W/e 13/06/25 - Mother Mother, Lifeguard, Little Simz, Pulp, Morrissey

A decent set, one of our most enjoyed this year which marks the 1000th review 🥳🤘.

Congrats to Pulp our winners this week as well as having the TOTW. In at #6, just outside our overall top 100.

Our 3rd review for Little Simz, which received pretty much the same scores as her 2022 offering.

Car Seat Headrest now have 6 weeks in the 2025 top spot.

Annette takes the 😀 , her 3rd this year. Erol has his 2nd ☹️ in 3 weeks.

Morrissey says hi to Bruce and The Who on the classics.

Andy

Lifeguard - Found this to be a bit basic, one for the future maybe, will keep an eye out for them 6

Little Simz - Another decent effort from the little one. Some really smooth grooves on here and her style is good 7

Mother Mother - This was mad enough and then they got to FINGER! Crikey. A bit too much wackiness going on 6

Pulp - What a return by Jarvis and co, like they’ve never been away. They’ve got epic tunes like The Hymn of the North and if there’s a better 1-2 pop punch than Got to Have Love and Background Noise I can’t wait to hear it 8

TotW - Got to Have Live by Pulp

Morrisey - I’ve never liked Moz’s voice and this is no different. At least the Smiths had some good tunes. There’s a couple here that start ok but the Stephen opens his gob and ruins it for everyone 2

Phil

Lifeguard 7.5

A brilliant racket from a band so tightly wound they sound like they’re about to burst apart at any moment. Happily they don’t. Terrific stuff.

Little Simz 7.8

This is a cracker of an album. Supposedly her (musical, not romantic) break-up album with Inflo from SAULT, it’s much more upbeat than I’d been expecting. Young is a great track, Peace is quietly blissful and from then on there’s ne’er a dud. Blood is my favourite track. That’s how you set an argument to music!

Mother Mother 6.75

Energetic indie that occasional lapses into rock by numbers, somewhat marred for me by the mannered style of the singer.

Pulp 6

Common people is one of the best records of the last 30 years and Sorted for E’s and wizz was pretty good too but, those two songs apart, I’ve never much cared for Pulp or Jarvis Cocker’s curtain-twitching suburban dramas. This album doesn’t alter my opinion.

TOTW – Little Simz - Blood

Classic

Morrissey 7.25

I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to but there were still plenty “oh poor me!” moments throughout the whole album. But there were some good songs – Come back to Camden and (ironically) How can anyone possibly know how I feel stood out. His current guitarists may not be Johnny Marr but they’re still pretty good. Not sure I’ll be digging out his other solo efforts but this was a good one.

Guy

Lifeguard – More punch than Horsegirl. Certainly full of energy but it got a little too shouty for me at times – 6.7

Little Simz – An interesting album. It felt like a story unfolding through chapters. But I found the tunes to be lacking and the rhymes a bit basic to elevate it up into the 7s – 6.5

Mother Mother – A mixed bag. Some decent tunes on here but boy oh boy the lyrics were in places beyond weird. The finger in the ass one being the obvious stand out example – 6.3

Pulp – I didn’t realise Pulp had set up in 1978. Despite that, they still know how to craft a tune. Lots of really catchy numbers with the usual observational and humorous lyrics – 7.8

TotW - Got to Have Love by Pulp

Morrisey – He never hit the heights of The Smiths – mainly due to the obvious lack of the incomparable Johnny Marr picking the riffs out. But this is still great. Some real highs such as First of the Gang to Die and Irish Blood, English Heart. Shame about some of his political views – 7.9

Erol

Lifeguard - this was just a bit too hard on my ears to bear. Far too much pointless screaming and and random guitar noodling. Not really my bag at all. 3

Little Simz - a strong album with some high-end 60s sounding backing tracks and collaborations. I’m not so much a fan of her rhymes, which sometimes sound a bit basic and misplaced, but it’s a decent listen nonetheless. 7

Mother Mother - an enjoyable slice of Canadian indie rock. Slightly different from the mainstream, this had a touch of Arcade Fire about it. Mano a Mano was the best track.6.5

Pulp - a decent offering with a couple of stand-out tracks (Spike Island and Got to Have Love), but the overall feel of the album was a bit too middle age lounge music. 7.2

TOTW - Lotus, Little

Simz

Morrisey - never listened to this before. I generally find Morrisey a bit of a wet weekend, but this wasn’t that bad, if a bit slow. First of the Gang to Die is a cracker. 6.8

Simon

Lifeguard: pretty rudimentary and lo-fi, but the sonic experiments between the more conventional numbers suggest they've got a bit more about them than your average garage band - will be interesting to see what they do next. 7

Little Simz: ms Simz has absolutely nailed it here - this is an impressive and very enjoyable listen, great guest slots (Obongjayar in particular) who provide some interesting flavour. My favourite album of hers that I've heard so far. 8

Mother Mother: didn't like this at all - lyrics are bizarre, but combined with the affected vocals (which at times sounded as if they were intentionally childlike) it just came across as smug and annoying. A highly irritating album. 3

Pulp: always been a fan of the enigmatic Jarvis and it feels like we need his sardonic wit more than ever in these dark times - this sounds exactly like I would expect a new Pulp album to sound, engaging throughout with a handful of standout tracks, not least Spike Island and The Hymn of the North. Good stuff. 7.5

Morrissey: don't have much time for Morrissey these days so had low expectations for this - tbf, I didn't mind it as much as I thought I would, although why bother with this when you could listen to Hatful of Hollow. 6.3

TotW: Little Simz - Enough

Matt

Lifeguard - 6.7

Little Simz - 8

Mother Mother - 6

Pulp - 7.8

Morrissey - 8

TOTW - Only, Little Simz

Annette

Lifeguard: 7

Little Smitz: 8

Mother Mother: 6.5

Pulp: 7.5

TOTW: Lion by Little Smitz

Classic: Morrissey- 7

Justin

Lifeguard - there is something there but I found it a difficult listen 5.9

Little Simz - listenable and some tracks were catchy but ultimately not my cup of tea 6.5

Mother Mother - this grew on me with multiple listens. It is a kind of softer version of the Pixies 7

Pulp - this got an unfair number of spins this week. It is classic Pulp but a bit short of the real classics. There is a bit of filler on the album but the good tracks are up there as indie classics 7.9

TOTW Got to Have Love - Pulp

Morrisey- I've always preferred Morrisey solo to the Smiths. This is a cracking album. It was better than I remembered 8

Jim

Lifeguard 6.5

There’s potential there, even though it was a hard listen at times when the Strokes vibe was drowned out by the less tuneful art rock screeches. Would like to see them live.

Little Simz 8

She oozes cool and her sound is super fresh, with lyrics that should embarrass many other hip-hop acts that simply go on about their wonga, bootys and other lame shite, and all without using the N word once (I think) . Great variety of rap and soul, some Groove Armada vibes, even drawing on her inner Mike Skinner on Young, one of a handful of TOTW contenders

Mother Mother 5.5

Mmm, some interesting indie but also some annoying tosh.

Pulp 7

Got To Have Love is terrific, but it amplified how flat much of this was. They are as good as anyone when letting rip, just need to let rip more. The curtain twitching observation was very apt Phil

TOTW: Little Simz - Enough

Morrisey 8

Musically I think he’s a ledge (Every Day is Like Sunday and Suedehead are some of my GOATs), politically he has become a twat. But as this is a music review, I’m all over this , one of his best since Viva Hate. Big operatic rock. First of the Gang, I Like You , Irish Heart… all great.

Mark

Lifeguard - they've been getting a lot of press as ones to watch. When it's good there was Sonic Youth, Siouxsie, YYY in there, then they throw in some really discordant stuff or 'Music For 3 Drums' and it loses focus a bit, but overall a decent album - 6.5

Little Simz - I'm a big fan, and this is another cracker to add to her collection, Afro beat, acid jazz, and yet all unmistakably modern British - 8

Mother Mother - I found this a bit irritating for some reason, reminded me of Supertramp in places, all a bit try hard and gimmicky - 5

Pulp - at times it's so familiar it's like a band impersonating Pulp, especially with some lyrical interjections from past classics ("are you sure"...). I really liked this, more than enough good stuff, tracks like Tina, Got To Have Love, Spike Island are classic Pulp, great to have them back - 8

TOTW - Got To Have Love, by Pulp

Adam

Lifeguard

Loud and chaotic rock. Good fun. 7

Little Simz

Smart, confident and well put together rapping. Saw a clip of her performing recently, looked ace but not something I’d put on regular rotation personally. 6

Mother mother

Solid indie outing with a touch of oddity throughout. But should have guessed that from the album cover going in 7

Pulp

Nice to se Pulp topping the charts with their latest outing. Will be back for another spin of this indie gem. 7

TOTW: Lifeguard - Like you’ll lose

Classic

Trying to ignore the man behind the music - there are a few good tunes on here. Not meeting the calibre of the smiths but another education of English music history. 6

Sam

Lifeguard: I love scuzzy, loose rock and this was great fun . 7.5

Little Simz : some of this is clever stuff but it sags sometimes, dunno If I’d listen to it again . 6.2

Mother Mother : another Canadian band we haven’t heard of who have been around since 2005 . Very patchy indeed . 6

Pulp : I’m a fan but although there is good stuff on here it really sags in parts which is odd 6.8

TOTW : it will get worse by Lifeguard.

Morrissey : I feel very torn . He was a prick in the 80’s as he seemed to hate everything . But the Smiths were largely great . Some of his solo Stuff is gorgeous - Everyday is like Sunday is a stunner . This is better than I expected but it’s a bit too long and he is a nasty piece of work . Still , I’ll Give it a 7