Released:
Rating:
A concise introduction to the Team Picture experience.
Label: BIG DUMB MUSIC LTD
Released: 1st June 2018
Rating: ★★★★
The debut album (mini-album, that is) from Leeds collective Team Picture is like a box of sweets, brimming with variety and addictively flavoursome end to end. Following a string of releases including the slow-burning (and excellently titled) single ‘Potpurri Headache’, ‘Recital’ is a concise introduction to the Team Picture experience, in all its obscure variety, and places them firmly in the spotlight as one to keep a close eye on in months to come.
The album breaks down into two halves, each showcasing a different aspect of the group’s eclectic sound. ‘(I Have A) Little Secret’ launches Side A. Woozy and electronic, it echoes the jaunty, psychedelic twinkles of bands like The Orielles, but at its core swirls a cloud of heavier, chunkier synthesizers. Faster and more immediate, ‘Strange Year’ is a downright belter that melds prickly, MGMT-esque synths with a tangy, hook-laden chorus.
Side B is where Team Picture really cut loose, no more so than on ‘(I Want Your) Life Hack’. It’s the real gem in their arsenal, thunderous, crashing, and demanding attention. “Show me what you’re made of!” snarls guitarist and one of three singers, Josh, in a way that’s instantly memorable.
Pop-art and consumerism are heavily referenced in the band’s visuals – they’re often pictured in matching regalia, like that of a marching band. And these aspects conveyed in the music too. Particularly on its latter half, ‘Recital’ is chockful of simple, repetitive melodies and snappy phrases, impossible to escape once they’ve wriggled inside your head, not to mention the sweet-like-sherbet guitar and keyboard effects that give each song vibrant flare. Deliciously retro and unapologetically playful, one listen to ‘Recital’ will leave you hungry for more. Alex Cabre
