Labels: Barely Regal – Neat Is Murder
Review by: MH
What we have here is the new pop record from Olympians. It’s as hard to pigeonhole as any of their releases so far and they still don’t really sounds like anyone else. Instrumentally the feel is melancholy and miserable while they have a fine line in sad, reflective guitar lines throughout as well as a trumpet and glockenspiel. There are also these bits where they all sing – I wouldn’t quite call them gang vocals but they work a treat for me like when the opener “Rene Magritte” slows down towards the end and they all join in singing. Lyrically their wit remains as sharp as ever and their offbeat style is still there. Some more cutting quips appear in some of the songs (the boyfriend of “Rosa Lee” isn’t too popular with them for a start). The first three songs in the order they appear might now be my 3 favourite Olympians songs to date. One of those tracks is called “Cinema Hotdogs” – who else is writing about the finer things in life in 2016? In fact, Olympians have never sounded so good.