A long-awaited LP of brilliantly effortless, fun-filled experimental pop - clever, wryly humorous, gently melancholic, mischievously playful - by the strangely under acclaimed south London band fronted by singer-songwriters Alex Sebley and Jessica Winter. Sebley, having formerly played with and written for Fat White Family (eg for Touch The Leather), is a heroin survivor, the band name a darkly humorous distortion on the opioid treatment drug Pregabalin. Winter befriended and helped him through dark times and recovery, and while she also has her own pop solo career, their writing partnership has been potent. The LP is packed with fabulous catchy melodies dipping into nostalgic 80s pop, soul, funk and other genres, treading a beautifully wry path between tongue-in-cheek parody and genuine love for a variety styles, with echoes of everyone from Supertramp to Squeeze to 10cc, country to dance club styles, Byrds to the Beatles. While Winter sings backing vocals on much of the album, among the standouts is the wonderful droll, attention-seeking Nobody Likes Me, in which she takes lead. Another is These Hands aka Danny Knife, in which Sebley duets with another rock’n’roll lifestyle survivor, one Pete Doherty, both walking their dogs in the video on a number co-written with producer Dante Traynor, as well as old Fat White Family friends Lias Saoudi and Saul Adamczewski. Lias can also be found at large on the video for opener Big Hitters (with Armand Schaubroeck). So there’s many droll, killer lines and much mischief at large, with the playful funk of Everybody’s Ill At The Moment Part II, the bluesy gospel of Moving On, the fireside folk moving into Daft Punk-rave style of Make Luv (I Like To Party), the Dylanesque country of Alpha Business, the rocky-pop of Sort It Out Down There, the woozy soulful indulgence of Wimpy or the deliberately simple Two Kinds of Music. But when was Pregoblin I? There wasn’t. After many excellent singles, this at last is a deliciously, deceptively titled debut album of jest and downright, downbeat joy. Out on Strap Originals.
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