W/e 15/05/26 - Lykke Li, Cola, Broken Social Scene, MUNA, Wolf Alice

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A below avg week, no great moves on the chart at either end.

Broken Social Scene are our winners, Lykke Li has the TOTW (and Carlo’s 2nd highest awarded score to date).

Matt takes his first 😀 of the year, by a smidge from Carlo. Andy keeps the ☹️.

Wolf Alice land neatly at #100 on the classics (let them know when you see them, please Guy), alongside heavyweights Iron Maiden and Jay-Z

Andy

Broken Social Scene - Some of this was a bit BCNR but it was ok 5.5

Cola - The vocals sound like Mark Gardiner at times but there aren’t any aural landscapes on display 5.5

Lykke Li - Pleasant enough pop, like a discount Robyn 6

MUNA - Nice enough synth pop. Like everything this week nothing special 5.5

TotW - Happy Now by Lykke Li

Wolf Alice - Good stuff, I’m less enamoured with their recent album but they definitely had something back in the day 7.5

Guy

Broken Social Scene – Reasonably eclectic and none the worse for it in this case. Some of the faster tunes reminded me of Vampire Weekend (or Cassia for those at AYL). The slower ones were a little more jazzy and perhaps not so good – 7.2

Cola – Sounded a bit under produced to me. A few songs threatened to progress into catchy numbers but then never quite made it out of second gear. The vocals were also a bit weak and out of tune – 6.2

Lykke Li – Decent bit of pop without ripping up any trees. All the better for being short. – 6.8

MUNA – There were a few tunes on here that I thought were really good (It Gets so Hot and Dancing on the Wall for example) but there was also a fair bit of fairly average filler. Enjoyable listen for the most part though – 7

Wolf Alice – One of my favourite indie bands of recent times. There are a good number of big, high-quality bangers on here (including the quite brilliant Bros) but there are a couple of numbers which are clearly weaker and that pulls my score down a little – 8.2

Simon

Broken Social Scene: finally, a half-decent album by a Canadian band that isn't Arcade Fire - enjoyed this, has a warm and languid feel with some interesting arrangements; no real standout tracks but solid all the way through. 7.5

Cola: a lot to like here I thought - has a familiar late 80s/early '90s guitar sound in the vein of Suede et al but there's a few tracks that really caught my attention, namely Satre-torial, Third Double and Conflagration Mindset. Decent. 7

Lykke Li: largely unremarkable Swedish synth pop - Knife in the Heart is a tune but the rest is pretty forgettable. 6

MUNA: don't remember their last album at all but this is a mixed bag at best - Wannabeher is a sleazy, Richard X-style disco banger and the clear highlight, unfortunately a lot of the rest sounds like second rate chart fodder. 5

TotW: Broken Social Scene - Relief

Wolf Alice: an incredibly assured and ambitious album for a debut, which boded well for what was to follow - it's not quite up to Visions of a Life standard (their creative peak, imo) but this still a cracking record. 8.5

Carlo

Broken Social Scene – 6.2

Each track rolled easily into the next. I’m just not sure whether that’s the sign of a good album or a forgettable one.

Cola – 5.8

Musically OK, but I found the vocals a little flat. Nothing really sparked much excitement.

Lykke Li – 8.6

An upbeat album with really nice vocals throughout. If I was being picky, it’s probably a little too poppy.

MUNA – 7.4

A really strong start with a good variation of tracks, although it became slightly too girly towards the end.

TOTW: Lykke Li – Lucky Again

Classic – Wolf Alice – 8.1

A really good listen throughout. Not as heavy as I was expecting, which was actually a nice surprise.

Mark D

Broken Social Scene - Enjoyed the mix of strong melodies and variety of the songs and styles throughout. Kept my attention all the time and some great tracks. 7.5

Cola - Fairly generic Indie and seemed to lack any notable moments in amongst it all. Guitar sound felt like The Strokes (?) or someone else v familiar. Bit too much strumming without direction. Ironic they had a song title Much of a Muchness 6.25

Lykke Li - Liked the wistful atmosphere and keyboards / strings w some nice samples and beats. But it blended into not much even over short play time. Euphoria, where it was stripped down was best for me. 6.5

MUNA - Decent keyboard pop w a bit of an early 90s feel at points. Quite liked it but where it varied it showed it could have been stronger overall. 6.75

TOTW Relief - BSS

Wolf Alice - Big fan of Wolf Alice recently but not sure id listened to this through start to finish. Definitely level up folk-indie-rock with some standout though they've got better w age.. 7.5

Paul

Broken Social Scene (7.5)

Decent chilled out indie tunes, enjoyed the male/female vocal combo which added some variety, but could have done with a couple of faster tracks.

Cola (6,5)

Average indie, quite liked his voice but there’s not a lot to make it stand out.

Lykke Li (7)

Nice scandie indie pop, enjoyed the vocals but not hugely memorable.

MUNA (5.5)

It’s ok but drifted towards country pop at times which put me off a bit.

TOTW - Broken Social Scene - Life within the Ground

Wolf Alice (8.5)

1st listen to full album. A confident debut. Strong throughout particularly enjoyed the heavier tracks.

Justin

Broken Social Scene - Gentle in offensive indie 6.7

Cola - Again in offensive indie 6.8

Lykke Li - I really liked this particularly first half. Good voice and nice 80s synth with a bit of modern electronica. 7

MUNA - I thought this was a bit bland 80s synth. I did like So What. 5.8

TOTW Lykke Li - Famous Last Words

Wolf Alice - I always enjoy seeing them live but don't know the earlier albums. Enjoyable guitar indie. 7

Sam

Broken Social Scene : it wanders all over the musical landscape. Some hits , some misses . 6.5

Cola : pretty uninteresting. 5

Lykke Li : I actually disliked most of this . Pretty annoying. 4

Muna : this weeks winner by a country mile . I loved Big Stick and East side Girls . 8

Wolf Alice : slightly patchy at times but some solid tunes as well . She has a lovely voice. 7.5

TOTW : East side girls by Muna .

Erol

Broken Social Scene - quite soothing background indie, with a blend of influences. Pleasant on the ear. 7

Cola - generic and derivative indie with mumbling, miserable vocals. Passable guitars but not much more than that. 5.5

Lykke Li - dreamy pop-electronica. Lucky Again is beautifully uplifting. 7.3

MUNA - happy hands in the air indie pop. A joy to listen to. Reminded me a bit of Christine and the Queens. 7.6

TOTW - So What, MUNA

Wolf Alice - a great voice with a few belters but I agree with Sam, it’s a bit patchy. 7

Mark KE

Broken Social Scene - liked this a lot, yes it could do with a couple of biggies but nice atmospheric indie moodiness - 7.5

Cola - torn between thinking this is reminiscent of the kind of 80s indie I'd have listened to a lot and thinking it's terrible amateur out of tune nonsense, I didn't really get on with the vocals either - 5.5

Lykke Li - I quite liked how, even when it got a little moodier, this was unashamedly 'pop' which is no bad rhing at all, even reminded me of mid period Madonna in some parts. Short and sweet, very nice - 7

Muna - pretty ordinary hyper polished 1975 style ordinariness - 4.5

TOTW - The Call, by Broken Social Scene

Phil (New)

Broken Social Scene - 7.1

Enjoyed the layered, slightly chaotic sound. A warm, uplifting feel running through the album. Briefest kiss had a Massive Attack feel to it.

Cola - 5.9

This one mostly passed me by. I struggled a bit with the vocals and some of the instrumentation sounded slightly out of tune or just awkwardly put together in places.

Lykke Li - 7

Stylish, moody pop with a few really good tracks. Happy now a clear stand out tune.

Muna - 5.5

Not offensive, but pretty uninspiring synth-pop overall. Regularly hear on the radio, so they must be doing something right, but it just didn’t really click with me.

TOTW - LIkke Li - Happy Now

Wolf Alice - 7

First time to Wolf Alice for me. Enjoyable rock listen.

Adam

Broken Social Scene

Good bit of melodic indie rock. 7

Cola

One of those indie bands/albums that will vanish into history, nothing really stand out. 5

Lykke Li

Me likey Lykke Li. More interesting sounds from the scandi star. 7

Muna

Fun bit of indie pop to dance around to. 7

TOTW - Lykke Li - Happy Now

Classic - really top voice and rocking tracks on their debut album. Sure they will enter rock cannon/hall of fame at some point. 8

Phil (OG)

Broken Social Scene 6.6

If I played this three or four more times I might get to really like it. As it is, on the basis of two spins, the best thing I can say is that it’s slightly different from most of the indie that we’ve been listening to.

Cola 5.6

Some of the worst singing I’ve heard in ages and the tunes are fairly tedious.

Lykke Li 6.8

Fairly pleasant without making me want to play the album again.

MUNA 6

The 80s synth pop revival continues. It can manage without me.

TOTW – Broken Social Scene – Hey Amanda

Classic

Wolf Alice 7

I remember seeing Wolf Alice at the Great Escape before this album came out and enjoying them. Then, when I heard tracks from the album on the radio, I wasn’t that impressed. Nor am I now. It’s a solid 7, and Your loves whore is a cracking tune, but I’m still not a fan.

Matt

Broken Social Scene - 7

Cola 6.8

Lykke Li - 7.1

MUNA - 7.2

TOTW - MUNA, Dancing on the wall

Jim

Broken Social Scene 5.5

It stays just far enough away from full-on arty wankery but it still drifted on by without holding my attention.

Cola 6.5

Enjoyed this. They have a nice twang to their sound, and the frontman a little Morrissey about him.

Lykke Li 6

Short and sweet pop in a Lorde stylee.

MUNA 6

It’s OK pop, nothing standout and nothing annoying either.

TOTW: Not much to choose from, but I’ll go Cola’s Much of a Madness.

Wolf Alice 9

Love this album, pretty much from start to finish. Doubt there’s one that’s been listened to more in the Mullally house in the last 10 years, and it’s up there with pretty much anything that’s come since imho. Fluffy, Giant Peach, Germ and Bros in particular are tremendous balanced with a handful of tasty, more subtle ones. Great band, superstar singer, roll on another set in Madrid.

Annette

Broken Social Scene: 7

Cola: 6

Lykke Li: 6

MUNA: 6.5

TOTW: Relief by Broken social scene

Classic: Wolf Alice - 9