The comeback of the year by far.
In 2008, Skint & Demoralised appeared to be going from strength to strength when Mercury came along and snapped them up. Alas, Mercury lost its bottle shortly after and ripped the rug out from underneath their feet. Rather than allow the bitterness to set in, Matt Abbott dusted himself down and set about delivering a glorious slice of Northern observational poetry and pop music.
Musically TSL is not a million miles away from the debut Love and Other Catastrophes. The Johnny Marr-esque guitars are in full force, especially on Did It All Go To Plan… TT predicts a John Lewis advert beckons for this one.
Abbott still has a great knack for featuring characters in songs and on Maria, Full Of Grace, this is done with harrowing splendour. The tale of Maria is one of a friend who has lost confidence and faith in herself but is oddly ensnared in a spritely Smiths framework which will have you tapping along and then feeling guilty afterwards, no doubt.
The Lonely Hearts Of England is easily one of the singles of the year: A raucous Pogues-meets–the-Crookes effort in which Abbot professes his defiance to anyone and everyone who feels differently to him.
Welcome back chaps!
9. Sugarplum Fairies – The Images We Get
The L.A. based Viennese duo are relatively unknown in the UK but with this slice of Dream Pop, so eloquent and beautiful, it won't be long before they are essential to indie collectors everywhere.
Opening track ‘Waves’ sets the tone for this dreamy gem. It hazily meanders its way from start to finish, giving a nod to The Pastels circa 'Truckload of Trouble' and a wink to The Boo Radleys on 'I Wish I Was Skinny'.
With the help of producer Todd Burke (Belle & Sebastian and Ben Harper) SF manage to capture their love of the Velvet Underground perfectly on the wistful ‘Plastic Sky’ and ‘Heart Hell’. The latter takes Lou Reed's introspective genius and splices it with the heartache of Ian Curtis. Anyone who can listen to this song and not stare off into the distance contemplating past failures would probably score alarmingly high on an 'Am I a Serial Killer' test.
In amongst the escapist heartbreak they do so well, is the stand out track ‘Jump the Game’ which has the same sinister, haunting quality of Johnny Cash's ‘I Hung My Head’.
In an era of record labels flogging bravado in leather jackets by the bucket load, SF brilliantly manage to threaten to launch into such a mode but always hold off. In doing this, they expose you to the twisted nature of their song-writing which leaves you feeling a little wired yet exhilarated simultaneously.
The ‘Images We Get’ is one of those rare albums which will always fit your mood: it will blow away the fog on a hangover, reduce you to tears when heartbroken, and always leave you dreaming of those great drunk days of your youth which are painfully hard to recapture.
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