Hello everybody! Barely anyone ever reads my music themed posts, so I try and keep them to a minimum so I don’t bore everyone into unfollowing me, but in September I made the wonderful discovery of this album, and I think it’s incredible so wanted to record all my thoughts now, because I always love looking back and seeing how they change over the years with my very favourite albums (this is in my top 5 at least, possibly even my top 3…). Onto the post!
Top Deck– this is just the perfect opener to W.L, because it’s one of the band’s first ever songs they wrote (I believe Jack Cochrane was only 15 when he wrote it). It’s also just poignant and beautiful and haunting and sad. It’s about the drug culture in Scotland, the lyrics break my heart but are also ingenious, and I love how gentle it sounds sonically.
Always– anyone who says indie bands can’t do love songs well, I beg to differ, and yes, I genuinely have heard people say they should only write toxic love songs. This song is proof you can make something sound rocky and cool and clever while confessing that you love someone. My fave musical moment is the opening guitars, but really I could just listen to Jack belting that chorus all day long.
Juan Belmonte– I always feel a bit like a fraud when I say stuff like this cause I don’t think I’m cool enough, but bloody hell this is a BANGER. A TUNE. The guitars, the hand clap-esque drum beat, the blistering vocal and the way it all comes together to create this absolute anthem is just exceptional. My one complaint is that I don’t get the title and I’d love to know why it’s called this cause I’m insanely nosy!! But that is a very small gripe.
All Your Friends– if I’m remembering correctly, I’m pretty sure it was this song that the band gained a lot of recognition for and it’s easy to see why; it’s absolutely sensational from start to finish. The guitar riff it opens on is so cool, I’m unbelievably obsessed with the bass line and the vocals (both lead and backing) are strasopheric levels of amazing. And the drums just bring the whole, perfect thing together.
Somebody Loves You– this was written at the start of the pandemic, and I saw it described somewhere as a love song for the ages, which is more succinct than anything I can really say about it. But for me, and I think the band as well given the music video, I don’t think it’s about one person loving another. I think it’s a reminder, one I need most days, that there is always someone who loves you, even when you don’t think there is. In terms of sound, it’s so chill and lovely and sort poppy, with an insanely catchy chorus and loads of uplifting, feelgood vibes. My fave bit is hands down the bridge though. Jack’s voice on it is just the most perfect, gorgeous thing.
Glasgow– this song was basically my gateway song for the Snuts, the one I heard where I was just like, “I want to check out everything these people have ever made”. So I’m immensely grateful to it for that. It’s an absolute anthem, with rousing verses and a catchy chorus, and all though I’m a bit fuzzy on what it actually means, I always sing along like my life depends on it anyway. That big GLASGOW at the end of the chorus is just indescribable in how much joy it brings me as well. And also, we love a false start. Trick me into thinking it’s a soppy ballad when it’s actually a rock banger ANY DAY OF THE WEEK, I fall for it every time!!
No Place I’d Rather Go– I don’t know if I’ll ever get married, but if I do, this song will be playing. This song is everything I think love should be, that I hope to find, that I can’t help but believe is still out there despite all the evidence to the contrary. It’s so, so beautiful, and that vocal run at the end of the pre-chorus is just everything.
Boardwalk– I have to admit, I didn’t actually like this song at first, but I kept persevering because I know that it’s Jack’s favourite track on the album, and now I think it’s an absolute masterpiece. It’s a lot slower and more contemplative than most other songs on the record, but there’s something so stunning and melancholic about it, and the lyrics are so perfectly written. And the guitar solo section at the end is quite possibly one of my favourite pieces of music on the whole album.
Maybe California– this is very poppy, really, but it is absolutely joyous with one of the best singalong choruses on the whole album. I don’t really know what it means, and I also don’t really care, because it just makes me happy. The interview where the boys say they smuggled California sunshine into this recording is very, very true.
Don’t Forget It (Punk)- this is one of my new favourite songs to sing along to when I’m absolutely raging at somebody. It’s a brilliant mix of venomous and silly, and it’s just very fun indeed. I don’t have a huge deal to say, but I really do like this song a lot.
Coffee and Cigarettes– this is SUCH an interesting song in terms of production, and I love the guitars and bass on this track as well. And the drums, actually. And by this point in this post, I think it’s well established that Jack Cochrane has one of my favourite voices ever; the texture and the tone and the range and also literally everything else about it is just exceptional. I also really love its sort of theme of fame not being all it’s cracked up to be.
Elephants– this is one of my top three songs on the album, and it is just the BEST to hype yourself up with. It makes me feel so good about myself. It’s got a hip-hop inspired sound that is just so amazing and fun to sing along with, and the lyrics make very little sense but I just love them so much anyway. The melody and the music are absolutely exceptional as well, it’s just an unbelievably perfect song, to be honest. That come on baby bit in the breakdown gets me EVERY SINGLE TIME as well.
Sing for Your Supper– this seems to be a definite fan favourite but I just can’t take to this one. It’s the only one I skip every time I listen to the album, actually. In theory, it’s perfectly fine as a song and I can’t actually pick out a flaw, i just don’t vibe and connect with it the way I do with the rest of W.L.
Blur Beat- if you’d told me a few months ago, basically up till the day I heard this song actually, that something with a chorus that starts with the word buckfast would become one of my favourites on an album, I’d have called you a liar. I’m Scottish, but don’t drink alcohol for health reasons, so it isn’t a part of Scottish culture I really relate to. Yet I absolutely BELT the chorus of this, every single time. I really love the titular blur beat refrain of “li-li-li-li-li-like me” and there’s something simultaneously really fun and really sad about the chorus. To be honest, I’d rather this was on the non-deluxe album than Sing for Your Supper.
4 Baillie Street– this definitely wins the prize for the one that makes me cry the most. There’s just something so haunting and sad about it, and I’d really love to know the significant of the address because I’m ridiculously nosy and I can’t quite work it out. I might be totally wrong here but I almost feel like it’s about the same person that Top Deck is? There are some definite lyrical similarities. And the violin. I mean, I can’t even.
Microwave– this is the only bonus track where I can fully understand why it’s a bonus track. Jack’s voice sounds amazing on it (I’m sure you’ll all be shocked, I think I’ve said that about literally every song so far, I just really love his voice okay!!), but it doesn’t pack a punch the same way something like All Your Friends does.
Waterbirds– give me all the sad, plucky guitar vibes, I’m obsessed with the ones on this song. They might actually be my favourite guitar sounds on the whole album… and I knew within seconds I would love this song solely because of them. Jack’s voice is just absolutely haunting on it, and I love the lyrics and the pessimistic yet hopeful feel of it. The fact this is a bonus track really gives you an idea of how talented the Snuts are. If I get a Snuts tattoo (which I may or may not be planning!), there’s a really good chance this song will be the inspiration.
If you’ve made it to the end, thank you so much for reading! Are you a fan of this album? Which song is your favourite, if so? And if not, what have you been listening to that you’d recommend?
Amy x
Golden Books Girl 
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