If you can get past that horrific band name
(hard, I know), and things like the album title and all song titles unnecessarily being in lower
case, you’ll find much to enjoy on Hippo
Campus’ debut full-length. A notable
proportion of the album is sunny, upbeat indie (think Vampire Weekend, Two Door
Cinema Club, Noah And The Whale), which made it a particular favourite for
me in the summer months. But I suspect it’ll
also have lasting appeal, because, alongside the uplifting tracks, there are
more complex (post-first album) Bon Iver
style songs, and even parts that remind me of something approaching Mogwai. The beautifully shiny single ‘way it goes’, all wistful sun-pop and
soar, acts as a good way in, but the album has a lot more to offer. The juxtaposition
of tracks like the early Bombay Bicycle
Club rock of ‘boyish’ with the almost drowsy melancholia of ‘monsoon’ (very
much Bon Iver in tone) is just great. The album also has lyrical depths that one
might not expect given its fair-weather sheen. Thoughtfully written and emotive, the lyrical content here is a cut above
the norm. Yes, at times landmark can be a bit twee, and its
lighter parts are wonderful in the moment but don’t especially linger. Overall, though, this is an extremely
impressive debut from the Minnesotan four-piece.
sample track: way it goes