W/e 21/02/25 - Horsegirl, Mallrat, Manic Street Preachers, The Wombats, my bloody valentine

Not much to note here, other than Matt’s first 😀 of the year, and all 4 albums in the bottom half our chart.

Guy

Horsegirl – I found this a bit one-dimensional and the intentional lo-fi production meant it lacked punch. One or two decent tracks dotted throughout though such as Switch Over. - 6

Mallrat – Tuneful pop but nothing different to loads of other female vocalists of a similar ilk. Couldn’t get overly excited about this and probably won’t return – 5.5

Manic Street Preachers – Truly awful opening and closing tracks sandwich some classic Manic soundscapes. Not really a band I’m enthused about and it felt like a poor offering compared to other albums by them. – 5.7

The Wombats – This is not their best work and lacks the obvious bangers of some earlier albums but it’s got the classic catchy tunes and memorable lyrics. Best of the week – 6.9

TOTW – Can’t say no – The Wombats

My bloody valentine – topical choice. I can’t say I’ve listened to much MBV. This was decent stuff. I can’t say I’ll rush back but it was pretty enjoyable - 7

Andy

Horsegirl - good stuff this, wears her Velvets influence on her sleeve, particularly on the opening track. Gives me strong boygenius feels 6.5

Mallrat - This is pretty much Brat-lite but there’s a few nice touches in it, not least the last two tracks 6

Manic Street Preachers - I’m not sure it’s great plan to give Nicky the opening track but after that this a solid Manics effort. Reliable stuff 7.5

The Wombats - Oh! Get in the ocean 1.5

TotW - Out of Time Revival by the Manics

my bloody valentine - The Velvet Underground and Nico of shoegazing. Hugely influential and yet somehow I’ve not really listened to it that much. Sonic cathedrals all over the shop and soon brings back many indie disco memories 8

Jim

Horsegirl 7

Pick of the bunch for me this week. The right side of quirky indie, with plenty of New Order guitars keeping it ticking along nicely

Mallrat 6

Acceptable pop, best bits were where the gentle drum and base or garage beats upped the pace a little

Manic Street Preachers 5

Yesch, a set of lazy, stale MOR rock tracks. Plods along for 35 mins before finally giving a little horsepower on the last track. If an AI starts writing stuff for these older acts, reckon it’ll sound like this

Wombats 4

See MSP, replacing rock for JJ and without the decent last track

TOTW: Horsegirl – Well I Know You’re Shy

My Bloody Valentine 7.5

A first listen for me. Uber-gaze which sounded good, if a little one dimensional.

Soon is the one I remembered and is a great track.

Simon

Horsegirl: wanted to like this but it just didn't do it for me - had its moments but it was mostly a bit ponderous and rudimental with a dreary vocal. Ho hum. 6

Mallrat: much of a muchness with the myriad of similar acts of this ilk we've listened to, but I quite like her voice and it does have the week's best track by some margin, namely The Worst Thing etc. 6.5

Manic Street Preachers: the opening track is a car crash, but after that it just sounds like all the other Manics songs I've ever heard - nothing here to change my mind that they are simply a dull band. 5

Wombats: from what I remember I didn't mind the last Wombats album, but not particularly impressed with this - throwaway is one of the words that springs to mind, along with lightweight and forgettable. 5

My Bloody Valentine: a seminal album, and given its difficult and expensive gestation that's just as well - as shoegaze goes it's peerless, but it also stands out as one of those rare albums that genuinely sounds like nothing else. Soon in particular is a monster and one of my all-time favourite tracks. 9

TotW: Mallrat - The Worst Thing I Would Ever Do

Sam

Horsegirl : why can’t bands just make decent music that doesn’t grate ? 5

Mallrat : rubbish , dull pop :4

Manics : better than many of their previous albums , a bit patchy but this weeks winner : 7

Wombats : what’s happened ? They’ve lost direction and ooomph . Woeful : 4

MBV : parts were lovely but some of this is jarring , sorry 6

TOTW : Decline and Fall : Manic Street Preachers

Erol

Horse Girl - stripped back and basic guitars but a good listen nonetheless, made all the better by the Velvets influence. 6.5

Mallrat - soft pop. It’s pleasant background music, not much more. 5.5

Manic Street Preachers - as others have noted, the opener is bad but it picks up nicely after that with some expansive sounds. Not their best but still enjoyable. Decline & Fall is the best track. 7

The Wombats - some half decent tunes here and there. But overall it’s pretty bland and nothing stands out. 6.5

TOTW - Switch Over, Horse Girl

My Bloody Valentine - my poor bloody ears more like. Far too much distorted noisy guitar and emo mumbling for my taste. 4

Justin

Horse Girl - okay but ultimately forgettable dreary dark indie goth 6

Mallrat - better than some of this genre but ultimately still a bit moaney and dull 5.8

Manic Street Preachers - when they first came out I thought their music really grated but overtime I've come to really like them. Not a classic but also no real filler and what you would expect from the manics 6.8

The Wombats - no obvious banger but still an enjoyable synth indie melancholy 6.9

TOTW The Wombats - Grim Reaper

My Bloody Valentine - I missed this when it came out as I was peak rave but these days it gets periodic spins. It is a master class of guitar noise and distortion 8

Mark

Horsegirl - nice lo fi Velvets / C86 shuffling indie, my kind of thing in lots of ways but then it's almost so lo fi that you forget it's on after a while - 6

Mallrat - I find myself liking this new wave of girl pop and this sits nicely alongside the likes of Lola Young / Baby Queen / Nia Archives we've covered - 6.5

Manic Street Preachers - a band I'm very fond of, like Arcade Fire I love the way they made it despite never being part of a trend or scene. More mellow than manic these days, like so many of their contemporaries, but plenty of decent material on here nonetheless with big soaring choruses and his signature guitar solos, with a Moz tribute thrown in for good measure - 7

The Wombats - arguably the band that the term indie landfill could have been written for. It's not terrible at all, but it's just lacking in identity or something that would make them recognisable or stand out from similar acts like Two Door, Circa Waves, Sea Girls. To be fair they went down a storm at the festival, that's probably more to do with the Reading crowd these days though - 5.5

TOTW - Decline and Fall, by the Manics

Annette

Horsegirl: 6.5

Mallrat: 6

Manics: 5

Wombats: 5

TOTW: Horsegirl- 2468

Classic: MBV - 6

Matt

Horsegirl: 7.5

Mallrat: 5.8

Manic Street Preachers: 7.8

Wombats: 6

TOTW: Manic Street Preachers, Decline and Fall

Classic: My Bloody Valentine 8

Adam

Horsegirl

Quite lovely laid back tunes - but it does go horizontal at points in terms of tempo. 6

Mallrat

If landfill indie is a genre then maybe also trend in generic gen z pop. Good elements from vocals, to drums and synth - but nothing to really make this stand out amongst other similar things being churned out. 5

Manics

Hard not to compare back to some of my favourites but still holding a good tune and enjoyed their gig a few weeks ago (even if I couldn’t bloody see them!). Enjoyed their signature sound and guitar riffing on this, but feel they have peaked a while ago 6

Wombats

I’m a big fan of the indie landfill merchants - Reading tent was a karaoke session. They don’t perhaps have the indie bangers of old but there is some catchy stuff here. 6

TOTW - Wombats - Can’t Say No

MBV

Had never specifically listened to these but feel like I recognised tracks like only shallow. Really good rocky shoegazey stuff. 7

Phil

Horsegirl 7

On the first two tracks they sound like they should have been included on NME’s legendary C86 cassette, which isn’t necessarily a compliment. They start to get it right on In twos and from that point they definitely warm up.

Mallrat 6.5

Horses, the final track here, is so good I could forgive Mallrat if the rest of the album was rubbish. It isn’t but neither is it in the same league. She does manage to make the gossamer-thin arrangements work for her but I’d have liked to hear her take some more chances.

Manic Street Preachers 5.5

To my surprise, I didn’t dislike this. Up to this point I’ve never liked many of the Manics tracks that I’ve heard but, to be fair, I’ve never sat down and listened to a whole album. The music is widescreen without being overdone and it’s done with passion. The lyrics are a bit tendentious but at least they’re about something. Not bad at all.

Wombats 4.5

Grown-up pop? Probably, it’s certainly dull enough. It occasionally bursts into life but not enough to engage my attention.

TOTW : Mallrat - Horses

Classic

My Bloody Valentine 9.5

I’ve always preferred Isn’t anything because you can hear the words – and the arrangements. On Loveless, everything is drenched with noise so vivid you can feel it. I saw MBV at the Forum soon after this album came out and it was a life-changing experience.