jo from school's debut album Grace, Flair and Distance is a record that sounds like someone trying to get their thoughts straight before the tape runs out. It's lo-fi indie rock recorded with an almost claustrophobic closeness, like you're sitting on the floor of the room while the songs are being played. The drums hit hard but stay in the red, the vocals drift in and out of focus, and whole tracks feel like they could fall apart at any second. Release opens the thing with a riff that feels both sloppy and deliberate, and Julia Roberts has a chorus that sticks around for days with that kind of half-sung, half-shouted delivery that works best when it sounds like the singer means it.
Out on Chess Club Records, which has a decent track record for this kind of scrappy guitar music coming out of London. The vinyl pressing makes sense for these recordings, they have that physical warmth that digital can fake but never quite nail. Six Years Of Keeping On is the standout for me, three minutes of that particular London alternative sound where the bass carries most of the weight and the guitar just sketches around the edges. Chicken and Weight both show a band still figuring out exactly what they want to be, which is fine for a debut. You don't need a statement of intent, sometimes just a statement of being here is enough.
