Having stemmed from the same neck of the woods as other alternative rock outfits Peace and Swim Deep, Superfood have a lot to live up to with their debut album. Don’t Say That brings some fuzzy guitars, drawling vocals and a general fascination with laziness, as well as some pretty catchy hooks.

Dom Ganderton echoes the thoughts of the nation’s students on ‘TV’, proclaiming his love for his bed and complaining that the TV’s off, and this is the track that perhaps best sums up the album: it’s playful and fun to listen to whilst resonating with its audience. Jarring guitar rhythms and desperate near-yelping vocals make this a standout track. It’s punchy and honest, and we can’t ask for more than that.

The opening tracks are definitely where the strengths of Superfood are: the weird droning riff that lays under the lead on ‘Lily For Your Pad To Rest On’ is stupidly catchy, and the seamless transition into ‘You Can Believe’, another powerful tune with a cool and jaunty groove, is great.

Don’t Say That can seem a little too simple musically occasionally, especially towards the end of the album, with a couple of tracks falling a bit behind the benchmark. Penultimate song ‘Right On Satellite’ opens with a brilliant twanging psychedelic guitar line, but the chorus is underwhelming. Similarly, closer ‘Like A Daisy’ doesn’t have any real staying power, and the album feels a bit unfinished as a result.

Superfood have released a decent debut here, but it definitely trails off towards the end. It has a nice theme to it and no track feels out of place, it just lacks the power that’s now almost required of first albums. They’re at their best when they’re weird, distorted and loud, and unfortunately that’s only present on a few of these songs.

https://soundcloud.com/superfood/lily-for-your-pad-to-rest-on

Carl White

photo: nouse.co.uk