A rumble on the horizon. Gritted teeth, nuclear fizz and fissured rock. A dab of pill dust from a linty pocket before it hits: the atom split, pool table overturned, pint glass smashed – valley fever breaking with the clouds as the inertia of small town life is well and truly disrupted. Here to bust out of Doledrum, clad in a t-shirt that screams Socialism and armed with drum machine, synth, pedal and icy stare are Working Men's Club, and their self-titled debut. The collection is equal parts Calder Valley restlessness and raw Sheffield steel; guitars locking horns with floor-filling beats, synths masquerading as drums and Minsky-Sargeant's scratchy, electrifying bedroom demos brought to their full potential by Orton's blade-sharp yet sensitive production. Standouts include the nonchalant existential groove "John Cooper Clarke"; the washily-vocalled, Orange Juicily-guitared "White Rooms and People"; "Cook A Coffee" which is like a lost Joy Division number from an alternate universe; and the frenetic, pew-pewing "A.A.A.A."
A.A.A.A.
John Cooper Clarke
White Rooms and People
Outside
Be My Guest
Tomorrow
Cook a Coffee
Teeth
Angel