WITH THANKS TO ROBSTER

I’m not the greatest at paying attention to new music.   I don’t listen to enough radio, nor do I cast my eye over the blogs, websites or printed publications specialising in writing about new and exciting singers/bands.  Part of that is down to the retro nature of TVV which finds me spending far too long looking back over the ‘good old days’ and listening to the music from said periods of time.  Another part is down to thinking that, at the age of almost 61, the idea of me giving a thumbs-up to a new band would be like a kiss of death when they are trying so hard to appeal to their peers.

I do, however, pay some attention to recommendations that come from bloggers who I’ve followed for quite a long time, and whose tastes have proven themselves over the years to be fairly close to my own.

One such person is Robster, the brains and beauty behind the now occasional Is This The Life?, and who many of you will know best round these parts from his contributions to the R.E.M. singles series back in 2020/21.

Robster has always written up an excellent end of year review, and I make the habit of giving a listen to the names he champions.  I don’t always follow up on all the recommendations, but I certainly did with one band after he wrote about his favourite albums of 2023:-

Coach Party – ‘Killjoy’

Here’s a band who have been floating around for a few years, releasing a string of increasingly well-received EPs and gigging relentlessly. ‘Killjoy’ is a blast from start to finish, veering from Riot-grrl-infused punk (Parasite) and infectious punk-pop (What’s The Point In Life?) to pure melodic indie-pop a la Alvvays and the Primitives (July, Be That Girl). It hurtles through 10 songs in less than 28 minutes but never leaves me feeling short-changed. This is a band to keep your eyes on.

It was added late on to Santa’s list, which meant I got my hands on it come 25 December.  Robster is right – it is a blast from start to finish, and I particularly fell for the charms of one of the songs he highlighted

mp3: Coach Party – What’s The Point In Life?

I’ve since used Bandcamp to buy the previous EPs which means I’ve now got 27 songs on the hard drive, with more than enough quality on show to provide what would, even at this stage in their career, be an unputdownable ICA.

But instead, I’m going to clog your PCs/laptops/mobile devices with a bundle of videos Coach Party have made in support of their three EPs, debut album and some digital singles.  After which, I’ll provide a link to the bandcamp site and hope you’ll be motivated to spend some money.

Breakdown can be found on the Party Food EP, released in June 2020.

Everybody Hates Me can be found on the After Party EP, released in April 2021.

Weird Me Out can be found on the Nothing Is Real EP, released in April 2022.

Parasite, Micro Aggression and All I Wanna Do Is Hate are all on the debut album, Killjoy.

And, as mentioned, here’s a way to get to the bandcamp site. Click here.

JC