AMOUR FOO RECORDS 7th July 2017
The press release talks about musical development but what I hear is an exuberant racket. The sort of thing bands put out in the UK punk era, the post-punk era, the post-post-punk era, the DIY era; every movement where people with more ideas than chops took support slots in grotty venues to work out their ideas.
In other words – this is fun back-to-basics DIY. Thrashy trashy guitar, shouted vocals buried in the mix, a joint female / male lead vocal. Speaking of which, some are intelligible, some are not. The opening fifty-second thrash is pure energy, zero sense. R U A Feminist is hilarious – a polemic about a boy who’s “not a fucking feminist” despite all the protestations he makes with the aim of pulling. Baby Boomers is full of anger about being looked down on those with the power earnt through being born at the right time, while Duvet could have been on any John Peel show broadcast after 1976, all fuzz, bass thrum and stop-start dynamics. Stinky Goodbyes drops the anger for silliness. A Glaswegian trio, Breakfast Muff are serious and daft and clearly having a good time. Recorded in a lengthy four days in almost-live conditions, the album is dead simple, like the songs.
Q. Who’d have thought that guitar, bass, drums and enthusiasm could triumph over musical ability?
A. Those of us who love smelly little DIY venues (Leeds’ Wharf Chambers, take a bow).
Catch them now before they learn to play and get all serious and that.