W/e 24/01/25 - Victoria Canal, Delivery, Ela Minus, The Weather Station, The Velvet Underground

A better week, above average scores with our first 8s+ of the year.

Congrats to Ela Minus, the winner this week and to the top of 2025 pile.

Plus an impressive set of 9 TOTW nominations across 5 tracks - Upwards taking it with 4.

She sits well inside our top 100, which is becoming more and more of an achievement, next to Wolf Alice and The High Water Marks.

Simon had a very enjoyable week with the highest set of scores any of us have had for a couple of months so has the 😀. Sam’s on a bit of a roller coaster, swapping faces for the last 4 weeks and this time has our ☹️.

The Velvet Underground land in our top 50 classics next to, somewhat coincidentally, Franz Ferdinand and The The.

Andy

Victoria Canal - I rather enjoyed this, her vocals have a touch of the Gracie Abrams about them and that works in this house 6.5

Delivery - Solid Aussie new wave sounds. I enjoyed the alternating vocalists and they wear their influences on their sleeves 7

Ela Minus - Normally I'm first out of the door when the rave starts but I found myself tapping my foot to this one. Lots of interesting tunes and the vocals were reminiscent of Lorde and at times Björk 6.5

The Weather Station - Wispy vocals that are bound to bring comparisons with the likes of Liz Fraser and Tori Amos. Background sax made me think of Black Country New Roads. Overall it's a bit too wispy for me, but not a totally unpleasant listen 6

TotW - Black Swan by Victoria Canal

Velvet Underground - Yeah, it's a cracker. I was never into it as a kid, which I assume is why I was never in a band, but I've come to it in later life and really enjoy it, especially when you consider some of their other work is a bit less accessible you could say. I think they might be on drugs though 8.5

Justin

Victoria Canal - tired of rating this genre on an objective basis. I just don't like the genre 3

Delivery - reliable guitar indie. 6.5

Ela Minus - great dark electronica. Less mental/scary than Crystal Castles but still with edge. Lots of potential TOTWs. 7.2

The Weather Station - less hysterical Florence & the machine. Also a bit like 80s goths All About Eve. 6.4

TOTW Ela Minus - COMBAT

Velvet Underground - Effortlessly cool. Not sure I've listened to the whole album before but knew lots of the songs. Simple songs well executed. 8

Phil

Victoria Canal 7

Yes, this is pop but happily it’s more Beabadoobee than Sabrina Carpenter. Victoria’s approach is confessional but she can write a decent tune which makes it a very listenable record. Totally fucking fine is perhaps the definitive track, and its piano accompaniment is perfectly in tune (see what I did there?) with the lyric.

Delivery 6.5

Having spent the first five tracks trying and failing to be the Buzzcocks suddenly, on The New Alphabet, Delivery locate their own sound. Two tracks later they come up with Focus right, which is even better. Only a fool is enjoyably bluesy, Put your back into it is energetic and, yes, punky. Worth seeing live, I’d imagine.

Ela Minus 7

Surprisingly perhaps, I enjoyed this a lot. Ever since listening’s to Nico’s solo recordings, I’ve always enjoyed voices with a pronounced accent and, although dancey, I liked that these were songs not just tunes. The opening track isn’t typical and it had me looking forward to a droney, ambient album. How wrong I was and, as a bonus, the final track is terrific.

The Weather Station 6.5

I found this album infuriating. It had some fine moments, notably the sequence of tracks that begin with Body moves and ends with Fleuve. The upbeat numbers, like the title track, are OK without being memorable. But then there’s Irreversible damage, which has a groovy enough shuffle beat, with piano and sax dipping in and out of the mix, while Tamara Lindeman can just about be made out chuntering to herself - except you can’t make out the words! From that point the album then ambles towards its downbeat end, on Sewing, without this listener being any the wiser.

TOTW – Victoria Canal – Swan song

Classic

Velvet Underground 10

Where do I start with this record? From the moment I first heard it till now, it has become, for me, just one of the defining records of rock. It has all the edge and subversiveness that we look for as teenagers, alongside some of the best lyrics you’ll hear, Cale’s scary viola playing, Nico’s deadpan vocals and ends with the auto-destruction of European son. Who has NOT been influenced by this album? And it still sounds devastating.

Sam

Victoria Canal : please no more wafty female singers for at least a month ! My poor ears … 4

Delivery : very decent slab of Aussie guitar based fun . Me like . 8

Ela Minus : some nice dark pulsating beats . 7

The Weather Station : more shite ! Go away . 3

TOTW the absolute belter that is Stuck in the game , by Delivery.

Velvet Underground: some of this is trippy lush 60’s gorgeousness but some of this is bad ! Sorry Phil . The last track is particularly jarring . Oh and Nico was ( probably) a nazi . So overall , no ta . 6

Simon

Victoria Canal: difficult to find much wrong with this - it's well-written and arranged and she's got a fine voice - however with the odd exception (e.g. Hollow) it just didn't leave that much of an impression on me. 6.5

Delivery: old school new wave, almost defiantly so, but rather enjoyable nonetheless - it romps along with plenty of fizz and spirit and judging by the lyrics I'd imagine they're having a lot of fun in the process. 7.5

Ela Minus: even though she's Colombian there's a northern European feel to this, put me in mind of Bjork/The Knife (particularly the vocals). Ticks all the boxes for me, keeps one foot firmly on the dancefloor whilst incorporating some interesting ambient/industrial elements in the mix as well. 8

The Weather Station: don't know the band but enjoyed this overall - it peters out towards the end but some of the more upbeat tracks (Neon Signs, Window) are excellent - shades of Beth Orton's Trailer Park and Central Reservation albums. 7.4

Velvet Underground: haven't listened to this for a long time but feel like I know it intimately - it hasn't lost any of its impact and still sounds like must have been beamed in from another world, god knows what they made of it in the mid-60s. 9

TotW: Ela Minus - Upwards

Mark

Victoria Canal - I think I'd have quite rated this if I hadn't heard so much like it in the past couple of years, which is maybe a bit unfair but reflects a genre we've been deluged by. Songs are good, vocals are nice, but I just couldn't get really excited by it - 6

Delivery - started out as basic Arctics / Strokes copyists and I didn't feel it massively evolved from there on. All decent enough and mostly in my wheelhouse but without really standing out and I found the vocals, at least from the bloke, a bit irritating, like a bad B52s - 6

Ela Minus - a cracking album, full of atmospherics, euphoric synths and banging bleeping goodness, had a bit of Sabres / David Holmes in places, hard edged but with tunes. Definitely the one I played most this week - 8

Weather Station - I dismissed this as worthy jazz folk the first time but on second listen it started to grow on me, there's definitely some emotional depth to these songs even if it does often wander off into wafty territory - 6.5

TOTW - Broken by Ela Minus

Guy

Victoria Canal - Nice voice but a little wispy for my tastes to score higher. Reasonably enjoyable nonetheless - 6

Delivery - Nowhere near as shouty as their antipodean classmates. This has much more of an indie vibe which was in my wheelhouse. - 7.7

Ela Minus - Decent bit of electronica. Some nice beats and bleeps and distinctive vocals. Touch of Chvrches in some tracks - 7.6

The Weather Station - Justin nailed it with the Florence comparisons. Ethereal tunes and a really strong voice but a bit slow - 6.8

TOTW - Ela Minus, Broken

The Velvet Underground - A definite classic that set the tone for so many others to follow. - 8.9

Adam

Victoria Canal:

Landfill pop? Some good pop tunes on here but nothing to quite make it really stand out and come back to. 5

Delivery

With Force Majeure it doesn’t quite reach tour de force levels but certainly has fun trying to. High energy rocking from the Melburians. 7

Ela Minus

Poppy, uptempo, ethereal electro beats. Reminded of a happier Zola Jesus and slightly less quirky Bjork combo in places. 7

The Weather Station

Pleasant enough arty ballads. Plenty of serene melodies on this with floaty vocals coming through. 6

TOTW: Ela Minus - Onwards

Velvet underground: Iconic rock. hadn’t heard everything on here but out of the traps with Sunday Morning and I’m Waiting for the Man - absolute tunes. No wonder they are part of the cultural furniture as it were 8

Annette

Victoria Canel: 6

Delivery: 7.5

Ela Minus: 8

The Weather Station: 5

TOTW: Ela Minus - Upwards

Classic: The Velvet Underground - 7 (last song was too grating on the ears).

Jim

Victoria Canal 5

Occasionally there were some nice Billie Eilish and Lorde vibes in her vocals, but it lacked even the finest amount of their swagger

Delivery 7

Another decent slightly quirky Aussie offering, a little similar throughout maybe, but they saved the best to last with Exacto

Ela Minus 8.5

Bosh. South American electronica is on the up. I loved this, had it on repeat for the last few days. Covered many genres, often with a twist, from the tasty trance on Broken, to the banging techno on QQQQ and probably the pick of the bunch, the Leftfield-esque progressive gem Upwards. Plus a few Crytal Castle influences thrown in for good measure. Will hope to see in festival tent soon, or a Chevron if that’s still a thing. Bravo

Weather Station 6

Such melancholy is not normally my thang, but I quite enjoyed this. Had just enough rhythm and occasionally reminding me of the early more chilled Groove Armada albums

TOTW: Ela Minus – Upwards

Velvet Underground 8

Well I learnt one thing this week – the album’s not just called Nico! Never listened to it before, and I did warm to it, if not loved it. The tracks with Lou singing are more powerful and better than the ones with Nico, which are a tad whispy for me. But fair play, the multitude of bands they influenced are obvious, so extra half for that.

Matt

Victoria Canal - 5.5

Delivery - 6

Ela Minus - 8

The Weather Station- 6.8

Totw Upwards, Ela Minus

Erol

Victoria Canal - a great fresh sounding voice, with hints of Billie Eilish. 7

Delivery - another Aussie guitar band. Decent enough but meh…5

Ela Minus - strong, dark techno. Much to appreciate here. 7.8

Weather station - reasonable soft, melancholy sounds. I lost interest fairly quickly though. 5.5

TOTW - QQQQ, Ela Minus

Velvet Underground - strong drug induced tracks from 50 years ago that have mostly stood the test of time. 7