With one week delay, promises from Leeds. It needed a few spins.
The familiar and the unusual go hand in hand with this young band from Leeds around singer Lily Fontaine: There are folk and prog-rock influences, at the same time a steady post-punk grounding. A songwriting that is in love with British pop traditions, but then repeatedly breaks into completely different paths (symptomatic:
I'm Not Crying, You're Crying); you will find references to The Smiths as well as to some early experimental Radiohead albums. The lyrics of the charismatic singer are wonderfully British (I feel so, maybe a genuine British will have another look) rich in irony and precise observation. In Lewis Whiting the band has a guitarist who does not have to hide behind a Graham Coxon. Of course he plays a variety of..guess what? When looking into the British music press most of them agree that English Teacher is the band of the hour, with an LP that could hardly be further away from chart pop of any kind. Of course, it is one of the best and most original things I've heard in intelligent pop music lately. And I hope that this is the beginning of something big. A promise is this debut at all times.
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