Leeds band Tulpa serve up energetic jangle-rock on their debut album. For those who long for the era of groups like Heavenly, Bettie Serveert, and the like burning up the indie charts, Monster of the Week, the new long-player from Tulpa, might just be your fix.
"Transfixed Gaze" churns around a great hook, while the more lyrical "Psyops" finds Josie Kirk channeling Harriet Wheeler a tiny bit to conjure up music that's wistful even as the hooks chime. The bright and nicely named "You're Living in a Reverie" is another one where Josie's vocal turns give the guitar rock a sweetness that is really intoxicating. There's more than a hint of Juliana Hatfield and Blake Babies (and others of that era) in this one, even as the brash "Pyro" nods in the direction of early The Wedding Present. If drawing from those worthy points of inspiration wasn't enough, Tulpa add in a big dash of Pavement in the title song of this record.
Monster of the Week sounds like the work of the kind of bands I sought out religiously in the Nineties. That's not to say that there's something out of date about the tunes of Tulpa. No, this is timeless stuff. These Leeds young people have picked up instruments and delivered such good indie so seemingly effortlessly that a listener is a fan within a play of a song or two. Highly recommended.
Monster of the Week by Tulpa is out on Friday via Skep Wax. Details via Bandcamp below.
[Photo: Skep Wax]