W/e 30/01/26 - Langkamer, PVA, Hot Face, Dead Dad's Club, Jamiroquai

Congrats to Langkamer, our winners this week, pipping Dead Dads Club to 🥇 by the smallest of margins. They have the TOTW as well.

PVA are pretty close to their debut, just 50 places back, with only Matt and Guy enjoying this one more.

Jim has his first 😀 for almost 2 years! Andy takes back the ☹️.

Jamiroquai had a few fans, but was mostly not our cup a cha, and create a diverse trio of neighbours on the classics next door to Jimmy Eat World and The Woodentops.

Andy

Dead Dads Club - Some of this was a bit Arctic Monkeys lite but on the whole it was excellent, interesting indie tunes 7

Hot Face - Energetic stuff that’s ultimately all a bit bland 5.5

Langkamer - Decent indie music 6.5

PVA - At times I thought this was a bit dull like Dry Cleaning, but not quite that bad. Then occasionally it sounds ok. Overall not really for me 5

TotW - Volatile Child by Dead Dads Club

Jamiroquai - I’ve never liked the stupid hatted Ferrari collector and considered giving this a swerve for my own sanity, I didn’t but wish I had, I just can’t see the appeal, soz Annette 2

Sam

Dead dads Club : ace bit of fun slightly chaotic indie , great voice : 8.2

Hot Face : another band with a shit name. But I liked their energy a lot . 7

Langkamer : surprisingly decent indie :7

PVA : patchy which is a shame coz they could be the future of dance music . 6

TOTW : many contenders: Humming Wires by Dead Dads Club

Jamiroquai: I was not a fan back in the day . He’s a buffoon . However this is surprisingly listenable and indeed quite funky . 6.5

Phil OG

Dead Dads Club 7.2

Occasionally lapses into landfill but has enough verve and invention to give hope for the future. Don’t blame the son … is a cracking track.

Hot Face 6.5

Raucous punky racket. Listenable but nothing to make it stand out.

Langkamer 7.5

I enjoyed this a lot. Good songs and inventive arrangements. Particularly enjoyed the lead and rhythm guitar playing.

PVA 7.6

Fellow Hannahs will probably have noticed that although I tend to dislike a lot of electronica there’s a fair few artists that get a free pass. I’m still trying to work out myself where I draw the line! The two key elements that are important are the level of weird (the weirder the better) and the ability to create an atmosphere or narrative (a personal interpretation, I know). PVA score well on both matrices. Dance music? Mebbe. But chin-stroking groove music too.

TOTW – PVA - Okay

Classic

Jamiroquai 6.5

Never been a great fan of Jay Kay and this album does not cause me to revise my opinion. I’m giving him and his band a higher mark than I might otherwise have because they are genuinely good at what they do. I’d just prefer not to listen to it.

Guy

Dead Dad’s Club – I was quite excited about what this one would offer based on the provenance and comments from the group, but ended up a little disappointed. It’s musically good with Arctic Monkey vibes but it lacks the big tunes they have and you end up remembering little of it as a result - 7

Hot Face – Raw, energetic and full of attitude. These guys would be great to see live. Hints of various indie / post-punk bands of the early 80s – 7.5

Langkamer – Enjoyed this. There appear to be a few indie bands around at the mo with quite distinctive sounds. This is one. The faster tracks were better in my view but overall a good offering – 7.2

PVA – A bit of a curate’s egg. Some of the tunes are nice ethereal electro and others are more experimental and really rather tuneless and monotonous - 6

Jamiroquai – It’s funny how most of us hate him. When I’ve seen him on TV he comes across as a nice bloke once he takes his hat off. I’m also partial to a bit of funk. But for some reason I’ve not given him the time of day. In fairness this was a decent album and he’s got a great voice. But I’m probably not going back – 7.5

TOTW – Easterly - Langkamer

Phil (New)

Dead Dad’s Club - 7

Hot Face -7.1

Langkamer - 7.9

PVA - 8

Jamiroquai - 6.5

TOTW – PVA- Okay

Simon

Dead Dads Club: thoroughly engaging lo-fi indie with shades of AM and Jack White amongst others - didn't appreciate the meaning in the name until I read up about them. 7.4

Hot Face: energetic albeit a bit rudimentary, although still enjoyable enough - Cavern Killer the highlight for me. Recorded live in a single take apparently. 6.5

Langkamer: liked this a lot - on the face of it might be mistaken for routine indie but has a lot more going for it than that, not least the great guitar work. Impressive stuff from the Bristol lads. 7.5

PVA: another delicious and compelling slice of dark electronica from PVA - less abrasive than its predecessor, this is has more of a trip hop flavour although it doesn't sound dated at all. The cut-glass vocals really suit the mood and bring it together perfectly, top stuff. 8

Jamiroquai: my first ever and hopefully only listen to a Jamiroquai album - no great fan of his but he clearly knew what he was doing and good luck to him and his millions. 5.5

TotW: PVA - Enough

Carlo

Dead Dads Club – 7

Good album. First couple of songs reminded me of the Beatles?!

Hot Face – 5.5

Musically tight, not my thing but a good mix of solid tunes.

Langkamer – 6.9

Sturdy album, thought there was a slight touch of Lightning Seeds about it.

PVA – 7.5

Started off really well, opening with ‘good morning’ at 5am made my day! A few tracks lost their way. Otherwise all good.

Classic

Jamiroquai – 6.7

OK. Pretty much as I remembered and imagined.

TOTW: PVA – Rain

Paul

Dead Dads Club (7.5)

Quality indie with enough variety on to keep it interesting.

Hot Face (7)

Faced paced 24 mins of high energy punky fun.

Langhamer (7.5)

Really liked it, another decent energetic indie album. Thought the vocals were a bit similar to geese at times.

PVA (8)

Moody atmospheric electronica, loved it.

Jamiraqui (6.5)

As funky as I remember but not bad.

TOTW - PVA Boyface

Mark

Dead Dads Club - I think Chilli's a bit of an unsung indie maverick legend, used to love Palma Violets and there's lots to like here too. Touch of Bolan / T Rex about the vocals, and a definite Fontaines influence in places - 7.5

Langkamer - decent Dandy Warhols style slacker indie rock without really taking off - 7

Hot Face - short sharp punky thrash, apparently it was all recorded live in one take at Abbey Road - 6.5

PVA - slightly underwhelmed by this, didn't think it was as good as their last one, liked it when it went a bit more banging on tracks like Sands - 6

TOTW - Volatile Child by Dead Dads Club

Matt

Dead Dad's Club - 6.8

Langkamer - 7.1

Hot Face - 6.7

PVA - 6.5

TOTW - Babe Pig in the City, Langkamer

Erol

Dead Dad’s Club - really enjoyed this. Raw and a little emotional at times, this was quality indie rock. 7.8

Hot Face - in ya face. A fast paced offering of modern punk. Not quite in my musical sweet spot but I can certainly hear the appeal. 6.7

Langkamer - so refreshing to hear an indie bunch with a different sound. The rhythm guitar had me bouncing along. Really intriguing, these guys have got potential. I’d love to check them out when I’m next in Bristol. 8

PVA - my least favourite of this week’s selection. Some decent bleeps here and there but it was all just a bit too dark and lacking direction. 5

TOTW - a good few to choose from this week but will go for: Crows, Langkamer. Followed closely by That’s Life by DDC.

Jamiroquai - contrary to the views of many on this group, I thought this was ace. Funky jazz fusion with some great vocals by the man in the silly hat. I’d

forgotten how dancy some of his music is. Good choice, Annette! 8

Justin

Dead Dad's Club - Not that keen on the first half in my first listen but on subsequent listens enjoyed the whole album. Something a bit different from your average indie. 7

Hot Face -this type of fast punk is fun live but not really for home listening. 6.3

Langkamer - pleasant enough indie. Bit of a Wedding Present feel especially Crows. 6.9

PVA - some good songs on here like Okay but a lot of it not ambient enough or not bleepy enough. 6.7

TOTW Dead Dad's Club - Need You So Bad

Jamiroquai - Never listened to any of his albums before but I recognise most of these songs from background music in bars at that time. To be fair there are a few good jazz funky numbers on here. 7

Adam

Dead Dads Club

Had some slightly rougher round the edges stuff alongside the more composed. Enjoyable. 7

Hot Face

Always enjoy a bit of energetic punk rock. 6

Langhamer

Very solid indie offering. I’m leaning on good rather than great. 7

PVA

Quite liked the moody electronic soundscapes and vocals 6

TOTW - Dead Dads Club - Don’t Blame the Son For the Sins of the Father

Classic

Little L is a tune - a lot of the rest I didn’t recognise but fun, funky stuff. 7

Jim

Dead Dads Club 7.5

Very enjoyable, plenty of Arctic Monkeys about it. In fact, we’d probably be better off if Alex and co had taken this rather than a lunar direction for their duff 6th album. Don’t Blame The Sun… is a cracker that could have been taken from AM

Hot Face 7.5

Cracking punk, nicely brief with enough variety and a little extra funk compared to many peers

Langkamer 8.5

First belter of the year - terrific from start to finish. Some Strokes catchiness, Pip Blom quirkiness and a dollop of slightly more grungy Wednesday. Plenty of TOTW contenders, Babe Pig and Crows the standout. Shame we’ve somehow overlooked their first trio of albums since we started this adventure – will have to take a look back

PVA 8

2022s Blush was tremendous, one of my fav dozen electronic albums we’ve reviewed. The Altern8 esque Send was back to their debut and on first listen I was wishing for similar. But this is quality in its own right, manages to be old skool and original in the same breath, like an industrial XX with a little Massive Attack thrown in. Top work, look forward to more and a gig at some point

TOTW - tough choice, but I’ll go with Langkamer’s Crows

Jamiroquai 8

Always had a soft spot for some upbeat disco/funk and there’s a handful of crackers here, Liltle L and Main Vien in particular, and Twenty Zero One has some Daft Punk rifs behind it. The few Jazzier tracks where JK gives it some bee-do-be-dobee-dos don’t work as well, but overall it’s a good choice. Not sure why Jay Kay and his millinery choices are so divisive!

Annette

Dead Dads Club: 8

Hot Face: 7

Langkamer: 8

PVA: 7.5

TOTW: Crows by Langkamer

Classic: Jamiroquai - 8.5