A witty, punchy, restless post-punk debut LP by the heavily accented Midlands duo of Joe Hicklin and Callum Maloney, with echoes of Sleaford Mods who they’ve supported on tour, packed with sharp jokes, wordplay and sweary anger about toxic masculinity and the absurdities of modern life. There’s also a wide range of musical styles here, not merely punk and post-punk, albeit all with a heavy dose of gallows humour in Hicklin’s arresting spoken, shouted and strong singing delivery. Opener Black Country Gothic is a sprawling mix of psychedelia with a dash of Springsteen. I Mock Joggers is a funky rock groove with shades of The Streets and clever, amusing, lyrics: “ I mock joggers coz I'm insecure about me weight/ I should be out runnin but I'm always runnin’ away or runnin’ late … I'm a lapsed Catholic/ Determined to become asthmatic.” Desperate Breakfast is a crash-bang catchy caustic postpunk classic. Shithouse laughs manically with an infectious chorus. This Ain’t Water has a bluesy gospel element mixed with powerful satire. My Shape (Blocking The Light) suddenly jumps into electronica with a spoken narrative. But perhaps the best is Black Dog/White Horse, a rather beautiful, wistful tune which has more of a flavour of southern soul. And so the range and fun continues, from the warped, strange sci-fi dystopian feel of Broadcast: Time Away, or the fuzzy synths of Butcher’s Bin, all the way to new wave-style closer Dig!, a reflection on modern Britain. Clever, articulate, emotional, funny – overall a fabulous fun, and abrasively poetic and musically accomplished debut – a blast of fresh but also potent air. Out on SO Recordings / Silva Screen Records.
Joe Hicklin and Callum Maloney
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