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Review: 'That Will Be Lunch'
'The Mixtape of Things'   

-  Album: 'The Mixtape of Things' -  Label: 'Scratchy Records'
-  Genre: 'Indie' -  Release Date: '10th June 2016'

Our Rating:
Alvin Spetz – ‘one-man art-pop prankster’ – has spent the last few years building a reputation for whacky eccentric pop tunes working under the name Full English Breakfast. For his third album, we’ve skipped on a few hours, bypassed elevenses and, what do you know? The morning’s gone and That Will Be Lunch, as you may hear cricket commentators announce.

There’s nothing so gentlemanly or sporting about this rollercoaster of an album. As one might expect from an artist whose biography records that he ‘discovered music while studying at Aberdeen university in the 80s’ and recounts how he was ‘inspired by the fledgling indie sounds of Edwyn Collins, The Fall, Josef K and The Pop Group’, ‘The Mixtape of Things’ is pretty eclectic to say the least.

From the swampy swagger of ‘Crumbtrail’ to the off-kilter post-punk of ‘Watch the Movie!’ via the choppy Fall-like ‘Silverback’, Spetz offers up an album worthy of its title. The rumbling bass groove of ‘Office Poet’ calls to mind ‘Telephone Thing’, while Spetz croons over a shuffling beat in a sea of reverb and icy 80s synths about that guy. ‘The Right Stuffing’ is a swirling Krautrock effort, all motorik drums and noodling synths, while ‘T-Towel Souvenir’ lurches into Human League synth-pop territory.

In contrast, ‘Campaign for Plain Nuts’ is remarkable for its lack of nuttiness (at least musically, although he’s singing about cashews and almonds), taking the unexpected form of a quintessentially English pop song which takes its lead from the likes of The Kinks and the Bonzo Dog Band, and proving in the process that for all the weirdness and mash-up experimentalism, Spetz can cook up a decent tune when the mood takes.

For all its overt quirkiness and obtuse silliness, ‘The Mixtape of Things’ manages to avoid being irritating, and instead stands up to repeat listening, not least of all due to the fact it’s coherent despite its diversity, and above all, on account of boasting a high density of decent tunes.

That Will Be Lunch Online


  author: Christopher Nosnibor

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That Will Be Lunch - The Mixtape of Things