Instant Coffee Baby / If You Leave It Alone

God dammit, why wasn't I born a Brit? Absurd & irreverent witty-as-fuck folk-tinged no-frills indie from England. Fucking incredible. Like a lo-fi Libertines-meets-Art-Brut. Reminds me a bit of Mad Staring Eyes. More obviously, a less-depressing-and-cheekier Smiths. Spare mostly-acoustic pub rock with whiny/wavery vox everyone on the net wants to compare to Jonathan Richman's. But seriously, the lyrics. Fucking. Make it. Bizarre, funny, confessional, inspired, inane, great. Better than the Television Personalities? No joke.

Herr P4K:

"...keenly observed domestic tableaus, uniquely English perspectives on hubris and buffoonery, and ample insta-quotes. Over the course of 13 tracks, Tattersall dribbles peach juice on his in-laws' sofa, steals a coffee machine, picks a fight with a marine (the marine wins), and claims he can write a better song than John Lennon."

Two albums in one, here. The first 13 cuts are "Instant Coffee Baby" (2008); tracks 14-25 are "If You Leave It Alone" (2009). Not a bad song here.

try: 1, 2, 7, 9, 10, 12, 16 18, 22
(oh hell, everything here is good)
no FCCs

Instant Coffee Baby [CD 1]
*1. upbeat bass-driven rock (fades in). strutty strokesy. surf guitar interlude.
*2. easy suuuper-british sax-informed lazy groove. hilarious relationship lyrics.
3. laid back, slightly beachy / 60s. twinkly electric guitar, handclaps.
4. high-pitched strummity uke. lyrics about how his girlfriend proclaimed her love for john lennon in an "i'm leaving" letter, then stole his copy of pet sounds.
5. snappy handclappy light guitar pop. cute, boppy guitar solo.
6. mid-slow, swaying folk pop. springtimey. sweet backing harmonies.
*7. ~6 sec intro. darkly minor strumming... bursts into a poppy rambling tune. 'la la's.
8. sloowww lilty narrative nodder. could be the walkmen on slow-mo.
*9. rockin bitter minor violin + strummed acoustic cooker. "with you inside me comes the knowledge of my death… but i still have some oranges left." wt fuck??
*10. stripped down acoustic to strum by the frog pond. summery, laid back. cute and boggling backing singalong.
11. upbeat campfire pop strum plus tambourine. could be early-dayz guster.
12. very slow, gentle brushed-drums singing electric waltz. melodic, melancholy, moving. delicate guy/girl duet.
13. sticky "feelin' groovy" guitar/uke and airy backing vox.

If You Leave It Alone [CD 2]
14 / 1. laid back mid-slow high-reg bass carries the track. some muted jazzy notes. makes good use of a beachy stone roses riff.
15 / 2. quick soft fingerpicking and naked vox. sea shanty bass + drums a minute in.
*16 / 3. fast strummed uke and simple melody, camp song feel. "da da da" singalong. "your father swims with the fishes / i killed him with my kisses"?!
17 / 4. slowish, spare. upfront vox and fingerpicked acoustic. pathetically funny lyrics over a sad, mournful melody.
*18 / 5. uptempo strum, rockin bass. minor-tinged. the first verse alone is worth it. i loled.
19 / 6. folky camp song about getting assaulted by animals in bed. deep sax solo.
20 / 7. relaxed sticky groove. tight banjoish strum action. ensemble callbacks. kinda darling.
21 / 8. train track rhythm + countryish picked acoustic. cute lyrics about wanting a less complicated relationship.
*22 / 9. upbeat b&s style poppy goodness. handclaps! "it wasn't like this at the wedding!"
23 / 10. midtempo shuffly bass-rooted rompy country fingerpicked acoustic. banjo, tambourine. ends with banjo breakdown.
24 / 11. naked and wavery vox. surprisingly sweet doubled vox chorus: "this is mine it isn't anybody else's." nice ruddering bass.
25 / 12. fairly standard pleasant folky song.