The city or the sticks? A rock or a hard place? This first single from the forthcoming debut album and an older number marry driving krautrock, oddball psychedelia and echoes of The Fall with fabulous ironic humour and idiosyncratic, killer phrases.
Frontman Tom Greenhouse, who has previous performed as a solo artist with backing tracks, has a distinctive talking delivery, lingering on certain consonants with relish, not unlike Mark E. Smith. His lyrics are a blend of pop culture snippets, patchwork narratives and oblique literary references, capturing the absurdity of life and society’s self-consuming quirks. He is joined by guitarist Tom O'Driscoll, bassist Thom Mason, drummer and percussionist Kevin Barthelemy and Merlin Nova on keys and synths, harmonium, melodica, violin and backing vocals. Paired here for comparison, The Sticks, the album's first single, is inspired by a period of living in Norwich after periods of financial difficulty in London, where in that song, from 2018, the absurdity of living costs are captured in equally wry, clever phrases, and a video that reflects that patchwork style part of a missing to make "repetitive pop music that wasn’t boring". A mission clearly achieved.
For more of The Cool Greenhouse's work visit their Bandcamp page. The self-titled debut album is out on 29 May, but can be ordered in advance, including a limited edition transparent green vinyl, also available directly from the label, Melodic Records.
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