Floyd-esque guitar lines and vocal melodies. It sounds just like a hazy summer sunset, but is still very reserved and timid. Calm and Happy rounds out the first half with perhaps the calmest and simplest song yet. Here you can really feel the emptiness of the theatre; with the revering twangs of the guitar of the walls. All of these songs are really well written, but their placement makes the record feel like it takes a while to get going. The only song that feels like it fully unravels and lets itself go in the first half is Six Words.

The second half kicks off with the much more melancholic and powerful Come On, Blue. It's still a slow tune, but the waves of hazy synths and Guy's much more prominent vocals make it feel so much more present than a lot of the first half. The Only Road is much more up-tempo and upbeat. The plodding drums and simple strummed guitar fit perfectly to the lyrics about Guy Garvey going on a road trip with his wife and child. It might be the cutest and most wholesome song the band has ever made, and they have always been ones for soppy sentimentality. Red Sky Radio (Baby Baby Baby) is this half spoken word, half sung song with some beautiful elements to it. The lyrics are great, and the instrumentation is the most powerful on the record up to that point. But it doesn't quite come together, I think due to the songs deliberately off-balance nature. Like it is a really beautiful song at its core, but trying desperately to be rough around the edges and unkempt. The closer is the closest we get to a traditional Elbow anthemic single, being a euphoric blue-eyed soul song dedicated to his young son, aptly titled What Am I Without you. The electric organ and bouncy 60s doo-wap rhythm give it a really timeless nature and is such a hopeful way to end quite a quiet and reflective release from the band.

Elbow are my favourite band, and their records always end up being the soundtrack to my life at various stages; so while I'm not quite in love with Flying Dream 1 right now, I know there will be a day when I will be head over heals for this record. As it stands right now, Elbow's song writing and musicianship is as still as on point as it always has been, and reflects a level of stability and content that I'm sure I would connect with I wasn't in such a hectic stage in my life.

Top Tracks: After The Eclipse, Is It A Bird, Six Words, Come On, Blue, The Only Road, The Seldom Seen Kid, What Am I Without You

7/10