Glutton for Punishment

#gothPop, #postPunk, #indieRock

The cheeky, dark, and catchy debut LP from rising London goth-pop / post-punk act Heartworms, project of Jojo Orme. (The band is named after a Shins album, and I detect a slight hint of “Rifle’s Spiral” in their music.) I’ve been really excited for this one since the 2023 debut EP A Comforting Notion blew me away, and the first full length does not disappoint. On this album, Orme’s vocals are mostly tauntingly or emphatically spoken, but her singing (whether in its occasional quiet moments or in its occasional shout) can be haunting. The songs have an infectiously danceable manic energy that blends a charming irreverence with earnest despair, seeming to alternately satirize and grieve the ridiculousness of modern relationships and our fast-paced culture of social capital. — Joshua `<|:{P>

RIYL: Wolf Alice, Gretel Hanlyn, Bauhaus, Adwaith, Skinty Fia-era Fontaines D.C.
FCC: 3 (“fucked”), mild 9 (“play with myself”)
Favorites: 2 and 5 (for yearning emotion), 4 (for irreverent and danceable), 7 (for ‘80s goth fans)

1. (0:41) Basically just silence. (It’s quiet wind noises as an intro track)
2. (4:37) Eerie synth, clanging percussion dotted with white noise bursts, accompanied by alternating violin and reversed guitar under floating sung vocals, builds up to finale with cymbal-heavy drum and keys
3. FCC (4:27) Quiet roiling bassline, catchy building guitar riffs with slight but charming discordance, energetic sung vocals, and drumline with ringing synth percussion, revving-down guitar outro
4. (3:10) Mostly taunting spoken vocals over quiet funky bassline, before switching to sung lyrics and fun & spooky melodic scatting. Understated cymbals with cowbell joining in. NOTE: quick fake-out ending at 2:35
5. (5:06) Lower energy, haunting melodic vocalizations / one-layer singing over catchy drum fill and deep echoey synth, with lovely plunking synth melody and building layers of vocals coming in the second half
6. (5:31) Begins with very danceable drum track and soft singing before bells and loud, frantic chanted singing and swooping/descending guitar, with gentle and dark echoey outro
7. (4:14) 80s new wave-style drum fill and synth melody with backing rhythm guitar, vocals at their most Bauhaus-y
8. (6:39) Begins as low-energy, spacey indie rock guitar melody with gentle cymbals. Lilting Radiohead-esque vocals that switch between whisper, gothic yells, and grunge-pop stylings. NOTE: whisper vocal fake-out ending at 5:48 before bursting back to full volume and then a very sudden ending
9. (2:38) Slow, sparse acoustic guitar song with singing and scatting that gains a bit of energy as it switches into a low-tempo keyboard + muted drum track reprise of track 2 that strips layers away