Album Review: The Lottery Winners – The Lottery Winners

The Lottery Winners

The Lottery Winners are a band who are the definition of grafters. They’ve actually been together for over 10 years and through sheer persistence and a love of what they do, they’ve finally released their debut album. Now, I’ve known them for 7/8 years so I am somewhat bias, but this album has been well worth the wait.

The opening track ‘The Meaning of Life’ is typical of what The Lottery Winners are all about as a band. It’s a joyous and uplifting opener, with a catchy chorus that gives you an idea of what to expect from the rest of the album. Then comes two singles that have been released in the last year. ‘Little Things’ and ‘21’ are songs that will stick in your head hours after you’ve listened to them, with memorable choruses and proper singalong moments.

The theme of catchy choruses continues with tracks ‘I Don’t Love You’, ‘That’s Not Entertainment’ and ‘Headlock’, the former, for me, sounding like a modern take on ‘Dizzy’ by The Wonder Stuff (a band who The Lottery Winners have supported in the past). ‘That’s Not Entertainment’ pokes fun at the dreadful reality programmes that a lot of the current generation seem to eat up nowadays.

As the album continues, the indie-pop bangers keep coming. ‘18 To 30’s’ and ‘Hawaii’ lament the state of how the younger generation seem to be wasting their lives away with cheap holidays and the need to get away from everyday life. These are followed by 2 tracks that reward die-hard, long-time fans. ‘Elizabeth’ and ‘I Know’ are tracks that were released well over 5 years ago and were some of the first tracks that I heard when I first started listening to the band. Both have been reworked ever so slightly, but still possess the charm that attracted me to The Lottery Winners in the first place. ‘Elizabeth’ particularly is a gorgeous tune, taking elements of The Smiths and The Housemartins and putting them into a stunning modern pop song.

The album ends with some of singer Thom Rylance’s best lyrics to date on ‘Young Again’. He warns of the dangers of letting life pass you by before you realise you’re old and looking back at your life wishing you’d done more with it. Yes the idea of not letting your life slip away has been done before, but the song really has a special charm to it that makes you want to pack a bag and go and travel around the world.

Overall the album’s 40 minutes fly by before you know it, and you’re left wanting to press the replay button. As a debut album, it does its job perfectly. It introduces you to a band who know how to write big songs, and although the music is by no means ground-breaking, it sets up the band perfectly for the future. Keep an eye out for this band, as this is just the beginning for them…

by Jake Cartledge

Review: Goat Girl – Goat Girl Album

On April 6^th ‘Goat Girl’ released their self entitled debut album into the school playground of up-and-coming bands.  Singed to Rough Trade two years ago, this South London band have taken the time to perfect what can only be described as a brilliantly bold statement of an album. This offering is a lengthy one, even by today’s standards, however even at 19 songs long this album certainly doesn’t feel like a chore to immerse yourself in. From the outset it is clear that Goat Girl’s music demands respect, patience and attention as from the first song ‘Salty sounds’ we hear a very particular atmosphere being created, and it’s one that is rather hard to put your finger on, nevertheless ‘Salty sounds’ is reminiscent of Blur’s ‘Caramel,’ so it’s guaranteed to take you somewhere special. This atmospheric feel is continued perfectly throughout the album with hauntingly beautiful vocal harmonies in every song featuring vocals, and backed up with Libertines esque punk guitar that at times even sounds Led Zeppelin inspired, and in your face lyrics, Goat Girl’s debut LP is something undeniably new and most definitely more than just a face in the crowd.

While successful in creating their own unique sound, don’t assume that means the Goat Girl’s entire album lacks any sort of diversity. From the third song on the album and my personal favourite, ‘Creep’ we immediately see some versatility as it features a folk inspired Fiddle part that completely changes and shapes the dynamic of the song, lying underneath the lyrics and then moving to the forefront of your attention after the chorus creating a punk/folk fusion. As you move further into the forest and become more immersed in this album you’ll come to find ‘Lay down’ at number 11, and it will immediately grab you with no intentions of letting go. Even at just under 3 minutes long this song strongly resembles a guitar part that is familiar to us all, ‘Stairway to heaven.’ Need I say more?

They’re not shy either. Painting a picture of London that most definitely won’t be found in any tourist books. Front woman Clottie paints a very droll but most likely realistic picture of life in the (unnecessarily) big city as is highlighted with the lyrics to ‘Creep’ that read – ‘Creep on the train, with his creepy gold chain… I really want to smash your head in.’ There is a sense of exasperation directed at society that can be heard in Clottie’s voice and lyrics, paired with a stinking attitude born from anger that is reflected perfectly in the build up of instruments to a heavier crescendo through two separate songs on the album named ‘I don’t care part 1’ and ‘I don’t care part 2’ for which the lyrics read ‘I don’t care what the people say cause the people don’t care anyway.’

It is very clear that this band have taken their time to perfect and hone an original sound that can be called their own for this album. A debut album that will leave you grateful for its length, and continue to reward you with new discoveries upon each new listen, I get the feeling that Goat Girl may have set themselves up for something good here. A bold first attempt that will be sure to stand out in the playground and demand everyone’s attention.

By Will Underwood

Album Review: The Aces – When My Heart Felt Volcanic

The Aces were a band I had known of for a while, but I hadn’t ever sat down
and given them a proper listen. When I heard they’d released their debut
album I thought this was a better time than ever to do so.
Their debut album, ‘When My Heart Felt Volcanic’, starts with ‘Volcanic Love’,
immediately you are introduced to the bright indie pop sound given to the
song by the chorus enriched guitars. The song gives a very warm summer time
feeling which along with the catchy chorus entices you and gives a great first
impression, a fantastic song to start with. Following ‘Volcanic Love’ is their
album version of ‘Stuck’ which tells the story of a failing relationship/being
unhappy in a relationship, which seems to be a very common topic lyrically
throughout the album. Though this can easily be forgiven by how catchy and
well written the chorus’ are for pretty much every song.
The album consists of 13 songs, the songs all have a similar sound with slight
changes for each song. Sometimes songs being too similar can let a band/artist
down, just as much as all the songs being completely different can. The Aces
found a very good way to keep it interesting to listen to as well as keeping a
certain sound, a sound that shows they know what’s needed in the recipe for a
great indie pop song.
As the album progresses, the bands musical and tight knit talent becomes obvious by how they experiment with marriaging the interesting and unique melodies within the vocals, and how they use samples and different synth sounds to keep the songs unique but different from eachother. The vocals play one of the biggest roles in an indie
pop song, following a same melody line can sometimes become too
predictable which if done for every song may not give a band the full
recognition they deserve. The Aces have absolutely no problem with this,
which is shown in songs such as ‘Fake Nice’ and ‘Hurricane’.
The band show their interest and knowledge of music technology with songs
such as ‘Lovin’ Is Bible’ and ‘Holiday’, these songs feature sound manipulation
and some interesting synth use. These aspects almost push them towards the
pop sound that you’d expect from the big mainstream chart artists, but I think
despite being close to it, they manage to veer away with the ‘indie’ guitar tone
and the real drum sound.

Overall, I think that ‘When My Heart Felt Volcanic’ is a fantastic album and a
great reflection of the creativity and talent that all the band members acquire.
Normally I’m not particularly keen on Indie Pop but I can make a very big
exception for The Aces because of how catchy the songs are, I hope to see
them live sometime soon.

Written by Brad Holleran

Album Review: The Magic Gang – The Magic Gang

I have been lucky enough to see Brighton four piece, the Magic Gang a couple of times; in 2015 when they were supporting Swim Deep in Liverpool and again at the Leeds Festival in 2016. Well they have now unleashed their first album to the world, it is the eponymously titled ‘The Magic Gang’ which was produced by Jolyon Thomas. The first three tracks; “Oh Saki”, “All This Way” and “Getting Along” get the proceedings off to an infectious rocking start. But then “Alright” is for me just alright. Lyrically they are a smart band and in that department I definitely get a feeling of Blur, but with some excellent harmonies.
I feel that many of the songs here, whilst well written, performed and produced are a little perfunctory. Some of these tunes might well have been album filler tracks for 70s Scottish band Pilot, notably “Caroline” and “Jasmine”. At times the album gets bogged down in, and I hate to say this, a real AOR style. (That’s Adult Oriented Rock and was a description used largely in the US for safe, middle of the road, rock. But even those songs have the knack of getting into your head like the best earworms. When they move into a more ballad-like territory with “Take Care” they handle it well but it still has that whiff of a 70s song (possibly a Beach Boys outtake) that you just haven’t heard for a long while. But then up comes a gem like “Slippin’” which has that laid back laconic feel that Weezer do so well. I do have a favourite here though and that is the sublime “All That I Want Is You”.
I think my expectations for this album having seen them live a couple of times was very, very high and for me it is a good album, but a long way from a great one. There are, however some good signs here for their sophomore release whenever it materialises. It definitely has a happy feel good vibe running throughout. Maybe they are band that for some of us will always seem better live than they are on record. But as with all reviews this is only my opinion and clearly other opinions will be different. So if you love music I still urge you to check this collection out for yourself.

Written by Bill Adamson

Album Review: Fickle Friends – You Are Someone Else

On March 16th 2018, Fickle Friends released their debut album – ‘You are someone else’. The band (originally from Brighton) formed in 2013 and gained notoriety after winning a competition to play at The Big Feastival (Jamie Oliver’s wonderfully posh food and music festival) indicating that this band had a bright future. Five years on and Fickle Friends have finally released their debut album and five years has given them plenty of time to perfect their unique indie, pop and funk style.
The record is a fairly lengthy sixteen songs, however each song is quite different meaning that the album doesn’t drag on, nor does it get boring after several listens. On top of this, Fickle Friends seem to have encapsulated all that was good about 80s synth pop for their LP and this is only bettered by the fact that they’ve placed a modern spin on it, meaning that the music could most be likened to that of The 1975 or Pale Waves, but there are also hints of The Wombats and Viola Beach sprinkled in there. Some of the songs even have a slightly Whitney Houston feel to them and as everyone knows, you can never go wrong with Whitney Houston.
The first song on the album (Wake me up) sets the tone for the whole record, fun, dancey and energetic. Whirly synth sounds lead you into a trance like state, driving drum beats mean you can’t help but bop your head whilst gorgeous guitar licks make you want to tap your feet in time throughout the whole album and – not only are the songs ridiculously catchy – but they are also littered with creative and meaningful lyrics which depict stories of failed relationships, love and other endeavours which you can only assume are personal to the band.
Often you find with an album that they only fit a single situation, however this album is something a bit special and has done something not many bands have been able to accomplish with a record, because quite simply it could fit into any number of situations! I’ve found myself playing this at parties, on car journeys and it wouldn’t at all seem out of place on a beach party or night out playlist. My personal highlights from the album include ‘Wake Me Up’, ‘Hard To Be Myself’ and arguably the most popular record they released, ‘Glue’.
I’d also like to point out the obvious in that lead vocalist (Natassja Shiner) is a female. Under normal circumstances, this would seem like a rather odd thing to highlight, however I think it’s brilliant to see Fickle Friends fast become a break out band in what is a very male dominated industry. Not only is this brilliant for the music industry as a whole, but I think it’s especially brilliant for the indie genre which doesn’t have an extensive range of bands with a female lead vocalist and who’s main breakout bands in that respect are Haim and Wolf Alice.
To sum up the album as a whole, I’d have to say fun but respectable and I mean that in the sense of the music is extremely fun because it makes you want to dance the whole way through, however you can tell that Fickle Friends have put a lot of time and hard work into this record and it has really payed off. It’s very difficult to create a catchy, entertaining record and still have meaningful lyrics and keep exceptional musicianship throughout, however they have done this brilliantly and all I can say is that I really hope this is a breakout year for Fickle Friends and ‘You are someone else’.

Written by Noah Hindle