W/e 24/04/26 - Foxtide, Nine Inch Noize, Tomora, They Might be Giants, The Undertones
Congrats to Tom and Aurora, who take the top spot for 2026, ending TVAM’s 7-week run at #1. They also have the TOTW, and theirs is the 6th album this year to get a score of 9 or more from one of us.
The lead is by the smallest of margins, 0.1 of an awarded score between them, and it’s the same minute gap back to Gladie at #3.
The Undertones sit on the middle of the classics, next to REM and Marillion
Phil C has his first 😊 of his adventure 🎉. Erol is on the emotional rollercoaster, this week it’s back to the ☹️ - that’s 4 of them and 2 😊 in the last 2 months.
Note to Mark – great to have you on board, and nice work getting the reviews done in under a week. Erol just pipped you to the ☹️!
Guy
Foxtide - In places, this has a touch of the Strokes about it. Those bits are good. But elsewhere it’s like the Manic Street Preachers. Those bits are less good - 7
Nine Inch Nails - All I can say is that Boys Noize made NIN sound a lot better than they normally do. Surprisingly listenable but nothing to write home about - 6
They Might Be Giants - Cooky, slightly twee indie pop that sounds too much like the Wiggles for my liking - 5
Tomora - Actually changed my review on this on second listen. First time through I found it a bit of a mixed bag. But on listening a second time, the strong tunes really shine through (Ring the Alarm, Somewhere Else, The Thing, In a Minute and my TOTW which is a banger). I can put up with the Bjork style numbers for a taste of those alone - 7.9
TOTW - I Drink the Light by Tomora
Undertones - Cracking album. Full of energy and dynamism. Love Mars Bar and Jimmy Jimmy, and of course Teenage Kicks is monumental - 8.7
Andy
Foxtide - OK indie, all a bit Strokes lite, not bad but nothing particularly exciting 6
Nine Inch Noize - Feels like techno remixes of NIN songs is a bit of a hat on a hat but this is a cracker, eligibility be damned, I’ll stop short of picking Closer as TOTW mind 7.5
They Might Be Giants - One of my favourite bands. This isn’t quite up there with their classics but it’s still wonderfully enjoyable intelligent pop music 7.5
Tomora - Like a microcosm of my attitude towards dance music. Some of this is absolute bangers but some of it is dreadfully tedious. Admittedly the bangers slightly outweigh the bores 6
TotW - Wu-Tang by TMBG
Undertones - I’m not a fan of original punk but this is much better than all that nonsense, in fact did Feargal and co invent pop punk? If so they did a cracking job and also created a top 3 song about wanking 8
Phil (OG)
Foxtide 6.3
Fairly dull indie. Not much more to add, really.
Nine Inch Nails 6.3
Fairly dull techno. Not much more to add, really.
They Might Be Giants 7.2
Not as daft as I was expecting. Instead it’s a solid collection of catchy, tongue-in-cheek rock/pop songs. They remind me a bit of 10 cc, in that you never quite know if they’re being serious or not.
TOMORA 6.8
Eerie, atmospheric opener but after that it defaults to fairly standard EDM. One or two tracks that even I thought catchy but it mostly didn’t float my boat.
TOTW – They Might Be Giants – Overnight sensation
Classic
The Undertones 7.5
Teenage kicks is one of my favourite tracks of all time and the band had a few other great singles (My perfect cousin is a close second) but TK wasn’t on the album when it was originally released and I have pedantically stuck to the original track listing for my review. I was honestly disappointed. They made a fine racket for sure but there’s an absence of out-and-out classics, hence the lowish score.
Simon
Foxtide: passable indie with shades of Doves, Strokes, etc - didn't live long in the memory though. 6
Nine Inch Noize: never really listened to NiN although like Trent's soundtrack work - don't know how much Boys Noize brings to the party here but always had a penchant for a bit of industrial/techno so this had some appeal. 7
They Might Be Giants: only know TMBG through Birdhouse in Your Soul which I've always found slightly annoying, so didn't have great expectations for this - thought it was OK on first listen, second time round the excessive quirkiness started to irritate. Not my cup of tea. 5.5
TOMORA: I did enjoy this - Aurora's crisp ethereal vocals are the perfect foil to Tom's expansive and propulsive electronica, there's plenty of Chem Bros-style bangers but what really elevates it are the slower, cinematic numbers on which the duo complement each other best. 8.5
TotW: TOMORA - The Thing
Undertones: not the sort of thing I'd usually listen but this is lovely stuff - fresh and energetic with a handful of all-timers. 8
Sam
Foxtide: I liked this , well made bit of bouncy indie . 7.5
Nine Inch Noize: absolutely banging slice of industrial dance music . Enjoyed it a lot :8.1
They Might Be Giants : undoubtedly clever but didn’t do much for me . 5.5
Tomora : oooh yeah me likey . Parts banging , parts eerie . Yum . 8
TOTW : Start of Nothing by Foxtide
Undertones : very catchy and fun . They knew how to write a tune while bombs went off around them . Nice choice : 8
Mark D
Im struggling a bit to get the right range / scale for scoring but here goes
NIN - 6.5. Im a NIN fan, but a remix album for me should have many people doing the remixes and so this wasn't varied enough and lost too much of musicality of NIN.
Foxtide - 6. Ok with a few better songs (Live by the sun) but not much to get excited about and def leaning on other bands. Arctic Monkeys riff lifted somewhere too?
Tomora - 5.25. Not really for me. The best tracks were definitely those w more speed and beats but not enough of them.
TMBG - 7. Liked it for one listen. Musical upbeat and immediately catchy and varied - but the shorter interludes were a bit unnecessary.
Undertones - 7.25. First listen (Teenage Kicks aside). Sorry. Great tight rock punk and best when adding a bit extra (I gotta getta).
TOTW - Overnight Sensation TMBG (mention to Copy of A NIN).
Happy I've signed up!! 😃
Justin
Foxtide - I like the tunes and his voice, but it just lacks a bit of indie umph. Really needs a remaster. 6.3
Nine Inch Noize - I really like Boys Noize and whilst the first couple of tunes I didn't like it then ramps up to full Boys Noize techno and most tunes were TOTW contenders. 7.9
They Might Be Giants - The Wiggles analogy was very apt. Quality kids tv music but a bit tedious for adult listening. 5
Tomora - Brilliant ambient electronica. Plenty of variety and interesting sounds and tunes. 7.8
Totw NIN - Came Back Haunted.
The Undertones - Shame on me for never having listened to this before. Classic punk pop from start to finish. 8
Mark KE
Foxtide - sub Strokes style ordinariness with occasional Matt Bellamy vocal flourishes, all a bit so so, not terrible but not really doing anything radically different and there are some ropey schmaltzy ones near the end - 6
Nine Inch Noize - well this blew away a few cobwebs. Almost impossible to review without mentioning both 'industrial' and 'banging' and I'm here for it - 7
They Might Be Giants - I do like this kind of Weezer / Fountains Of Wayne / Lemonheads harmony driven US slacker rock, the quirky theatrical piano stuff not quite so much, but overall this was a fine listen - 7
Tomora - liked it, although a few tracks teased Chem Bros styled bangers (tbf there are a few of those to be found too) only to morph into more sedate trip hop vibes. Vocals were pleasant enough, interesting scandi vibes - 7.5
TOTW - Memorabilia, by Nine Inch Noize
Paul
Foxtide (6)
Ok indie just didn’t really go anywhere. Needed a couple of gear changes to lift it.
Nine Inch Nails (7.8)
Decent bit of industrial edm with plenty of bangers in there. Enjoyed it.
They might be giants (5.5)
Not unpleasant, catchy but just a bit daft.
Tomora (8)
Realty enjoyed the ambient dance moods and with enough higher energy tracks to lift it. Had a few potential TOTWs. (Ring the alarm, somewhere else and I drink the light are all fab)
TOTW - Tomora - Ring the alarm
The Undertones (8)
First time listen for me. 26 tracks in 56 mins is punchy but rattles along nicely with a distinctive energy to it all.
Erol
Foxtide - decent enough indie. Start of Nothing was the most impressive track. 6.9
NIN - I enjoy a bit of industrial techno but this was a bit too full-on for my taste. 6.3
They Might Be Giants - disappointing and drab. More of a novelty record than anything else. I’d rather listen to the Wiggles. 3.5
TOMORA - cracking ambient electronica peppered with some big hands-in-the-air numbers. Thoroughly enjoyable. 8
TOTW - Somewhere Else, TOMORA
The Undertones - fiery and visceral indie punk-rock from Feargal and co. Largely enjoyable but it did sound dated. Teenage Kicks though is still a belter. 6.9
Phil (New)
Foxtide 6.9
I forgot to write anything down after I listened to this and now I can't remember any of it. I thought I enjoyed it, but perhaps no recollection is a bad sign.
Nine Inch Nails 7.1
Not what I expected at all, less industrial rock and a little more techno, Solid .
They Might Be Giants 7
This made me smile, some of the songs wouldn't have been out of place on Sesame Street but wierdly enjoyable though.
Tomora 8.8
New chemical brothers noises are never going to go wrong with me, total bias here! Before Musolytica/hannah pretty much all I listened to on loop was Chemical Brothers and Stone Roses! Start to finish this was great. Lots of TOW on here. I drink the light and just a minute were fantastic.
TOTW Tomora - I Drink the Light
Undertones 8
Not listened to this before other than Teenage Kicks. Great album
Annette
Foxtide: 6.5
Nine Inch Noze: 7
They Might Be Giants: 6
Tomora: 7.5
TOTW: My baby by Tomora
Classic: Undertones - 7
Carlo
Foxtide – 7.1
A decent album overall. Nothing really stood out, but I did like Wait It Out.
Nine Inch Nails – 6.2
Punchy sound with a good balance of rock and EDM. I’m just not keen on his voice.
They Might Be Giants – 5.2
Another voice that just doesn’t do it for me.
Tomora – 7.4
I like how her voice interacts with the digital sound. Also, you gotta love the classic crescendo… building nicely for the beat to drop.
TOTW: Tomora – Somewhere Else
Classic – The Undertones – 6.5
Nice to hear the full album, but as always with the classics, the ones you know, you like!
Adam
Foxtide
Slightly wistful, shoegazey indie. Very pleasant even if it doesn’t get out of second gear. 7
Nine Inch Noize
Mostly aware of Boys Noize through excellent remixes of others tracks. Heavy techno tunes, top stuff all round. 8
They Might Be Giants
This kind of soft/wacky rock just didn’t do it for me. 4
Tomora
Excellent album of electronica with enough scandi weirdness to make this interesting. 8
TOTW - Somewhere Else - Tomora
Classic
Teenage Kicks the standout star, had never listened to much else on here. Good rocking stuff. 7
Jim
Foxtide 6.5
Decent indie debut, all very pleasant without ripping it up. Start of Nothing was the standout.
Nine Inch Noize 8
I don’t know NINs stuff that well, so it was hard to know how much of their sound remained. Either way, once it found it’s feet this was tip top techno
They Might Be Giants 5
Serious or otherwise, it’s just not very good, verging on annoying on a few occasions
TOMORA 9
Simply brilliant throughout. Loads of listens this week – first couple of spins I was focused on the bangers and perhaps wishing for a few more, but once I gave the slower ones the attention, realised they are mostly excellent as well – Closer and A Boy Like You in particular – and had the feel of the 2nd, more lower key, half of Exit Planet Dust. Of the bangers, I Drink The Light is fantastic – would grace any CB album. AURORA brought a little Billie Eilish to the party as well. Excellent stuff from one half of the GOATs. My album of the year so far…
TOTW: TOMORA – I Drink The Light
The Undertones 8.5
Cracking pop punk throughout. Had not realised how innocent their lyrics mostly were – quite endearing. Teenage Kick’s really is a work of art.
Matt
Foxtide - 6.2
Nine Inch Noize - 7.8
They Might be Giants - 6
TOMORA - 8.1
TOTW TOMORA - In a Minute
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