W/e 12/12/25 - SAULT, Lily Allen, PinkPantheress, Oklou, ZZ Top

Our penultimate set sees no great movers on the chart, but unusually all 4 acts getting a wide range of scores.

Congrats to SAULT though, our winners and TOTW this week. This is the 5th of theirs we’ve done, but the least we’ve enjoyed.

Carlo takes the 😄 in just his 2nd week.

Sam smashes the all-time lowest weekly set of scores so has the ☹️ taking that ‘title’ from Simon who’s held it since Oct 2023 when he was unimpressed by The Streets, Creeper and Teenage Jones.

ZZ top did what they do and sit in a healthy spot with The XX and Band of Skulls on the classics.

Andy

Lily Allen - Didn’t get on with this at all, she’s just reading her diary with auto tune on her voice. David Harbour definitely did her wrong but why should we suffer? 3

Oklou - So lightweight it’s almost nonexistent, eminently forgettable 3

Pinkpantheress - Blissfully short 3

SAULT - Veers pretty close to the realms of smooth jazz (nice!) but it’s funky and soulful and as such a lovely listen 7

TotW - S. I. T. L. by SAULT

ZZ Top - A corking album indeed. Almost a victim of its own success as it introduced me to earlier grittier albums by the bearded lads but it still stands as a mid 80s classic 8.5

Phil (New)

Lilly allen: 6

Songwriting is clearly Lilly's therapy. I quite like her voice on the softer tunes, really highlighted on 'Just enough'. Not a fan of the vocoder tracks, 'Rumimating' had Dane and Posh 90's vibes. 'Pussy Palace' was my favourite tune with the warbling bass line.

Oklou: 4

Some interesting electronic sounds throughout, but each track felt similar and failed to hold my interest.

PinkPanthress: 5

Liked the use of the Underworld sample in 'Illegal', which was by far the best track on the album. 'Girl like me' and 'Noises' had some punch and got the foot tapping.

SAULT: 7.5

Enjoyed this. 'W.A.L' stood out individually with its funky groove, other than that the tunes all merged together to make a smooth soulful treat for a lazy sunday.

Zz Top: 7.5

Gimme all your loving excellent opener to the album. The samey bass and drums throughout the album made for a slightly boring listen in one go, but not to take away from the brilliance of some individual tracks. 'Sharp Dressed Man' the stand out for me with simple catchy guitar riff. Not sure what they were thinking with 'TV dinners'. Off to buy a 1930's ford coupe now!

Totw: PinkPanthress 'Illegal'

Guy

Lily Allen – I’d heard a lot about this album and how it’s a story of the break-up of your marriage. I feared the worst but it’s really good. Some excellent tunes and the fact it sequentially follows as a set of stories makes it very engaging. Good work Lily – 7.8

Oklou – More decent French music. Along with the Aussies, they seem to be on form at the moment. Ethereal vocals and atmospheric synth. Only ruined slightly by the use of the vocoder in places – 7.2

PinkPantheress – Enjoyed previous albums from her and this is no exception. The fact she makes them short is even better! – 7.5

Sault – Usual quality fare. They are prolific and always deliver a good album. I’m not sure this is their best but it’s a good solid chunk of very listenable disco/R&B – 7.3

TOTW – Pussy Palace – Lily Allen

ZZ Top – Classic 80s rock. Some real nostalgic bangers on here and pound for pound a great album of the genre. It’s not the type of music I’d have listened to much at the time, but still deserves a good score. - 8

Carlo

Lily Allen: 8.7

Classic Lily Allen. A great album, although she’s clearly not thrilled with David Harbour!

Oklou: 8.5

I was excited about this one and it didn’t disappoint. I’ll definitely be playing it again… if I ever get the time now ; )

PinkPantheress: 7.7

Enjoyable, EDM meets girlie pop. I did find myself wondering how different this would sound without her singing?

SAULT: 6.5

I can hear this playing in the background of a NY speakeasy. Nothing that special for me, but it didn’t offend. I’d probably enjoy it more with a Negroni in hand.

ZZ Top: 7

We know the drill, perfectly in-sync swaying, just like their tight blues/rock riffs.

TOTW: Oklou Thank you for recording

Sam

Lily Allen . She has a good voice and occasionally clever lyrics but some of this is bad music . Still it’s the best of a rotten lot : 4.5 .

Oklou : pointless , vocoder nonsense: 2

Pink Pantheress : parts were dancey but very forgettable. 4

Sault : what was the point of their 11th ? Album of the same music ? 4

TOTW I don’t think there was one . But I’ll go for Pussy Palace to tick all the boxes

ZZ Top : pure rock masterpiece. All killer . 2 of the best rock riffs ever are on it : Legs and Sharp Dressed Man . 🖤 9.8

Simon

Lily Allen: Lily and David always seemed an unlikely couple to me so perhaps it was inevitable it was going to end in tears, but not sure the rest of the world needs to know the finer details. 5

Oklou: more experimental than PP and a tad more interesting as a result, but the vocals are equally annoying and it's too lacking in substance to warrant much attention. 5

Pink Pantheress: doesn't say a lot about an album when the clear highlight is a decades-old Underworld sample - pretty dismal stuff, with autotuned vocals that are beyond irritating; amazing to think that something so inconsequential could be nominated for the Mercury music prize. 4

SAULT: silky smooth soul/R&B isn't really my thing but the mysterious SAULT do it with such deftness and style that it's hard not to be impressed. 7.5

ZZ Top: my first ever gig (Wembley Arena!) so brings back fond memories - like Andy, turned out I prefer their earlier '70s output although this is still a rollicking good listen. 8

TotW: SAULT - S. O. T. H.

Jim

Lilly Allen 6

Yeesh there is no holding back! Good on her for knocking this out. I like her generally and her Miss Me pod was often hilarious. This has some humour and clever lines, the tunes are a bit average though.

Oklou 5

Underwhelming is the word. One decent track , Haverst Sky, but the rest was soporific

Pinkpantheress 6.5

Decent bit of garage/D&B pop – the samples are well chosen and mixed. Noises is a great track. I don’t mind the vocal enhancing so much – doesn’t everyone do it to some degree?

SAULT 5

Defo bored of this guys, after a couple of decent debuts this has become somewhat monotonous jazzy meh. Tactical pause needed I reckon

TOTW: PPs Noises.

ZZ Top 8

Top notch no messing rock. The hits still sound amazing

Paul

Lilly Allen (6.5)

Well she left everything out there on this one! Not always an easy listen but some good song writing. Don’t mind her style of delivery but not sure I’d give it many repeat listens.

Oklou (7)

interesting synthy electronica, held my attention more than I thought it would but did find vocals a bit weak at times.

Pinkpantheress (5)

Quite lively tunes but couldn’t get on with the voice. Fairly weak stuff all in all.

SAULT (6.5)

Nice enough jazzy funky soul, very chilled. like W.A.L, could have done with a few more upbeat tracks like that for my taste but a good listen.

ZZ Top (8)

Proper enjoyable rock album with a few decent bangers in there. A lot of fun!

TOTW - SAULT - W.A.L

Justin

Lily Allen - it's just her whining over a basic beat. I don't really understand it. 4

Oklou - Something different. Will listen to again. Good distorted electronica. 7

Pinkpantheress - More for young girls but some good samples and pumps along at a decent pace 6.5

SAULT - All becoming a bit samey. Fine for background but seems the same as earlier albums. 6

TOTW Oklou - Thank you for recording.

ZZ Top - Never listened to the album before but the hits are 80's USA all over. 100% US rock. 8

Mark

Lilly Allen - she's got a lovely voice and even with the raw emotional subject matter there were some decent tunes in here, seems to have give her a massive mid career reboot as well - 6.5

Oklou - didn't really get on with this, had read good things about it but I found it just a bit fiddly with no real direction. Some interesting soundscapes but this never really took off for me, certainly not one of the top albums of the year - 6

Pinkpantheress - liked her when she first came on the scene, but quite far out of my wheelhouse really, and overly auto tuned vocals are a massive turn off for me - 5.5

Sault - I'm a big fan, but at some point you have to balance prolific output with a bit of editing and quality control. This is still a decent enough album, but not as good as prior offerings - 6.5

TOTW - S.OT.H by Sault

Erol

Lily Allen – her pain comes through in this emotional and progressive tale of infidelity. Somehow she manages to pull it off with dignity and sincerity throughout. The tunes are pretty good too. 7.5

Oklou - boring and inconsequential wallpaper music with lots of bleeps and auto tune vocals that, I am afraid, did very little for me. 3.5

Pinkpantheress – some half decent girly pop dance tunes but the vocal performance was virtually non-existent. It’s little wonder that a number of us have an average listening age of 16 on Spotify if we’re listening to this waffle. 4.5

SAULT – sweet, laid-back soul music with beautiful vocals. Enjoyable to a point, but towards the end I was struggling to stay awake. 6.3

TOTW - nonmonogamummy, Lily Allen

ZZ Top - full on 80s American guitar rock. It still sounds great. Good choice, Sam! 8.3

Adam

Lily Allen

Story of this album and some good tunes and combine to make something more than the sum of its parts. 7

Oklou

Some grooving electronica with just (only just) to make this interesting. Title track is a good un. 6

Pinkpantheress

Best bit was the Just Jack, Starz in their Eyez sample. Some boppy bits but the Illegal song reminds me now of vapid influencers. 5

SAULT

Unfortunately SAULT was missing some spice to make this stand out more. 5

TOTW - choke enough - Oklou

ZZ Top

Great bit of unapologetic rocking from the birthday boy 8

Annette

Lily Allen: 5

Oklou: 4

Pinkpatheress: 6.5

SAULT: 6

TOTW: Noises by Pinkpatheress

Classic: ZZ Top - 8

Phil OG

Lily Allen 7.5

I’ve spent my life loving the works of confessional singer-songwriters like Joni Mitchell. Halfway through listening to this, it struck me that Lily Allen is doing the same thing. The main difference between Joni and Lily Allen is that the latter is operating in the pop sphere.

Oklou 6

So gossamer-thin you fancy the lightest of breezes would blow her away. In other words, the definitive wafty performer! Not unpleasant but totally disposable.

Pink Pantheress 5.5

Equally wafty but with a more robust backing track. Not that that helped much. Still, the whole thing was done in 20 minutes.

SAULT 8

I suppose it’s inevitable that folks might suffer from SAULT-overload but I rate this as one of their best in a while. You can tell that Inflo is a bass player from the number of tracks that are bass-led. Slightly annoyed by the deliberate obscurity of the song titles though.

TOTW – SAULT – I.L.T.S. (or, if you prefer, I love to sing)

Classic

ZZ Top 7.3

These days, I watch a lot of pub bands, the sort that are nearly as old as me and just play the songs that they have listened to their whole lives. ZZ Top figure heavily in these bands’ repertoire and yet, I confess, this is the first time I have listened to any of their albums. The singles obviously stand out but there was enough in the others to make me think I should listen to more.

Matt

Lily Allen - 7.8

Oklou - 6

Pink Panthress - 6.2

SAULT - 7.5

TOTW - SAULT S.O.T.H.