Absolute peach of a record, right here. Neutrals play sparse, sharp, jangly indie punk with a smart, conversational edge: stuff that speaks directly to the naïf, scratchy pop of the late 70s and early 80s whilst also managing to sound utterly timeless. ‘Newton Dream’ is a short, effervescent fizz of a song while the title track manages to balance jolly, chiming guitars with a subtly melancholic undercurrent. The standout, though, is ‘Gary Borthwick Says’, which is a touchingly bittersweet paean to the school bullshitter that serves as a sort of anti-‘Geoffrey Ingram’. As well as being catchy and wholesome it looks plenty sharp to boot – my copy came with a beer mat and a postcard from young Borthwick. He, you’ll be glad to hear, seems to be having a whale of a time on his holidays.
