A good old mix of troubled romance, political comedy, and sarcasm
By Angela Gai
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lovejoy is back at it again with a #2 ranking on Spotify’s Top UK Album Debut, over 38 million on its top four songs. Pebblebrain is the name of the band’s newest EP hits it off and becomes a new favourite for many people. The playlist consists of seven songs — Oh Yeah You Gonna Cry? Model Buses, Concrete, Perfume, You’ll Understand When You’re Older, The Fall, and It’s All Futile! It’s All Pointless. It has a 23 minute total listening time, a step up from their last EP, which only had four songs. The songs showcase the band’s homemade, garage band feel while boldly expressing their own opinions. Each one of them is immersed in the playful tone of the lyrics, but they don’t leave behind the profound meaning in the song. Throughout the EP, there is great instrumental music from the band members, and it’s definitely worth a listen.
In this article, I will be breaking down the first three songs in the EP, and a quick review about the others songs and the album as a whole.
The first track is “Oh Yeah You Gonna Cry?”. When it comes to the melody and the mood of the song, this one is undoubtedly my favourite and arguably the “happiest” song in the EP. The song starts off with a cute piano melody that lasts about four bars, and then switches to a series of hard strung guitars. Just by listening to the introduction, even with no lyrics, I can already feel the goofiness coming out of me. This track talks about the singer watching two people falling out of love, one whom he hates (the male) and the female in the story that he secretly loves. After the girl breaks up with the boy, the singer uses sarcasm to indicate his feelings towards him, which is unpleasant.
The entire song feels so energetic and bouncy, it’s great for when you are having a bad day and just want to cheer up. The melody is catchy, and it’s the kind of song that allows you to be enraged on behalf of the narrator, it could have you jumpy around your room or bobbing your head.
Rating: 9/10
The second song of the EP is an interesting one. Instead of writing about toxic romance, the songwriter talks about his hatred for the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson. The lyrics were, at first, difficult for me to understand. As someone who has never been to the UK or enjoys political issues, I had to do some research to fully understand the song. Apparently, in the infamous interview about Boris Johnson, the interviewer asked Boris if he has any hobbies, resulting in Boris stuttering and looking like he didn't know what to say. After a few moments, he said that he likes “building model buses” in his free time. Which is how the title of the song came about.
Other than mocking Boris Johnson, “Model Buses” is also about the need for escapism. The feeling of wanting to escape because of the country and its political leaders. In the lyrics “Get me out of here” and “I guess this makes you right” shows how the narrator is getting frustrated, and wanting to give up because of the desperation knowing that nothing will change.
This song is melancholy and has beautiful instrumentals. Even though the political lyrics don't hit me, after research, I think it has a good intention and a deep meaning.
Rating: 7/10
“Concrete”, the third song, is fun and catchy like always. It tells the story of the narrator possibly cheating on his girlfriend, which resulted in the girl drunk and angry at a bar, with the narrator listening to her complaints, refusing to realise his mistake and making fun of the girl throughout the song. This song’s drums and bass guitar is amazing, it’s so much fun trying to listen to the background music. The instrument builds up as the singer’s mood gets more and more unpleasant, which matches the tone of the song. It is full of hate and distastefulness, with a lot of frustration towards the girl in the story.
I really liked the parts where it goes:
"Hope the saltwater ruins your clothes
And I hope you spend the rest of your life sleeping alone
I hope the problems that make your life harder
Sit stubborn in your stomach like your kidney stones"
Even without visuals, you can just hear the loathe in the girl’s voice, it feels so hateful and sassy. I love it.
Rating: 8/10
The other four songs in the album — Perfume, The Fall, You’ll Understand When You’re Older, and It’s All Futile! It’s All Pointless are also great songs, there are some honourable mentions and highlights.
For me, I loved the instrumental parts in the middle of “You’ll Understand When You’re Older” because it had that beautiful trumpet sound, and it was very bouncy and energetic. In “The Fall”, the lyrics were so intense and aggressive, there were a lot of necessary swearing and hard instrumentals, but it fits the vibe so well. “Perfume” is a song talking about the narrator not happy when the relationship ended and couldn’t move on. While the beat works really well, it gets slightly repetitive, but it’s still a jam. “It’s All Futile! It’s All Pointless!” is interesting, because the songwriter used a cheerful tune for a somewhat sad song, since its first line is “I lost the passion that comes with living”. So that really gives the song a bittersweet feeling, which in my opinion is brilliant.
Overall, I think the band improved a lot in comparison to their last EP. There is a wide range of vibes, from chill out tunes to songs you can hardcore rock out to. It is for sure a great EP if you need a mood booster. I give it five out of five stars, but you do need to like indie rock to like this album. The vocals could be slightly louder to be heard well, but other than that, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys alternative music and give it a listen.
May 9th, 2022 9.27AM MDT
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