English Teacher's debut EP is a breath of tasty fresh air.
In a genre that has enjoyed a surge of popularity this year, 2022 offers yet more post-punk excitement in the form of English Teacher's debut EP, 'Polyawkward'. Stories of lockdown, love and getting lost in a supermarket help the Leeds natives prove that the recent boom that has seen Wet Leg shoot up the charts can have substance while still being witty.
There's a lot to unpack here as the tracks range from euphoric to strange, with a mix of sweet vocals and spoken lyrics, all tied together with intriguing instrumentation and a complete lack of pretentiousness.
The title track exemplifies this, borrowing from the Pixies' quiet-loud-quiet trick but adding prog-rock synths and basslines that would feel at home on a Rush album. There's a nice change in the arrangements typified by others in the genre, as the standard garage instruments are periodically joined by brass and strings in sections that feel tense and yet anticipate fun breakdowns and grooves. The progression over the spoken chorus is engaging and dark and the track never tries to overplay the drama.
'A55' is a song with a decidedly looser structure, opting for instrumental breaks that eventually pay off with a heavy and repetitive outro. The verses have a touch of Big Thief about them, it's another that proves ET have a delicate touch when they want to use it. While not as strong as the opener, and with some weaker flows within the lyrics, the disturbing imagery of a broken character is something to dig your teeth into upon further listens.
The third track, 'Mental Maths', is a swirling and disorientating mix of dissonant guitar work and childlike words referencing 'looking for mum again' in the shops. Again, a looser feel, ebbing and flowing with rubato, adding to the already-disturbing imagery.
Yorkshire Tapas (sounds delicious) opens as a poem, an honest promise of real-life love over dissonant strings, before breaking into a bass-led frenzy. It's a track that, while energised and interesting in its different sections, doesn't quite translate through earphones as well as it would in a live setting. A tad overproduced, perhaps, for the kind of vibe it's going for. Nevertheless, the instrumentation is tight and the first half of the song is a mix of introspection and levity that seems to be ET's specialty.
The other standout track, 'Good Grief', closes the EP with a groovy tale of love during lockdown. Lily Fontaine's delivery is fun but there's a sort of resigned vulnerability (me, I'm just the narrator//they will see each other//he will get to date her) that exemplifies why we like this group so much. The bass line is great fun, the guitar stabs are reminiscent of Le Tigre cuts and the cowbell throughout is equally hilarious and addictive.
With any rise in the popularity of a certain genre, there is bound to be gatekeeping, bitterness from existing fans of the underground and a want to find something new to keep as one's own. Wet Leg's romp up the charts asked questions about the silly nature of the songs, something that post-punk's stalwarts Dry Cleaning and co. do exceptionally well, riding the fine rail between comedy and startlingly honest storytelling.
Can't bands just have fun any more? 'Making it' in the industry can be accidental, certainly leans heavily on luck and those who take interesting sounds to the masses should always be applauded. The music is expression, innovation and spoken prose allows for musing on life in a conversational way, a different form of musical poetry. But there are definitely those trying to hold artists back.
With English Teacher, you feel as though they aren't part of this. While surely operating in post-punk's sphere of influence, English Teacher have a softer, more academic edge. They head towards one sound then veer towards another like a driver excitedly waking up at the wheel. There's something brewing here, we feel.
You get the idea that Fontaine & co. are gazing out of the window, wondering where on earth they're going to take us next.
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Twitter: twitter.com/englishteac_her
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