VIDEO DAYS

Hobby Club’s story book world has a tether to adulthood, yet freefalls through a sub-plot of virtue and a counter narrative of suburbia. Recorded in an ex-shipyard canteen, their debut EP carries a similar industry; candy sweet guitars are smelted by a lyrical domesticity that evokes harbours and market towns, polyester and chip wrappers, bus tickets and the slow burn of auburn street lights. Think about every single shit house party you’ve ever been to. They’ve written songs about that. The minutia of greenbelt survival is examined in near atomic detail, recounting the mundane while considering the delicate balance of everyday actuality; satisfying when it goes right, painful when it veers off course. Guitars chime with the clarity and expressive dexterity of Marr or Butler – ascending above the tracks, escaping the humdrum, before twisting and falling back into the groove. Fluidity and escape are pivotal themes in Joe’s playing. Ever since he saw ‘A Bigger Splash’ by David Hockney, he wanted to somehow make his guitars sound like that. Jangle pop authenticity.