The tunes of an electric guitar distract me from my work. It’s involuntary, which is a compliment to the song. I’ve heard the song a few times on the radio lately. Sad Supermarket Song. Without immediately wanting to label the music style, I feel comfortable saying that to me this has a melancholic garage rock feel.

The repetitive drums and somewhat whiney vocal slowly work their way toward a distorted chorus. The chords are stoically played while the singer complains about that sad song playing in the supermarket, amplifying his already sad feelings. This is my favourite song of the album. It sounds a bit like Weezer forgot to take their anti-depressants.

The rest of the album just doesn’t hit home for me. I hoped for some more lighter up-tempo hits like ‘Peter Jr’ and ‘I Got Skills’ from the 2013 album. Those songs ended up in a throwback playlist with bands like Dandy Warhols and Blur. Taking me back to a carefree time where I wore Dickies shorts, Vans and carried around a skateboard.

I was so excited about Sad Supermarket Song that I’ve played the album many times, trying to see if it would grow on me. But the songs are too far apart in means of style. Songs are glued together with white noise and radio bits. Good to stop people from playing your record on shuffle but very distracting in this case. If these bits add to the vibe of the album, it can be a stroke of genius. Good example is An Awesome Wave by Alt-J.

Conclusion is that I’ll take the pearl off of this album an cherish it. Play Sad Supermarket Song on a rainy Sunday when I’m in that mood. I hope their next album makes me want to go see them on a sunny Sunday at a festival.