Described by Pitchfork as “nostalgic indie-pop recalling the grainy, jangly melodicism of college rock” it draws very much on power-pop’s broader palette, sounding to these ears all lovelorn, nostalgic and triumphant all in one go. It’s pretty in thrall to the fuzzy lo-fi indie-pop of the 80s and 90s – it really is littered with great melodies – and calls to mind favourites such as Guided By Voices and Teenage Fanclub.
Written in a flat in Brooklyn there’s an intimacy to much of what’s on the full record – it feels like Ben could be talking to you, and you alone, even while he’s singing about love, his mum, or writing veiled attacks on Big Tech. Dry wit and acute depictions of human feeling keep the record grounded in a sense of warm, charming normalcy.
