After two great full albums, the Melbourne quartet's third appears to document a growing up. It is an album that you thought they had in them, but I still didn't expect it to be this good. The Fi isn't Lo anymore and songs seem more fully formed or maybe more focussed.
There's less Jangle and a concentration really intelligent arrangements. This is splendid Indie Guitar Pop and the band seem enhanced by the addition of new member, Zoe Monk. This is particularly relevant with her additional vocals, contributing in a way that say Ruth Rogers does in Spygenius.
Levity is less Guided By Voices and more The Sugarplastic and boy, do they remind me of that wonderful band. The Guitar Riffs and driving Bass are as close as anyone has been to the 90s Indie legends. Songs are built on those killer riffs.
Others may compare The Stroppies to Franz Ferdinand at times, maybe even earlier XTC, but it matters not because no one is doing what they do so well. Butchering The Punchline has a splendid Accordion addition and Monk certainly seems to have added keyboards across the whole album to great effect.
Smilers Strange Politely is a fab slice of Psych Pop, hypnotic and enthralling. Tricks On Everything could be a fully plugged in version of The Bordellos, yet Figure Eights is very late 70s New Wave. The Bell even goes all Elastica.
The real stand out is the magnificent opener, The Perfect Crime, a close on five minutes meandering Feelies like joy. But all 10 songs here are an absolute pleasure to listen to because they are so different to anything around now. An essential listen that requires your full attention!
You can listen to and buy the album here.
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