Yes, Model Village are almost as twee as the band's name makes them sound and had I read the press release before playing it I may have not bothered. Unfortunately, citing Steely Dan and Yo Lo Tengo as influences is not good a good start in my book.
That said, opener Sunlight is slight and gentle and sort of works as a mellow pop song. Pick & Mix is better as the boy- girl vocal work pretty well in a third rate Belle & Sebastian kind of way, even if Woolworths is no longer around for a proper Pick & Mix experience.
Sorry is a love gone not quite how you want it tale in the style of The Daintees or The Pastels. It is a gentle caress of a song. Claude Loves Marcel is not about a love of mime but about acceptance of difference and to not let the bullies win. It's been concocted over a backing that makes Stephen Tin Tin Duffy sound angry. It's so meek as to not be there at all. Almost.
Time To Share sounds like a Beautiful South outtake with some cool, knowing lyrics over a gentle, sparse tune. In many ways it's one of the best songs on the album. Family Restaurant is just a bit too bland for my liking and veers towards background music very quickly.
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Junction 30 is another gentle pop song in the vein of The Beautiful South or The Pastels. It's the sort of thing that Radio 2 plays to show they still play new music without worrying anyone with anything too difficult. Funny Things carries on the bland gentle pop feel, getting close to sounding a bit like Prefab Sprout at their most winsome.
Stop The Clocks is easily the most fey Belle & Sebastian type thing on the album. Not at all bad if you like that sort of thing. The album then closes with It Will Be Over Soon. Oh, some of us hope so but in fairness is a pretty decent foppish pop song that builds to a good finish for all that.
If you like your pop meek and mild then Model Village may well be the band for you. Find out more at:
Model Village Bandcamp page
Post-Pop Records
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