Nothing Under Four Stars: Some high-energy distraction from this glum time of year

Yard Act

Island Records, 2022

Hailing from Leeds, and with an immensely successful debut album on their hands (number two in UK on release) are the excellent Yard Act. Musically crafted from the scraps of UK post-punk and New York no-wave makes for a compelling magpie’s nest of curious sounds and resonant moments. With Ray Needham and Jay Russell’s driving chassis of a rhythm section, vocalist James Smith and guitarist Sam Shjipstone experiment freely. At times snarling, and at times whimpering, The Overload delivers cutting observations of the absurdities of 21st-century life. Thus, the glorious iconography of potholes as “concrete meadows of the soul” and ears as “concrete bollards to the soul” in track “Payday”. But do please listen to the song to make sense of that reference. Less than three minutes of runtime persuades us that Yard Act are heirs to the striking legacies of The Fall, Talking Heads and, latterly, Franz Ferdinand.

“Rich” is a brilliant musing on the (moral) perils of accidental accumulation of wealth, crystallised by Smith’s realisation that a few lucky turns of fate could suddenly make the band famous. They’re well on the way, although the biting sarcasm and cynicism for capitalism and the social hierarchy of the UK might rub some up the wrong way. And being relentlessly British is a big part of their appeal offshore. Years of historical wit and whimsy feed into the cultural brilliance of The Overload simultaneous to the band’s skewering of the same history. “Tall Poppies” is an amazing nihilistic entreaty disguised as a biographical narrative. GET THIS: A crooked road that just might be the future of contemporary music

Hatchie

Ivy League Records, 2022

Sometimes the worst of times produces the best of soothing music, a panacea for the grizzling masses. So Giving The World Away arrives to uplift and wash over the jagged edges. Hatchie is Brisbane native Harriette Pilbeam and her 2017 appear­ance in Australian consciousness as a fully-formed hatchling (sorry, couldn’t resist) of 1980s’ dance pop, shoegaze, and 1990s’ power-girl pop is a remarkable achievement in itself. The lazy option for the music reviewer (ahem) is to compare the artist to their forebears. But if we’re going down that pathway and you need to know if Hatchie is for you, then consider the prospect of Natalie Imbruglia, backed by Cocteau Twins’ guitarist Robin Guthrie (who has worked with Hatchie), and produced by the team that brought us All Saints. A potent, feel-good, empowered mix that won’t hurt anyone and still sounds pretty darn cool.

Singles “Lights On” and “This Enchanted” will get you into the mood for more, if you have a sliver of a human soul. Later, “Quicksand” starts out all Garbage moodi­ness before smashing loose into a CHVRCHES chorus, more catnip for these ears that evolved through the 1980s and 90s. Gold. And if I have to list a criticism and deduct a star from my overall rating, then it is just the nagging sense that each song’s dynamics and move­ments are a little too close to the last. As her career develops, this may evolve. But if not, enjoy the wash. GET THIS: Magnificent consistency and quality across five years of performance and production