Words by Nick Mee. @Nickjmee
Bookended by broadcast clamour – agitated marketing speak, radio hiss, ad jingles – ‘Bottlerocket’ is powered by a splendidly warm, funky bassline and minimal beat, over which Working For A Nuclear Free City throw a batch of clattering, strangulated strings, meandering vocal prose, all manner of barely discernible kitchen-sink sonics and a chorus sung in mild-mannered unison. This disorienting mashup of Hot Chip, Captain Beefheart and !!! is taken from ‘What Do People Do All Day’, the Manchester band’s first album in half a decade, and suggests that their experimental urges remain undimmed, even as that groove offers an infectious, accessible foothold. It’s surely the first time we’ve flagged up an album which, in addition to studios in London and Manchester, was part-recorded in Jennifer Anniston’s former flat in LA. You feel that if ‘Bottlerocket’ had soundtracked Friends, Central Perk would have been a very different kind of coffeeshop…
What Do People Do All Day is out on 29 January on Melodic