Delightfully burbling bass, erratically barked vocals sounding like assorted karate calls kick off this LP from quarter Scandinavia. From there, as the lyrics arrive, Nondescript American Accents becomes a lively, pop mannered indie tune in the manner of Vampire Weekend at their most buoyant and doe-eyed. The guitars are light and breezy, there’s cooing background vocals and tweety synths all wrapped around a jovial little lead riff. It’s a pleasant start to this record, whilst second track Foxy marries a folksy arrangement with often yelped twee vocals, and it arrives at a rose-tinted and uplifting conclusion.
The tempo slows a little for Gap Year Kids, with falsetto choruses finding the band coo; ‘Fly by the seat of your pants/Take a chance/You might find romance’, before slumping back into the downtempo Graham Coxon-like verses. There’s an air of The Boy Least Likely To on the title track, a breezy tune lead by Tom and Warrick’s guitars, whilst Nadim softly sings ‘God willing, I’m making a killing.’ The verses often sound quite close of Blur‘s Coffee & TV though this band don’t have the art-rock urges that pervaded that band’s work at the time, instead this is a strictly cheery, lightweight tune that leaves as jauntily as it arrived and skips chirpily into the Summery rhythms of K-Fed, in fact this one feels very much like Paul Simon‘s Call Me Al though drifting into snappy Squeeze-esque mini-choruses.
There’s some nicely delivered scattershot lyrics on Case of the Kicked in Door, with Nadim creating a pleasingly arch sing-song style that bounds whimsically into the dreamy choruses. Elsewhere I Killed Yr Lover has a suitably 80s sound considering its Prince-like spelling, and it features Vicky Butcher dueting with Nadim rather wonderfully, it’s a magnificent flourish that breathes new life into the record when it threatened to get a little wearying after the pleasant by lengthy preceding track, plus it’s joyful to hear the two sing; ‘I am deranged and sadistic, and Christ it feels good!’ over retro sounding synths.
Stuck In The 90s is a decent tune, but has to live under the shadow of its predecessor, and perhaps it’s a bit too much of a by-the-book indie-rocker to make much of an impression as a result. Penultimate track The Blindman slows the mood in anticipation of the album’s end, it’s a sombre and thoughtful track with a nice droll vocal that sits in grubby contrast to the ascending electric guitars. Clarkson Drive is a jaunty anthem to Top Gear that wryly celebrates the titular tit especially on its giddily sweary choruses. It’s kind of a bathotic climax to the LP after the maudlin penultimate track, but it’s a smirksome and fun finale that smartly throws in some drivetime style guitar riffs with a knowing wink.
Ultimately I think it is the joy and sense of humour, reflected especially in that final track, that keeps this record afloat, there are moments here and there where it’s easy to dismiss this as just another indie pop album, but across the board there’s more than enough imagination, invention and great tunes, with nicely observed lyrics, to make this a particularly worthwhile listen. A very fine debut indeed.
[Rating:4]
