W/c 27/03/26 - Avalon Emerson, Gladie, Footballhead, Ladytron, Jay Z

Congrats to Gladie, missing out on 25’s top spot by a fraction, but impressive nonetheless just outside our overall top 50.

They also had many TOTW nominations, with Fix Her taking it.

Sam keeps his 😀. Erol’s turn for the ☹️.

Jay-Z were a nice surprise for a few and land just inside in the classics top 100 alongside MCR and REM.

Guy

Avalon Emerson – Lovely electropop. A variety of different paced tracks with interesting house beats and bleeps. – 7.8

Footballhead – I feared the very worst on the opening track. We had the usual metalcore screeching. But it did get a bit better and the following tracks at least has a tune to them. It’s not really my cup of tea in style though - 6

Gladie – Decent bit of Indie. Liked the girls voice and some nice driving guitar. The faster tracks had a touch of the Wedding Present guitar sound – 7.5

Ladytron – Nice ambient electronica. Relaxing album to listen to in the sunshine. Lacked a standout track maybe – 7.2

TOTW – Jupiter and Mars by Avalon Emerson

Jay Z – Good album. Nice rhymes over interesting backing tunes. Every track apparently produced by a different person which does give it a bit of a variety. Usual potty mouth though – 7.7

Andy

Avalon Emerson - Really nice stuff, strong vocals and pleasant beats 7

Footballhead - I really like turn of the century emo and nu-metal, not as much as these lads though. Liked it more on second listen although a lot of it is still more Puddle of Mudd than Linkin Park 6.5

Gladie - Cracking indie. The vocals are great, reminiscent of Tanya Donnelly or Juliette and the Kicks, the latter is probably less cred but no less cool 7.5

Ladytron - Their St Etienne/PSBs sound is nice for one track but it all gets pretty dull when that track goes on for 70 minutes 5

TotW - Fix Her by Gladie

Jay-Z - A masterpiece, maybe a bit too glossy for some fans but it really works for me 9

Sam

Avalon Emerson: quite enjoyable, slightly dancey pop. 6.5

Footballhead: this tickled my pop punk fancy for sure ! 8

Gladie :What a brilliant album . Full of life and vigour . 8.8

Ladytron : if this was 10 tracks it would have been a good album . Far too long . Shame really as they do sound good . 6.9

Jay Z : decent album . A few bangers . Didn’t know Billy Squier did the guitar on 99 problems. Bit of trimming would help . Overall enjoyable. 7.4

TOTW Push me Down by Gladie

Matt

Avalon Emerson - 7.8

Footballhead - 6.2

Gladie - 7.7

Ladytron - 7

TOTW - Eden, Avalon Emerson

Phil (OG)

Avalon Emerson 6.4

So-so electro-pop, with the occasional decent tune (the opener, for example). A stronger vocalist might have made more of what’s on offer.

Footballhead 5.5

Terrible name and the music isn’t a great deal better. Flirts with metal and punk but ironically the vocals weren’t metal or punk enough. It probably therefore qualifies as indie landfill.

Gladie 7.6

Grungey ramshackle indie that manages to not really sound like anyone else. Album of the week.

Ladytron 7.2

I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. The beats evoke synth behemoths like the Pet Shop Boys but the overall sound has a pleasant, dreamy quality enhanced by the fact that the vocals are not all that high in the mix. It could definitely do with being a bit shorter though.

TOTW – Gladie – Fix her

Classic

Jay-Z 7.4

I still think of myself as a hip hop newbie so it’s interesting to hear albums by the heavyweights. I enjoyed this, even though there were a few tracks when Jay-Z’s flow seemed to overwhelm the rest of the track (oo er, missus!) Mostly enjoyable beats and lyrics not as sexist as some (ironic though that 99 problems is by some distance the best track!).

Justin

Avalon Emerson - Started strong but then I felt the electronica started to wander a bit. 7

Footballhead - There is in my view a strong correlation between rubbish band names and terrible music. I was surprised therefore to really enjoy it although it's not normally a genre I like that much. Enjoyable US style light weight punk. 7.2

Gladie - Good slice of laid back old school indie. Hints of Edie Brickell. 7.1

Ladytron - Gentle electronica pop. Bit too light on some tracks. Had a bit of a feel of Pet Shop Boys album filler tracks. 6.9

TOTW Ladytron - Solid Light

Jay Z - Pretty much classic rap from start to finish. Quality lyrics and tunes. Plenty of variation. 9

Erol

Avalon Emerson - bright and bold, this is a polished, funky foot-tapping piece of US indie pop-rock. 7.5

Footballhead - grunge rock, doing their best to emulate the Foos, Pearl Jam etc. Not bad but have heard it all before. Would be more listenable if they ditched the pointless and sadly ubiquitous devil screeching. 5

Gladie - really cool, stripped back and raw indie. A great voice and some powerful songs made this album of the week for me. 7.8

Ladytron - a bit disappointing. I expected some banging dance tracks but what I heard was more a weak electro pop offering that would do well to get a slot on Eurovision. 5.5

TOTW - Car Alarm, Gladie

JAY-Z - glossy and polished with some great samples and backing tracks. He’s talented for sure, but sweary, confrontational rapping as a genre has never really thrilled me and this did little to alter that. 6

Carlo

Avalon Emerson – 6.9

Easy background music to work to, but nothing really stood out.

Footballhead – 5.8

Well put together with tightly written tunes, but not for me, a little too heavy.

Gladie – 6.2

See above. Not really my thing as a bit too heavy.

Ladytron – 7.5

Easy to get into and consistent throughout.

TOTW: Ladytron – Sing

Classic – JAY-Z – 8.2

Can’t say I’ve knowingly listened to him before, but I enjoyed this, solid rap with some interesting production and variety.

Mark

Avalon Emerson - lovely Baby Queen style electro pop with a distinct 80s production sound, great tunes throughout, lovely album - 8

Footballhead - terrible band name and mostly terrible music, like Busted meets BMTH - 5

Gladie - terrific Lemonheads sounding grunge, really liked her vocals - 7.5

Ladytron - unnecessarily long, but I really liked this, sounded like it was recorded in '93 / '94, definite shades of St Etienne & Pet Shop Boys - 7.5

TOTW - Kingdom Undersea, by Ladytron

Paul

Avalon Emerson (7.5)

Really liked the laidback vocal style which combined well with the chilled electro beats. A very pleasant listen around.

Footballhead (5)

Not a massive fan of this style so struggled a bit with this.

Gladie (7.7)

Decent punky indie, liked the voice and enjoyed the energy levels

Ladytron (6.8)

Good chilled out electronica, nice vibes all round. All the songs started to merge after a bit, not helped by its excessive length.

TOTW Avalon Emerson - Jupiter & Mars

Jay Z (8.5)

High quality classic rap, strong throughout helped by some quality backing tracks

Simon

Avalon Emerson: dreamy electropop, and much like her last album has enough quirkiness to keep the interest levels up. God Damn (Finito) is the standout for me. 7.8

Footballhead: this was never likely to hold much appeal but to be fair it's slightly more listenable than some other nu-metal albums we've heard. 6

Gladie: splendid, ramshackle indie which stands out for the great hooks and distinctive vocals, which definitely have a bit of Tanya Donnelly/Kim Deal about them - top stuff. 8

Ladytron: super smooth electropop, sound-wise it reminded me of 808 State (particularly the opener), but the tracks are all of a similar tempo and it needs more variety for a double album. 7

TotW: Avalon Emerson - God Damn (Finito)

Jay-Z: almost never listen to hip hop outside of this group and can never get particularly excited about it, but preferred this to some of the other albums we've heard. Not difficult to see why he's a global superstar. 7

Jim

Avalon Emerson 7.5

An all round tasty piece of poptronica. Plenty of depth and nuance. The opening trio are excellent , and it skips along nicely after that

Footballhead 6

Name - daft

Music - not tooo bad. Decent heavy rock riffage, screaming is infrequent and keeps just the right side silly

Gladie 8

Terrific first half+ of scuzzy indie à la Wednesday with some KoL and Black Honey thrown in. Plenty of TOTW contenders. Just runs out of steam near the end, but top work nonetheless. Will look forward to a chance to see live

Ladytron 7

Love the overall sound but it’s massively lacking in variety and brevity

TOTW: Gladie - Car Alarm

Jay-Z 8.5

Polished, top notch hip hop . There is more Eminem in his style than I had realised, but it’s more subtle, and there’s just enough beats to have an an old school feel. Good choice

Annette

Avalon Emerson: 7

Footballhead: 6.5

Gladie: 8.5

Ladytron: 7.5

TOTW: Push Me Down by Gladie

Classic: Jay-Z - 7

Phil (New)

Avalon Emerson 7

The first track sounded very much like something from The Beach soundtrack. Good vocals and beepy bits. None of the tracks really stood out on their own but an enjoyable listen.

Footballhead 6.8

Dreadful name. Very much a cut and paste of the genre, done well but nothing sounded original. Youre not making sense was a decent tune.

Gladie 7.5

Great energy and vocals. Loved the guitar sound and solos, I thought they had gone out of fashion.

Ladytron 6.8

Dragged a bit, some decent stuff but had a general feel of 80s pop with the life sucked out.

TOW: Gladie - Car Alarm

Jay-Z 7

My first time listening to anything by Jay-Z, not my thing at all but enjoyed it .

Adam

Avalon Emerson: 7

Footballhead: 6

Gladie: 8

Ladytron: 7

TOTW: Fix Her - Gladie

Classic: 8