Alvvays take it. No great movers or shakers on our year rankings. Not sure what happened to the faces , but Matt has the š , Andy the ā¹ļø. Three votes for The Cultās TOTW.
Justin
The Cult very much early style cult pre-love. Bit ponderous in this day and age but as a cult fan enjoyed it 7
Alvvays a lot of the time standard indie fare but some songs went off quite epic 7.1
Willow would have expected to hate this but enjoyed the Alanis Morissette meets skunk anansie 7.2
Daphni a few challenging songs on this but easily 40 mins plus of top tunes. 7.5
TOTW: Daphni Fly Away
Daft Punk one of the true classic albums. A few songs towards the end not great but the all time classics mean it still scores 8.5
Guy
The Cult: She Sells Sanctuary is in my top ten of all time. But I'm afraid this didn't have much to match that. Although it wasn't bad, it didn't have much to shout about. 6
Alvvays - This was alvvays going to be up my street. A nice slice of Indie Pop. Perhaps lacked the big stand out tunes but there was some nice riffs on there - 7.3
Willow - Like Justin, I wasn't expecting to like this. Daughter of a Hollywood star = entitled. But it was good. Preferred the slightly rockier numbers personally - 7.1
Daphni - Crumbs. This was quite hard work. If he'd played this at Reading he might have got the same treatment as his namesake and her friend Celeste... Sounded a bit plinky plonky - like Ross from Friends - the actual character not the dance act named after him... 5.5
TOTW Pharmacist - Alvvays
Daft Punk - cracking album. Perhaps a few too many tracks which lowers the quality a tad but overall brilliant - 8.8
Andy
The Cult - I rather enjoyed this, Billy and Ian can knock out some big sounding tunes. I really enjoyed the title track which could be a Bond theme 7
Alvvays - Some quality dreamy indie pop, even if some of the tracks sound like they were named from a Fall track name generator, Pomeranian Spinster anyone? Still, they sound good so I'll let it pass 7.5
Willow - I like what she's done here. Rocks along pretty well and she's got a solid voice 7
Daphni - I'm glad that people in the world, some of whom I'm glad to call friends, can enjoy this sort of thing but I'm afraid this turgid, dreary seemingless endless series of bleeps and bloops is not for me dawg. Guy's done the Celeste joke but if I saw this live I'd be sorely tempted to wang a bottle of piss at him 2
TOTW - Belinda Says by Alvvays
Daft Punk - I like the big ones but most of this kind of goes over my head. I might have made this comment when we reviewed a live album of there's but naming a song Too Long and doing that is just asking for trouble 6
Sam
The Cult : Ian can still belt out a tune and Billy plays a mean guitar still ( heās a City fan sadly ..) so I like this . Could do with a bit more oomph occasionally but pretty good for 60 year olds 7.7
Alvvays : very near the top of the jingle jangle tree this lot . 7.5
Willow : blimey this was a surprise! Angsty rock I like a lot . 7.4
Daphni : god knows why this was picked or indeed recorded and releasedā¦ man in bedroom with Bontempi organ . Bad music . 3
Daft Punk : this is proper dance music! So creative and clever and just brilliant. 8.5
Tune of the week : Mirror by The Cult
Erol
The Cult - enjoyable stuff. The opener is the highlight. I donāt disagree with the comments that itās a bit ponderous and I know itās not their best work, but itās a solid listen nonetheless. 7
Alvvays - jingly jangly fodder for the indie kids that didnāt over-excite me. I canāt help feeling that Iāve heard a lot of this before. Unfortunately lacking in variety from pretty much the opening track. 6.4
Willow - acceptably decent teenage rock. It will be interesting to see how she develops as an artiste. 6.2
Daphni - I love a few electro beeps as much as the next old-skool 90s raver but am inclined to agree with the bontempi comment. On occasion, the accompanying drum machine saves the day, but the whole album is often a bit too pedestrian for my taste. 5.9
TOTW - the Mirror by the Cult
Daft Punk - a nice slice of happy disco/electro/dance. The funky bass lines are top notch. I almost broke out some of my best dad moves listening to this. 8
Jim
A varied week of styles, but all 4 were bang in the middle of their respective roads . Perhaps a hangover from the highs of last week but iām giving them all a 6.5.
None were a tough listen , but none really grabbed my attention and I doubt Iāll go back them.
Alvvays perhaps nip it , although I thought there was more variety in Daphni than most of my learned colleagues
TOTW- Few stand outs. Daphniās Arrow was good, as was The Cultās Knife Through Butterfly Heart, but Iāll go with the late 90s house offering Take Two by Daphni that took me back to a club or 2
Daft Punk 10
Genius . Up there with Leftism and Dig You Own Hole as my fav electronica offering. 7 or 8 tracks that would still get any dance floor going. Digital Love and High Life in particular are beautiful and always put a massive smile on my face even after a gazillion listens.
Simon
The Cult: Outer Heaven and Knife Through Butterfly Heart were moderately interesting but not much else to get excited about. 6
Alvvays: quite a few influences in the mixing pot here, but the result is exhilarating - a hugely enjoyable album from a band I'd never previously heard of. 8
Willow: always a bit cynical about wannabe pop stars with famous parents, but this was adventurous and engaging and better than I feared. 7
Daphni: I quite like this minimalist style of house and thought this was a pretty good effort, although accept that it's not everyone's cup of tea. 7.5
Daft Punk: kids love Daft Punk so get to hear this a lot, but always puts me in a good mood. 8.3
TotW: Pharmacist by Alvvays
Mark
The Cult - I've been bingeing vintage era Cult, the Dreamtime / Love / Electric albums, this week as a throwback to my youth, all still sound fab and bring back great memories. This latest offering lacks some of the mystique and tunes that attracted me back in the day though, he still has a great voice and Duffy shreds with the best of them, but overall a bit of an underwhelming set unfortunately - 6
Alvvays - liked this a lot, bit of Wolf Alice, bit of Breeders, some jingle jangle. Knew the name but never listened to them before, goddamm Canadians - 7.5
Willow - watched(ish) her with Andy at the festival and thought she was okay, but on record this just left me completely cold, anonymous indistinguishable corporate angst rock - 4.5
Daphnii - ok it's a bit unfocused and scattergun, several tracks too long and some sound like good ideas that were only half finished, but the good stuff I really liked. I was a fan of that Caribou album he did too, this is also up my street, inventive, interesting electronic music - 7.5
TOTW - Tom Verlaine by Alvvays
Matt
The Cult: It's The Cult bring unmistakably The Cult so what's not to like? 7.5
Alvvays: Wrote one of my favourite songs ever, Lollipop. Some exquisitely crafted tracks, with confident, catchy melodies and Molly Rankin's shimmering, knowing vocals. 7.8
Willow: Engaging with some edge and more guile than your standard angst-pop. I think we'd be talking this up more had her parents been from Stevenage. 7
Daphnii: Variable and needed pruning to take out some of the weaker tracks as there some brisk, shiney hook -laden tracks here (Take Two) 6.8
TOTW Velveteen Alvvays
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