Reviews by ikejiri

Entertainment!
One of the good things for me about that 2000s indie-garage era, and Franz Ferdinand in particular, was finding out about this album. I loved it as soon as I heard it back then and I still do - it’s right up my angular, post punk shithole, all scratchy guitars, thumping drums, driving bass and student-tinged situationist sloganeering.

They weren’t necessarily the first to mix funk or dub with punk, but it’s such a great combination of the three, but with added disco (At Home He’s a Tourist’s bass intro is basically Chic), that it still feels fresh and exciting 47 years later.

It’s great throughout, but the opening 4 songs are particularly strong. Ether’s broken drum pattern, bass hook, slashing guitars and lyrics poking at superficiality set the tone and is followed by the excellent Natural’s Not It, I love the riff, but the bass and drums are superb, especially when the they drop out and come back in around the 2.15 mark. Not Great Men’s icily propulsive funk groove and oddly catchy chorus are fantastic before the frantic, driving, sweat stained grubby lust of Damaged Goods. There’s more excellent Bernard Edwards-esque bass to Return the Gift and more cold punkish funk on Guns Before Butter before another galloping punk-ish track in I Found that Essence Rare. Glass carries echoes of Television and Contract has a great, discordant feel, and I love the chorus lyrics, but, despite liking them these two songs are probably the closest to a lull, before the superb At Home He’s A Tourist, a fantastic disco-punk-funk song (essentially the template for The Rapture if you remember them). 5.45 carries more echoes of Television, and is interestingly prescient with its lyrics about watching mayhem and bloodshed on 18” screens. And Love Like Anthrax is a super closer, full of punk-psychedelic guitars and a superb, insistent bass line, a fantastically cold and dysfunctional view of love as a deadly infection.

A superb album, combining fraught, taut, frantic, aggressive funk, disco, punk and student-adjacent politics with some excellent songs. Easy 5.
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Playlist submission: Could be nearly any song, Natural’s Not In It is an enduring favourite, but I’ll go At Home He’s a Tourist

Swordfishtrombones
This almost feels like it should have come after Rain Dogs, sounding much more like a ruminative and melancholic hangover to Rain Dogs’ more ebullient night before. But Rain Dogs is actually the night after, and this is the morning before.

Like RD this ticks off the checklist of midgets and drunkards, but rather than some of the bluesy raucousness of that album, this maintains a more slippery jazziness, creating more oddly compelling atmospheres and moods, with more elements of sadness and regret, Johnsburg, Illinois or Town with no Cheer or Soldier’s Things or the rather beautiful Rainbirds for example, as well as some New Orleans-yness, as on In the Neighbourhood and Just Another Sucker on the Vine. It doesn’t completely eschew some of the RD spirit though, - Underground, Down, Down, Down and particularly 16 Shells from a 30.6 have a great stomping weight to them.

Also the more I listen to TW the more I think he must have been the inspiration for the underground level music on Super Mario World, something like Shore Leave or the title tracks’ rhythm and organ parts share a feeling I think.

Whichever way round they go this does feel like a companion piece to Rain Dogs and I enjoyed them equally I think, so I’ll go for the same rating, a high 4
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Playlist submission: Johnsburg, Illinois

Highly Evolved
A very nice blast from the past, the songs I liked at the time I still like, the Grunge-Britpop-Garage derivations of Highly Evolved, Outtathaway and Get Free, and the Verve-esque moody rock of 1969.

Of the rest of it, while some is fairly pedestrian post grunge alt-rock, some of it is far more interesting and varied than I remember, even if not always totally successful. The psychedelic spaciness of Autumn Shade, the squelching synthy pulse of Sunhinin’, the harmony laden Country Yard, the very Supergrass-punk hybrid of Ain’t No Room.

Despite some undoubted highlights and a nice line in eclectic influences, it does occasionally get weighed down by grunginess, and I am left with a slight feeling of bratty inessentialness for some reason. However it’s still a good nostalgic listen that I could easily return to if the mood strikes. 3.
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Playlist submission: Highly Evolved

Mask
I was looking forward to this as I’ve enjoyed most of the late 70s and early 80s gothicy post-punky albums we’ve had - it's very often a little sweet spot of interesting ideas and nice bass.

However, aside from a couple of songs, I did find this a little underwhelming, it has all the elements I should like - drums, bass, scratchy guitars and portentous singing, but apart from Hair of the Dog, Dancing, In Fear of Fear and the truly excellent and stand out Kick in the Eye it never quite seems to gel for me, and it feels like he leans too much into Bowie-isms and it lacks the grooves or rhythmic interest of a Killing Joke or Suicide, or the melodic quality of The Cure or Bowie himself.

Still I did like it enough to think I will come back to it in future, so I’ll go 3.
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Playlist submission: Kick in the Eye

Elvis is Back!
This sounds great for 1960, the difference in clarity and depth from his debut in 1956 is really noticeable, and his voice is superb, smoother and more resonant and much more mature.

However it clearly lacks the punch and thrill of his debut, or the lived in r'n'b of his end of the 60s albums, or his enjoyably OTT Vegas period. There’s obviously nothing wrong with aiming for mass appeal, but stylistically and in song choice the edges have been filed down so much it feels denuded of any kind personality, let alone excitement or sexiness, and if you hadn’t heard anything else by him you might wonder why he’s so revered.

It’s never bad though, even if it is a bit cloying in places, it’s mainly just completely fine if forgettable, with perhaps only It Feels So Right standing out for its genuine bluesy feel and earthy vocal, with the similar Like a Baby not far behind. The Girl of My Best Friend is also a nice song of course.

I think it's between a 2 and a 3, probably closer to 2 - while not bad it doesn’t feel historically significant or musically interesting enough to come back two. My mind is telling me 2, but my body, my body is telling me threeeeeeeeee. I think I’ll go 2 as realistically I won’t come back and I was very happy to not have to listen again after my 3rd or 4th go round.
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Playlist submission: It Feels So Right

Honky Tonk Heroes
It’s hard not to reference Merle yesterday, and this feels like a significant evolution from I’m a Lonesome Fugitive. The sound is far, far better; richer, deeper and warmer (exemplified by the superb bass - in tone and playing and in its place in the mix), giving the whole thing a loose, easy going charm, and it's a great listen

I also prefer Waylon’s voice (not least as he sang the Dukes of Hazzard theme tune) - he has a much less stylised country timbre than Merle and is much more appealing, especially in combination with the excellent, vaguely rock’n’roll tinged music.

Although things like the guitar on the title track carry those rock’n’roll influences, it’s still a recognisably country album, with some excellent melodies and lyrics and some great songs; the title track, the melancholic Old Five and Dimers, the superb, loping and fiddling Willy the Wandering Gypsy (despite the mad fade out), Omaha, the excellent Ride Me Down Easy, the skipping, picaresque Ain’t No God in Mexico and the Elvis-ish gospel of We Had it All.

Overall it’s a great combination of Waylon’s charisma and Billy Joe Shaver’s songs, and is an excellent album, a clear step past a lot of 50s and 60s country albums. And it's only 27 minutes long.

Not sure if it’s a 4 or a 5. It perhaps does feel a little lightweight in places so I think I’ll settle on a high 4.
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Playlist submission: Between Willy the Wandering Gypsy, Ride Me Down Easy and We Had it All…I’ll go Ride Me Down Easy

I’m a Lonesome Fugitive
I found this to be a perfectly pleasant 30 minutes of late 60s country, with hints at the Outlaw country of the early 70s, but with strong roots in the late 50s/early 60s sound. Indeed, if you told me it was released in 1960 I would believe you, and that sense of conservatism slightly undercuts the Outlaw-ism.

He’s got a lovely, expressive voice, the playing is skilled, there are some really nice songs, and he is a very good country storyteller, those classic country lyrics being one of the best parts of it. But, for me, it does struggle to rise above pleasantness - in the main it's an enjoyable but not hugely memorable listen, with only My Rough and Rowdy Ways really standing out.

I would happily listen again, but I think there are other albums in this field I would go to over this first, not least the next album on the list, so I’ll go for a 3.
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Playlist submission: My Rough and Rowdy Ways

Cosmo’s Factory
I do love the choogly shuffle of CCR, exemplified by the excellent opener Ramble Tamble, although I can also see how it might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

It is mine though, and I am happy to drink in this draught of swampy-bluesy-countrified rock’n’roll, and imagine myself out in the bayou, feet tapping away in the humid evening, not drinking cans of beer, but cups of tea of the music I’m listening to whilst imagining being there. It really is a hall of mirrors.

The hit rate of great songs on here is quite remarkable, 8 of the 11 tracks - Ramble Tamble, Travelin’ Band, Lookin’ Out My Back Door, Run Through the Jungle, Up Around the Bend, Who’ll Stop the Rain, I Heard it Through the Grapevine and Long as I Can See the Light - are all on pretty much every CCR best of. Of the three remaining tracks Ooby Dooby is probably the weakest, and although they aren’t at the same level as the rest of the songs the bluesy r’n’b of Before You Accuse Me and My Baby Left Me are decent.

It may not be the most inventive album, and it’s kind of interesting how self consciously retro they were for the rock’n’roll that was only 10 or fifteen years old, but it’s a great album, and the number of classics in it pushes it to a five for me.
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Playlist submission: Ramble Tamble or Long as I Can See the Light…Long as I Can See the Light

Tidal
Based on already loving Criminal and how much I enjoyed Fetch the Boltcutters, I really wanted to like this more than I actually ended up, finding some of it great and, unfortunately, quite a chunk of it musically and melodically pretty flat.

Sleep to Dream, Shadow Boxer and Carrion are excellent, musically and thematically dramatic, and Criminal is superb, a brilliant song. Lyrically the rest is good, but musically I really struggled to connect with it, everything feeling pretty horizontal and lacklustre, none of the melodies or piano parts really grabbing me.

The good bits are still great though, and maybe it will click if I come back to it later, so I think I’ll give it a 3, even if I was, sadly, underwhelmed by it on this occasion.
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Playlist submission: Criminal

In A Silent Way
I was into this from the first note, finding it just the right amount of jazz, just the right amount of rock and just the right amount of fusion, making it a brilliantly undulating and expressive 40 minutes of music.

Shh/Peaceful evokes a lovely, graceful, shifting mood, circling around the main theme, repetitive but never boring. It's a superb piece of music, reminding me a little of Lalo Schiffrin’s soundtracks in places, particularly Dirty Harry.

In A Silent Way/It’s About That Time is equally fantastic, surely a huge influence on Music for Airports, but it also reminded me of Talk Talk’s final two albums, Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock, in the way the music gently unfurls over the opening passage and gently winds down of the closing passage, and John McLaughlin’s superb guitar playing brings Shuggie Otis to mind too.

More proof, if proof be need be, that the Overton Jazz Window (Overton Window of Jazz? Jazz Overton Window?) has shifted significantly for me since starting the list, and this is definitely one of the top discoveries, I absolutely loved it. 5.
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Playlist submission: Could be either piece, but I’ll go with In A Silent Way/It’s About That Time.

Kilimanjaro
I really enjoyed Peggy Suicide, but I’m only a little familiar Teardrop Explodes, so I was keen to give this a listen.

I do know Reward of course, although it was only added to this after it was a successful single, but you can immediately tell they are contemporaries of Echo and the Bunnymen and that 80s Liverpool cosmic speckled post-punk scene - it's full of rhythmic urgency and throbbing, driving, melodic bass. However, unlike E&TB they don’t have a guitarist to match Will Sargeant, and although the organ and horns are great, it does feel like it's missing an ingredient like him to really elevate or differentiate the songs.

But it is a fine album in that style, and none of the songs are bad at all, but there are a couple of songs that I really liked; Ha Ha I’m Drowning, Treason, Poppies in the Field and When I’m Dreaming.

On balance I think this ends up a high 3, would happily stick it on again, even if I would probably head to E&TB first.
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Playlist submission: Poppies in the Field

Central Reservation
Trailer Park is irriguous with memories of Grey, She Cries Your Name in particular, but I’m not sure I’ve listened to this, which feels a bit strange considering how much I listened to TP.

This feels very long at nearly an hour, and the ‘folktronica’ of it is so redolent of late 90s dinner party music, and although it sounds and feels different from Tracy Chapman it does share a similar unthreatening placidity to it, a slightly horizontal sense of somniferousness, so much so that I kept finding myself losing interest at points, and particularly over the last 10 or 20 minutes.

It starts off brilliantly though with Stolen Car, an excellent track, a great melody and the guitar that sounds like a cello and morse code is fantastic. Sweetest Decline has a nice jazziness to it, even if it does carry the slight flatus of the cocktail bar, but Couldn’t Cause Me Harm is really good, more excellent guitar and another great melody.

So Much More is one of the lulls, passing me by on each listen. However the next two songs don’t pass me by; Pass in Time is a lovely duet with a superb string arrangement and the title track is excellent, the pizzicato sounds, strings and guitars supporting the song beautifully.

Stars All Seem to Weep is another dip, the whole sound of it feels spiritless and dated, its colourlessness is eye-catchingly mundane, and it’s not surprising that Ben Watt from EBTG produced it, as that is their stock in trade. However, a little like So Much More, it's followed up by a great song, in this case Love Like Laughter, which has a lovely flowing melody and organ line. I think Blood Red River and Devil Song suffer a little from being side by side, they seem to be thematically and sonically commutual, and although they are both good songs, they do contribute to that sense of drift over the back half. I wasn’t keen on the lo-fi sound of Feel to Believe on the first few listens, but it grew on me, the slightly raw and unpolished feel is welcome after the slumberousness of the preceding few tracks. Ben Watt then returns to spray some of his trademark hebetude all over the final track, and although this one fares better than Stars All Seem to Weep, it isn’t a patch on the original version earlier on the album.

10 or 15 minutes shorter (and without the Ben Watt produced tracks) I think it would be an easy 4, even pushing a 5, but at an hour the somnifacient sense of drift does creep in and vaguely diminishes the whole, perhaps even putting it on the threshold of 3 and 4. But, ultimately, there is too much great music on here, particularly in the first half, and her superbly charismatic, agreeably distinctive voice and songwriting skill makes it a 4.
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Playlist submission: Central Reservation

Tracy Chapman
I’ve never actually listened to this.

Although it's not completely overwhelming, it’s a bit of a shame the late 80s production (hello panpipes!) and slight sheen of anodyne uber-competency session musicianship gives it such a strong scent of unthreatening coffee shop background music, as underneath that its an album full of very good songs and at turns bittersweet, angry, sad, resigned, personal and socially pointed lyrics.

Talkin’ Bout a Revolution, Fast Car, Baby Can I Hold You Tonight and Mountains o’ Things show what a great songwriter she is. Probably the only song that doesn’t work for me is She’s Got Her Ticket, with its slightly lifeless reggae, and perhaps the bluesiness of For My Lover doesn’t quite cath fire, although it is still good, especially lyrically.

But Baby Can I Hold You Tonight in particular really is a superb song, a fantastic melody, one of those you could easily assume has been around since the 70s, with its echoes of Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell and the singer songwriter, Laurel Canyon scene. I think that scene does reverberate across the album, there are quite a few parallels, even if it is missing the sun dappled analogue warmth of that sound.

It’s a great album of great songs, with only the occasional dip, but the production doesn’t serve it brilliantly, suffusing it with a slightly soporific miasma, which does sometimes undercut the potency, but despite that its a rock solid 4.
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Playlist submission: Baby Can I Hold You

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
I can appreciate the experimentalism and how this must have sounded for 1967 (although the extreme stereo panning hasn’t aged brilliantly), a combination of acid enhanced childish whimsy and droning space rock, while also finding it a not particularly engaging listen.

I wasn’t hugely into The Madcap Laughs, and I think I struggle to attune myself to Syd Barret’s songwriting and melodic style, which makes up the majority of this. And I think you can see the Gilmour shaped hole, missing his brooding, introspective bluesiness. Clearly they were a very different band at this point, and when they do hint at the atmospheric music they would go on to make on things like Astronomy Domine, Pow R Tc H and Interstellar Overdrive I like it, but elsewhere the green frog in bog, cat in house, hats for a queen and bells for a king whimsy doesn’t really resonate for me.

I think this is probably more contextually interesting than musically interesting, although I know lots of people absolutely love 60s psych, and I appreciate the influence it has had and the sense of novelty for the time. But musically I’m not as appreciative, so I think this settles as a low 3. I may come back and try again, but I would probably head toward their later music, once Gilmour is onboard.
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Playlist submission: Interstellar Overdrive

All Hope is Gone
I’m reluctant to say this is worthless, as obviously it resonates with a lot of people, but it does virtually nothing for me, to the point where, like with much of this type of music, it just all feels pointless, this time with added Linkin Park-esque emo nu-metal accents, although it seems about 8 years too late (and about half an hour too long)

Also, reading about it, it's interesting how snobbishness pervades every genre. It seems many metalheads think they are frauds and plastic metallers, I guess because they achieved a somewhat mainstream degree of success, and that they aren’t hard or heavy enough, especially on this one where the deign to deploy some actual singalong choruses, as on Psychosocial.

While I don’t think this is truly execrable, and it certainly has moments when a melodic sensibility pokes through, it’s more that 770-odd albums any post-70s metal now just feels like a cul de sac of ever diminishing returns, if indeed there was ever any return in the first place, and there are only so many times you can take someone saying they don’t believe in anything. I’m probably never even going to think about this album again, let alone listen again. 1.
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Playlist submission: Dead Memories

Gasoline Alley
I’m pleased Rod’s early solo period, when he made his best music, is well represented on the list, with this and Every Picture Tells A Story. EPTAS is probably my favourite, but all of his first four albums are great, when he was making his best music, before his mega stardom arrived.

It’s obviously similar to the music he was making at the same time with the Faces, with Ronnie on every track and the others making significant contributions. But it has a more subdued and melancholic edge, which is when I think his voice works best, and is built around acoustic guitars with noticeable folk and country accents, rather than the laddish, more raucous sound of the Faces.

Gasoline Alley is a lovely opener and his take on Its All Over Now is great, although it is a song I’ve heard so often that I have fallen out of love with it. Only a Hobo shows that Dylan is a touchstone for the country-folk feel of the album, and it's a superb vocal. My Way of Giving is a great song, and this is probably the best version, and the take on Country Comfort suits the down home feel of the album,

I absolutely love his take on Cut Across Shorty, amplifying the country feel in the original with the fiddle and giving it a great groove. Lady Day is a lovely tender little tune, although with a slightly odd mix, and Jo’s Lament carries on with that feel and is another great tune. You’re My Girls ends things on an uptempo note, a great bluesy-funk track.

It’s a little loose around the edges, but that’s part of its unpretentious charm, and although of course it's not an absolute top drawer album, it's still a fantastically warm and easy going listen, with great vocals and playing, landing comfortably in the mid to high 4s.
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Playlist submission: Cut Across Shorty

You are the Quarry
I know English Blood, Irish Heart and that it is an excellent track, but I was expecting to feel similarly about this album as I did Vauxhall and I, in that I can’t shake the feeling of disconnect between Morrissey and his words with the rather generic music.

While I still feel that way about this and the propensity for relatively staid mid tempo guitar rock, I didn’t feel it quite as strongly on this album, America is not the World has a great slinking bassline, Irish Blood, English Heart is great, I’m Not Sorry has a lovely feel to it and First of the Gang to Die has a great brightness to it, and there are some nice glam touches here and there. But it still has a tang of plodding mundanity to it musically.

Irish Blood, English Heart and First of the Gang to Die are probably the best songs lyrically, with humour and a sense of drama, and while some other lyrics feel a little out of date (I imagine the anti-American sentiment of the opening track is no longer applicable to his current worldview), there seems to be A LOT more moaning than Vauxhall and I. You can’t help thinking the reason that he’s got no one to love him in I Have Forgiven Jesus is that he’s not actually that likeable, and things like The World is Full of Crashing Bores and How Can Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel re-enforce that tiresomeness lack of self awareness. Although he has always had that strain running through his lyrics, in the Smiths he was a little more oblique and imaginative, using humour and irony, whereas on here it feels more like straightforward and lumpen whining.

I probably liked it more than Vauxhall and I, but equally I’m not really enthused by it. It’s been an interesting listen, but really I can’t imagine that I’ll listen again, so I’ll go 2.
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Playlist submission: First of the Gang to Die

Off the Wall
Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough is undeniable, an ecstatic, joyous swirl of strings, woos, drums, guitars and sex. It sounds fantastic at the hand of Quincy Jones, and its arranged brilliantly, the guitar running through, the breakdowns, the horns, the strings, a genius song. I certainly can’t get enough of it.

Rock with You, Workin’ Day and Night and Get on the Floor follow and they are fantastic disco-funk-soul too, all brilliant tracks, even if they don’t quite have the same infectious jubilance of Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough. The title track makes it 5 bangers from 5 songs, Rod Temperton borrowing his own bass hook from Boogie Nights to make a great slinky disco-funk track.

There’s a bit of lull between Off the Wall and It’s the Falling in Love, or at least Girlfriend, She’s Out of My Life and I Can’t Help It struggle to match the level of the previous 5 songs. Girlfriend is probably the best of these, although the signature Macca jauntiness feels slightly out of step with the rest of the disco-funk. I’m not generally a fan of MJ’s ballads, but She’s Out of My Life is probably his best, and although it's very nice, I can somewhat take it or leave it. I Can’t Help It is fine also, but lacks the dynamism of the first side, recalling Stevie’s dip post Songs in the Key of Life. It’s The Falling in Love picks things back up with a great bit of soul-pop and Burn This Disco Out closes with another disco-funk banger.

I think I have always preferred this over Thriller, but looking back I think I understarred Thriller. Although I maintain Baby Be Mine, Human Nature and The Lady in My Life aren’t that great, the stone cold classics on there should outweigh them, and similarly I think the superb disco-funk of 2/3rds of this album outweigh the little second side lull, so this, as should Thriller be, is a 5.
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Playlist submission: Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough

Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo
All the times I’ve listened to this album I don’t think I registered until today that Eno produced it - yet again his hand is across so much of the music I love. Reading further, although they were seemingly resistant to Eno, Bowie was also involved, and I’d be fascinated to hear what the Devo-Eno-Bowie-Holger Czukay-Dieter Moebius jam session sounded like.

Anyhow to this, a brilliantly offbeat new wave pop album. I love that as deliberately odd and idiosyncratic as Devo are, it never feels forced, the absurdism is playful and humorous, and beneath all the art-rock situationism I think there is genuine sincerity and meaning, as veiled as it is in jerky oddballism.

Although none of that would work if they weren’t such a great band with a great ear for a hook, wrapped up in tense, jumpy songs, like a kind of ADHD younger brother to Talking Heads. The whole thing is excellent, but the first side is particularly strong with Uncontrollable Urge, Satisfaction, Mongoloid and Jocko Homo.

Uncontrollable Urge is a great distillation of the album, a jerky groove, shouty vocals and an odd kind of catchiness. Their take on Satisfaction is superb, turning it into a kind of robotic groove and the frenetic vocals capturing the same sense of frustration and alienation as the original but transposed to the late 70s. Praying Hands starts with a bit of pre-B-52s retro-futurism before yanking it sideways with some synthy business and Space Junk is a great bit of throwaway art-punk. Mongoloid is fantastic, a motorik beat and synth line and catchy chorus, and Jocko Homo is a brilliant bit of jumpy mechanicalism, with a humorous art pop sensibility.

The second side perhaps feels more traditional in the sense the synths are less prominent, but it's an excellent set of nervy and scratchy post punk songs, the edgy feel of Too Much Paranoias, the galloping Come Back Jonee, the jittery Sloppy before the squelchy and science lab rockabilly of Shrivel-Up. But Gut Feeling is the standout on the second side, a relatively conventional rock song, but with a catchy, relentless energy and an excellent synth line.

Its a great album, one of my favourites. 5.
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Playlist submission: Could be many, I’ll go Jocko Homo

In Our Heads
This is strongly tied to memories of living in Mile End and the summer of 2012 Olympics, I listened to this a lot back then, but not as much recently. It's still great though.

It starts off brilliantly - Motion Sickness, How Do You Do, Don’t Deny Your Heart are all superb. Motion Sickness builds brilliantly, a great opener. How Do You Do is great synth-disco-pop and Don’t Deny Your Heart is just a joyously infectious bit of 80s flecked pop, with hints of early Whitney.

Those three songs are my standouts, but it maintains a great base level of quality, even if it doesn’t necessarily reach the heights of that opening triptych. These Chains has a great nagging propulsion and a great synth bass line, Night and Day is a bit of a banger, Flutes’ pulsing, cascading feel is fantastic, and Always Been Your Love is a lovely bit of keening synth pop.

It’s interesting, they obviously have a degree of 2010s hipsterness about them, but they are very grounded in traditional pop structures - even though they are electronic and synth based, their songs often feel like a transposition of the structures of traditional 4 piece band with bass, rhythm and lead all played on synth (with actual guitars on top too)

Despite this being a great album, I don’t quite think it’s a 5, it has a couple of moments of relative drag to it, so I’ll go for a high 4.
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Playlist submission: Don’t Deny Your Heart