W/e 21/06/24 - Sea Girls, Moby, Hockey Dad, Stand Still, The Streets

Another average week. We've not had a high scorer for a couple of months now

(hoping this week might buck that trend).

Very tight at the top - Sea Girls just nick it from Hockey Dad. Stand Still just above the bottom 10 of the year.

Hockey Dad can take solace in having our TOTW.

Sam has the 😀 with a solid set of scores.

Matt the ☹️, with his 2nd lowest set to date, only the infamous week in Aug 2021, with Justin's buddies Hadrwicke Circus, was worse.

Nils Frahm takes a sigh of relief as The Streets replace him at the base of our classic ladder, with a score that would see them in the bottom 30 of our 800+ new albums 😔.

Andy

Sea Girls - Do you know what, I didn't mind this. I still find it hard to love as it feels so deliberately trying to make big sounding indie and that always seems a bit shallow to me, but they just about pull it off 6

Moby - I quite enjoyed this, even if it sounded like it could have been recorded 30 years ago. Interestingly* I kept thinking I recognised the guests but when I looked at the tracklist I hadn't heard of any of them other than Benjamin Zephaniah (RIPIP) 6

Hockey Dad - On first listen I was all "where's the energy gone from falling headlong for these guys at GE 6 years ago?" but second time around it really worked for me, a cracking bunch of Aussie rockers, it would be lovely to see them over here again some time 7.5

Stand Still - An outstanding piece of melodic hardcore with some sweet turn of the century emo influences thrown in, it's like it was made especially for me. They'd have gone down a treat on the FR stage this year but they seem to be very new indeed so maybe we'll have to wait for next time around. A treat 8

TotW - Dancing on the Other Hand

The Streets - Well, I approached this with an open mind having never listened to the whole album before and hoped that there might at least be some tunes in there for me. Nope, sorry Justin it was as dreadful as I expected thanks to whatever you call whatever it is that Mike Skinner does. Actually loses marks for the tired stoner argument on The Irony of it All 1

Jim

Sea Girls 7

Decent high-octane indie, at best verging on Killers and Amazons, but lacking their panache

Moby 7.5

Always been a fan, and enjoyed the classic Moby numbers plus some dabbling in other genres. Did go on a tad.

Hockey Dad 7

A new one for me. Lower key, more subtle indie than Sea Girls and equally enjoyable.

Stand Still 5

Run of mill very heavy rock that didn’t flick my switch

TOTW - Hockey Dad: Seething

The Streets 9

Funny funky and original. Hit all the right notes at the time, and summed up many a night out 😱. Too Much Brandy still cracks me up, Weak Become Heroes is a delightful rave-night tribute. Was brilliant when performed live with one of the great opening tracks. True classic.

Mark

Sea Girls - seemed a little punchier than their last one, still high on the arena sized indie singalong chorus scale, they still need a couple more absolute standouts to push themselves up festival bills and into the major league lineup though - 7

Moby - not sure I was desperate to hear another Moby album, this was okay (of lengthy) but not massively evolved form his 90s heyday - 6

Hockey Dad - took a couple of listens to really get into it but this was another decent offering from down under, shades of RBCF in places - 7

Stand Still - formulaic polished modern rock, at least it was restrained in the screaming front, not really my bag - 5

TOTW - Wreck & Ruin by Hockey Dad

Guy

Sea Girls - Proper good old fashioned sing-a-long indie. Loads of big anthems and definitely a touch of the Killers about it. Perhaps didn’t have the one or two super-tunes although Midnight Butterflies is close - 7.8

Moby - I found this OK but nothing special. Had hoped for a bit more. Towards the end it just seemed to go on-and-on and there was very little spark - 6

Hockey Dad - Much softer indie than I imagined. This was very JJ / Indie Pop rather than the slightly more raucous sound I’d expected. I liked it as it’s ‘in my wheelhouse’ although definitely no stand out tunes IMHO. More of an easy-listener - 7

Stand Still - If you like this sort of stuff, you might class it as decent exemplar but I just don’t get on with it. Noisy, often tuneless and with that classic vocal sound that all these hardcore bands seem to have - unpleasant - 5

TotW - Midnight Butterflies - Sea Girls

The Streets - Absolute rubbish. I was trying to work out if it held any musical merit if you were to take off his spoken word, geezer poem bits which are terrible, but I concluded the tunes (if they ever existed) were piss poor as well for the most part. Nothing to save this one. I’m with Andy - 1

Matt

Sea Girls - Inoffensive, workmanlike indie. Musical Kingsmill sliced. 6

Moby - audio time travel, straight back to the last millennium but not sure that was the intention. 5.8

Hockey Dad - No, not sure I recall any of it. 4

Stand Still - sit down and be quiet. 3

Totw - nil return

Sam

Sea girls : excellent upbeat indie . Enjoyed this . A solid 8

Moby : obviously looking back to his past but pretty nice overall . Slightly patchy . 7

Hockey Dad : not sure about the lighter stuff but they can kick ass for sure . 7.4

Stand Still : muscular rock ! I’d watch them live . 7.1

TOTW Wreck and Ruin by Hockey Dad

The Streets : well , it is better than I remember! The music is varied and sometimes interesting. His lyrics and delivery are still amateurish tho , and parts are annoying . But originally I was thinking 0 or 1 but I’m actually going for a 4 !

Erol

Sea Girls - happy, hands in the air indie. Thoroughly enjoyable but it’s lacking a couple of standout bangers. 7.5

Moby - he’s put out some really good stuff over the years and, while there is nothing remarkable or new here, it’s still a sold offering, if a bit long. 7.2

Hockey Dad - I was expecting some hard indie rock from these guys but this is much lighter and bouncy. Not bad on the ear and its simplicity appeals but I think I prefer the edgier version of the band that we saw at GE a few years ago. 7

Stand Still - I didn’t really get on with this. It’s just too generic, with nothing new on offer. I’m a fan of power rock but it needs to stand out from the crowd; sadly, this failed to do so. 5.5

TOTW - I want you to know me, Sea Girls

The Streets - the working class geezer from a council estate rhyming hits the mark. It’s inventive, funny and never takes itself seriously. At times it reminds me of Kurupt FM, which put a big smile on my face. 7.8

Simon

Sea Girls: generic sing-a-long indie, but tbf they give the impression of knowing what they're good at and not having any pretentions otherwise - enjoyable enough but it's not going to live long in the memory. 6.3

Moby: largely follows the blueprint of the ubiquitous Play so not moved on greatly, but nonetheless I found it engaging enough with some interesting guest vocalists. 7.3

Hockey Dad: decent enough half-hour of JJ with nice summery vibe, has its moments but like Sea Girls couldn't get that excited by it. 6.4

Stand Still: not the worst example of this genre that we've reviewed, but would be a stretch to say I enjoyed it because this whole style of music just leaves me cold. 5

The Streets: I took an instant dislike to the Streets when they first appeared and nothing has changed since - the lyrics and delivery are next level cringe, and there's hardly anything in the tinny, half-baked beats to provide much redemption. 2

TotW: Moby - dark days

Justin

Sea Girls - Wombatlite, enjoyable but not earth shattering 6.7

Moby - no massive tunes but all the songs good quality ambient/electronica 7

Hockey Dad - slow indie. Nothing bad but probably not many repeat listens. Safety Pin a good song. 6.5

Stand Still - for this genre I thought it was pretty good. Loud but tuneful guitars and vocals okay as well. 6.9

TOTW Safety Pin - Hockey Dad

The Streets - an album uniquely British that perfectly summed up the dance/youth culture of late 90s and early 2000s. Great tunes and clever lyrics. I will concede that the vocal style is not for everyone! 9