W/e 31/10/25 - Home Counties, Sigrid, Lemonheads, Spiritual Cramp, Passion Pit

Congrats to Spiritual Cramp who are our winners this week, land just inside our top 20 for the year and received a few different TOTW nominations.

This one is a fair few places below their 2023 offering though – which is sitting impressively at #49 on our overall list.

Home Counties improve on their 2024 debut by 100 places.

Sam releases his grip allowing Matt to snatch the 😄 by the smallest of margins from Adam.

Andy’s remains vice-like on the ☹️.

Passion Pit were a new one for a few, and say Hi to Elvis Costello and The Smashing Pumpkins on the classics.

Phil

Home Counties 6.2

Bright, bouncy, but not especially engaging. I’m sorry but I just don’t go for the skittering synths and the full electronic sound. To emphasise my point, Meet me on the flat roof is massively improved by the use of actual guitars.

Lemonheads 6.5

Pretty ho-hum effort from a band with such a track record and reputation. This sounds more like a slightly disappointing debut album than the work of returning heroes. His voice sounds completely shot. The good news : Together is all I’m after is decent. The rest? Not so much.

Sigrid 6.8

Reasonably enjoyable bubble-gum pop, although her voice is a bit annoying at times. The title track is really nice. The rapping on Kiss the sky is not.

Spiritual Cramp 7.2

Energetic punky outfit, who also think they can play reggae. Dunno about that, fellers. Still, an enjoyable racket.

TOTW – Spiritual Cramp – Young offenders

Classic

Passion Pit 6

Pleasantish electro-pop. A few decent tunes but really not my thing.

Sam

Home Counties : Fun if a little disjointed at times . 7

Lemonheads : his voice is better than it should be after all the abuse ! Above average . 7.1

Sigrid : ok pop . 6

Spiritual Cramp : when they rock it’s good , the reggae is not so good . 7.4

Passion Pit : Decent indie pop . 7

TOTW : I Hate the Way that I Look by Spiritual Cramp

Andy

Home Counties - Pretty pleasant indie pop, you wouldn’t be gutted to see them in the church at AYL 6

The Lemonheads - Recognisably Evan Dando without totally bringing back the halcyon days 6

Sigrid - Her first two albums were all-time scandi-pop, this didn’t quite reach those heights but isn’t too shabby 7

Spiritual Cramp - Pretty decent modern punky stuff, Hives like in places, not the reggae one though, you’re not The Clash lads, however much you wish it 6.5

TotW - I Hate the Way I Look by Spiritual Cramp

Passion Pit - I don’t mind this, I even own it, in spite of his falsetto delivery 6.5

Jim

Home Counties 7.5

Really enjoyed this , a little more coherent than the 2024 offering. They sit comfortably alongside Yard Act, WMC and others knocking out the best of such synth backed indie / pop (syndiepop?). Mixed vocals work really well.

Lemonheads 5.5

A bit tired and uninspiring.

Sigurd 6.5

This was more mainstream than her first 2 gems. Not as subtle or charming, with more intense vocals - maybe trying to compete with CXCX and co?

Spiritual Cramp 7.5

Some big driving indie tunes. Started off like The Hives and finished in Killers territory. Effective mixed vocals once again.

TOTW Spiritual Cramp: You’ve Got My Number

Passion Pit 6.5

Thought I’d enjoy it more based on what it said in the tin , but it drifted along long without much horsepower or standout tracks . Soz Goz

Guy

Home Counties – I like this Indie synth stuff. This started off pretty slowly to be fair but the quality ramped up throughout the album. Decent stuff – 7.6

The Lemonheads – As someone who really doesn’t like C&W, some of these tunes grated. When it went a bit more late 60s / early 70s Iggy, it was much better. – 6

Sigrid – I’m definitely a fan of hers in amongst the raft of other female pop singers. This is decent but perhaps doesn’t hit the heights of her earlier efforts – 7

Spiritual Cramp – Some great indie tunes. Good mix of influences too making for a rich sound – punk (yes) but also more traditional indie rock and even a hint of Ska. There’s also the odd slow track such as the one with Sharon Van Etten. Reckon this lot would be good to see live. – 7.8

Passion Pit – Love a bit of indie synth pop. Appreciate the vocals aren’t to everyone’s taste but there are some great tunes on this (Moth’s Wings is such a lovely song) and it got a lot of plays when it came out – 8

TOTW – Young Offenders – Spiritual Cramp

Paul

Home Counties (8)

Good synthy electronic indie. Nice and lively! Again I enjoyed the dual male/female vocal combo. Improved with second listen.

The Lemonheads (6)

Slightly forgettable too many weak tracks.

Sigrid (6)

Decent enough Scandi pop but not really my thing.

Spiritual Cramp (7.5)

Decent rocky stuff, definitely got a hint of the hives on a couple of the tracks. A lively listen.

TOTW Home Counties - Humdrum

Passion Pit (7)

Nice upbeat indie pop, knew a couple of tracks but didn’t realise it was them. Overall a pleasant listen. The Reeling was a highlight.

Simon

Home Counties: I enjoyed this a lot - it bounces along in a melee of infectious rhythms and twitchy electronica and the dual vocals really compliment the style. Lovely stuff. 8

Lemonheads: not a band I've ever been that interested in and whilst I didn't dislike it the album passed me by without leaving much of an impression. 6

Sigrid: not adverse to the occasional blast of girl pop but this is a bit too bubblegum for me - the opening and closing tracks are pretty good though. 6

Spiritual Cramp: didn't quite have the impact of their last album, but attempted reggae aside it's still a decent listen - punchy and energetic as expected. 7

Passion Pit: couldn't remember if I'd come across this lot before (Sleepyhead sounded vaguely familiar) but couldn't really get on with it, tbh - found the vocals too off-putting. 6.5

TotW: Home Counties - Roundabout

Annette

Home Counties: 7

The Lemonheads: 6

Sigrid: 6.5

Spiritual Camp: 7.5

TOTW: I hate the way I look by Spiritual Camp

Classic: 7

Matt

Home Counties - 7.2

The Lemonheads - 7

Sigrid - 7.5

Spiritual Cramp - 7.4

TOTW - Jellyfish, Sigrid

Mark

Home Counties - definite Working Men's Club influence, I thought this was decent "syndiepop" (great new genre) - 6.5

Lemonheads - I just love his easy way with a melody, and the vocals sound like he's coming off a 72 hour bender. Always loved Lemonheads and got a solo Evan Dando album too, I thought this was pretty good all things considered, including the track Wild Thing set to the actual Wild Thing chords - 7

Sigrid - I came ready to slate this as I've found her a bit twee and irritating previously, but this wasn't so bad - 6

Spiritual Cramp - liked their first one and they were great in a tent at Reading a few years back. More of the same rock and rollicking, and Go Back Home is straight up Ramones which I obviously love - 7.5

TOTW - Go Back Home, by Spiritual Cramp

Erol

Home Counties - moderately entertaining but energetically paced post-punk with a punchy synth overlay. 6.5

Lemonheads - same as Simon. This was ok but left little impression on me. 6

Sigrid - very enjoyable uplifting disco pop. Not as strong as her last album but still, this was an almost perfect sound track for my run last Saturday morning. 7.5

Spiritual Cramp - this is how to do it. Punchy punk/rock with some cracking guitars and drums. Am not sure the reggae flavoured tracks work as well but otherwise this was a really strong album. 7.8

TOTW - People Don’t Change, Spiritual Cramp

Passion Pit - indie pop with a heavy dose of disco synthesisers. It’s fun to a point but apart from the odd moment (eg Folds in Your Hands) it was a bit too lightweight to tickle my sweet spot. The Cramberries cover at the end was realy poor though. 6

Adam

Home Counties - bopped about quite a bit to this upbeat indie rocking and synths 8

Lemonheads - fairly middling laid back rocking. 6

Sigrid - felt this has gone a little more mainstream than her earlier stuff which I did really like. Some good moments still. Has lost something. 7

Spiritual Cramp - oh yes a proper bit of indie rocking. 8

TOTW - Home Counties - Meet Me in the Flat Roof

Passion Pit - bit hit of nostalgia with this one. High pitched indie dancing 8

Justin

Home Counties - I really like Home Counties and I like their move towards a bit more electronica. Quirky and clever. 7.5

Lemonheads - I only know Mrs Robinson and had low expectations but actually thought it was a pretty good indie guitar album. 6.9

Sigrid - all a bit too lightweight pop for me. 6

Spiritual Camp - fast paced rock 7

TOTW Home Counties - Humdrum

Passion Pit - This is a great album that I haven't listened to for a bit. I loved this genre of electronica indie 8