90s edged alt-rock
It feels like a wide ranging base of influences inspired Sheffield post-punks Wooderson whilst creating this debut album, so whilst it doesn't feel fresh it certainly does mix these varied sounds up into an interesting and cohesive whole with a distinctly 90s edge hinting at Pixies, Fugazi and more recent nods to ...and you will know us by the trail of dead and These Arms Are Snakes amongst others.
We open well with Deluxe which is one of the strongest tunes and starts the record well with an excellent, if extremely 90s sounding riff and pretty catchy melody and as with the album as a whole there are some nice contrasting sections of atmospheric, sometimes dreamy fiddling. Other notable moments are Janet Bruce starting with guitars that bring to mind Cursive then opening up to bring in a great bass line, duel vocals and chunky riffage. Cardinal which feels very trail of dead - really nice drums and lots of quiet/loud dynamics; Mint Condition is a real a real corker that gets you moving straight away and Buffalo Jump's faster pace, off kilter guitars, in your face vocals and upbeat energy makes it really stand out as a highlight.
One slight bugbear on the album as a whole is that despite the shouty vocals and aspirations to jagged and scuzzy alt-rock, the smooth production has rounded the edges perhaps too much at times - you sometimes feel like you'd like to hear what was smoothed off in the process (it's missing a little bite) especially tracks like Sleepwalking where what could be nicely abrasive guitars and layered vocal shouts are rendered slightly muffled and static - the tunes here would benefit from a more raw, live sounding approach, but its a minor grumble.