Album ReviewEssential

Welly - Big in the Suburbs

Name: Welly - Big in the Suburbs Review
Item: Big in the Suburbs
Rating: 5
Author: Dan Harrison

Dork’s favourite new observational smart-arses deliver a debut that turns mundane British life into something worth celebrating.

Label: Vertex

Released: 21st March 2025

Words: Dan Harrison

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Coming of age in Britain's endless sprawl of semis and roundabouts isn't exactly the stuff of rock mythology. Unless, that is, you're Welly – the five-piece who've spent the last year building a reputation on witty indie-pop singles and rowdy live shows that make the everyday feel worthy of examination.

'Big in the Suburbs' arrives as a remarkably assured debut, a collection of sharp-eyed character studies and infectious guitar pop that positions frontman Elliot "Welly" Hall as one of indie's most entertaining narrators. Flanked by Hanna Witkamp (synths/percussion), Joe Holden-Brown and Matt Gleeson (guitars), and Jacob Whitear (bass), Welly crafts vignettes of suburban life with the precision of a documentary filmmaker and the comic timing of a seasoned circuit stand-up.

The title track offers a strong shot of jangly confidence, functioning as both introduction and manifesto. "It's suburban surf-rock... the theme song," as Welly himself puts it. Each line sketches a different local character – the nosy neighbours, dysfunctional families, awkward televisual love interests – before erupting into a chorus that finds the unity of a repeating refrain in our shared ordinariness. It's satirical without being mean-spirited, observant without being condescending.

What's immediately striking is how polished the record sounds. Rather than leaning into lo-fi aesthetics, 'Big in the Suburbs' gleams with the confidence of a band who don’t think doing so many things themselves means doing them to anything less than the height of their creative abilities. Their extensive touring has clearly paid off in tight arrangements and assured performances. Guitars chop and chime with Britpop energy on 'Cul-De-Sac', where spiky riffs and deadpan backing vocals ("we're all cruising for a bruising") evoke punk-tinged early Blur at their most playful, while keyboard flourishes add colour to the edges.

Yes, there's an unabashed Britpop influence running through these tracks – all character studies and class observations – but Welly never slip into pastiche. They reference past heroes with a light touch, filtering those '90s touchstones through a distinctly 2020s lens. The band's influences stretch beyond just one form of British pop culture too. They’re connoisseurs, finding subtle ways to encompass the bright spots of everything from Pet Shop Boys' urbane electronica to Girls Aloud's chart-conquering pop bangers.

Each song here zeroes in on a different facet of suburban British life. 'Shopping' bounces along on an infectious bassline as Welly lampoons our "grass-is-greener mentality" while wandering the increasingly desolate high street. 'Soak Up The Culture' tackles the lads' holiday anthem with knowing humour, somehow both sending up and adding to that canon of boozy sing-alongs.

Thematically, the album coheres around feelings of restlessness and aspiration. Many songs explore wanting more than you have while feeling stuck in limbo. 'Deere John' offers a quirky narrative – a lawnmower-themed love triangle - but without catching every detail, the thread of doomed romance amid domestic absurdity comes through clearly.

The most telling cut might be 'The Roundabout Racehorse', which captures the much storied awkwardness of feeling you’ve outgrown your childhood town. On an album where one minute Welly's joking about terrible Year 8 haircuts, the next he's tapping into genuine bittersweet nostalgia, it's this balance – between comedy and poignancy, between mockery and affection – that elevates 'Big in the Suburbs' from mere observational comedy to something more substantial.

What makes it work is Welly's refusal to exclude himself from the satire. He's not above the action but part of it – a self-described "suburban smart-arse" chronicling the madness while acknowledging his place within it. For all its cheek, the record lands genuine emotional beats, though. Rather than play it safe, Welly's technicolour take on suburban life feels refreshing precisely because it embraces the ordinary rather than trying to escape it. They've found drama, humour and heart in the places most overlook – the cul-de-sacs, the roundabouts, the identikit high streets – and crafted something genuinely distinctive. On the strength of this debut, being big in the suburbs might just be the first step to being big everywhere else.

Welly - Big in the Suburbs

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The Itch - It's The Hope That Kills You

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Holly Humberstone - Cruel World

My New Band Believe - My New Band Believe

Good Kid - Can We Hang Out Sometime?

RAYE - This Music May Contain Hope

Courtney Barnett - Creature of Habit

Lime Garden - Maybe Not Tonight

Gretel - Squish

Tomora - Come Closer

The Itch - It's The Hope That Kills You

Arlo Parks - Ambiguous Desire

Holly Humberstone - Cruel World

My New Band Believe - My New Band Believe

Good Kid - Can We Hang Out Sometime?

RAYE - This Music May Contain Hope

Courtney Barnett - Creature of Habit

Lime Garden - Maybe Not Tonight

Gretel - Squish

Tomora - Come Closer

The Itch - It's The Hope That Kills You

Arlo Parks - Ambiguous Desire

Holly Humberstone - Cruel World

My New Band Believe - My New Band Believe

Good Kid - Can We Hang Out Sometime?

RAYE - This Music May Contain Hope

Courtney Barnett - Creature of Habit

Lime Garden - Maybe Not Tonight

Gretel - Squish

Tomora - Come Closer

The Itch - It's The Hope That Kills You

Arlo Parks - Ambiguous Desire

Holly Humberstone - Cruel World

My New Band Believe - My New Band Believe

Good Kid - Can We Hang Out Sometime?

RAYE - This Music May Contain Hope

Courtney Barnett - Creature of Habit

Lime Garden - Maybe Not Tonight

Gretel - Squish

Tomora - Come Closer

The Itch - It's The Hope That Kills You

Arlo Parks - Ambiguous Desire

Holly Humberstone - Cruel World

My New Band Believe - My New Band Believe

Good Kid - Can We Hang Out Sometime?

RAYE - This Music May Contain Hope

Courtney Barnett - Creature of Habit