All music should be this wonderful.
The debut by this talented foursome of art school graduates from the UK is a feast of joyful exuberance. It surges and bounces, and jangles and jumps. It mixes in a heady dose of The Beach Boys, and yes even The Monkees, with tight chant-like harmonies, gorgeous melodies that slip and slide with poptastic pleasure all around your aural canals, and an energy that is infectious beyond all reason.
It is without a doubt the most original, vibrant body of music I have heard in a long while, and I listen to a huge amount of music. I was worried, I must admit, that “Default”, the lead single, which was released seeming eons ago, was the summit of their creativity, but my fears were for nought. For these talented guys have run up to the summit, danced like melodic maniacs around it, and then fired up a rocket and blasted into the musical stratosphere.
Yes, it’s that good. There is a richness and fun to it that “Default”, awesome though it is, only hints at it, which makes my concerns about it being a one-off all the more ridiculous. From the lead song “Introduction” which leads with chirping crickets before throwing in jaunty synth swirls to the surging drive of “Hail Bop, which leaps from the starting gate with a pounding melodic urgency to the tap-dancing claps of “Firewater”, this is music drenched in psychedelic one-of-a-kind sunny pop vibes.
It also takes a delightful toe-tapping detour into country-esque pop. Now I am not what you would call country’s music key demographic by any measure, but the guitar strumming that percolates through “Love’s Dart” and the driving Johnny Cash beat of “Wor” are enough to make me sign up for line dancing classes. Well, almost…
YOU MUST GET THIS ALBUM.
If you are longing for music that isn’t afraid to take chances.
If you’re craving songs that take some of pop’s finest moments and then make them wholly their own.
If you love wild sonic experimentation that throws everything but the kitchen sink into the music and succeeds beyond your wildest dreams.
And if you miss the days when a band’s music would plaster a big grin on your face the size of several large city blocks…
To live without its bouncy poptastic goodness any longer than you have to is unthinkable.