Working Men's Club vinyl

One of the most hotly anticipated releases of the year has arguably been served well by the by now all so usual Covid delays. It certainly feels like the stars have aligned for Sydney Minksy-Sergeant and his band, and the good news is that the substance of this album is easily strong enough to live up to the growing snowball of hype that has preceded it. Every classic album needs a classic opening line, and "trapped inside a town, inside my mind", the first words you hear on the LP's opener 'Valleys', speaks volumes about who WMC are representing here - the lockdown generation of teens and 20-somethings left behind tom contemplate their existence in the bedrooms and bus shelters of smalltown Britain. Musically, it's the sound of a band who have grown up with club and indie and exude both, more by instinct than design, straddling Italo-disco and Fall-like lyrics on 'Valleys', sublime, sunny guitar pop on 'White Rooms & People', 'Angel' and 'Tomorrow' and darker, heavier industrial beats and crushing electro pressure on 'Teeth' and 'AAAA'. Believe the hype, at the very least this is one of the albums of the year and quite possibly much, much more.