Lovejoy – One Simple Trick Album review by Rob Johnson
Lovejoy, the brainchild of English YouTuber and musician William Gold (also known by the stage name Wilbur Soot), formed in Brighton in 2021. Gold recruited Joe Goldsmith to play lead guitar and co-write the songs with him, as well as bassist Ash Kabosu and drummer Mark Boardman. The band burst onto the scene with their well-received EP ‘Are You Alright?’ in May of 2021, but have taken their time recording and releasing their debut album, One Simple Trick (due out 3rd October).
‘Baptism’ kicks things off with pounding drums and dramatic guitars, giving way to Gold’s low-pitched croon intoning ‘If you play the saviour, will you make me holy?’. It’s a suitably theatrical arrangement for a song replete with biblical imagery and end-of-the-world desperation. Indeed, endings and rebirths seem to be a theme that runs throughout the record. Lead single, ‘Pay & Display’ is very reminiscent of a bunch of mostly great, mostly northern bands, from the so-called indie sleaze era. Arctic Monkeys are the easiest point of comparison, but their Sheffield counterparts, Milburn, are the more obvious influence. There are also hints of Editors and We Are Scientists scattered throughout the record, the former on ‘White Shark Cafe’ and the latter on the closing track, ‘Monochrome’.
‘With Rob As My Witness’ is not just a great song title (as a Rob myself, I found it particularly satisfying), but also a proper toe-tapper with the kind of catchy chorus that Gold seems to excel at. On ‘White Shark Cafe’, Gold implores Father Time to ‘take me back to when I was young’. It’s a simple message, but it’s delivered with such emotion that it’s impossible not to get swept up in it all.
‘Perfect Blue’ is the centrepiece of the album and probably the best track, with its insistent, Suede-esque guitar riff building to a massive chorus. Slinky. Irresistible. I loved it. Now, if there is one thing this band is great at, it’s a crescendo. Many of these songs escalate to a frenzy with ‘Foxholes’ and penultimate track, ‘Scoundrels’, particularly effective examples of their ability to end songs in a way that is often triumphant, always interesting.
One Simple Trick has all the usual youthful swagger and assured insouciance you would expect from the debut album of an up-and-coming indie rock band, but its four-year incubation period also ensures that Lovejoy already feel fully formed and at their peak – a striking and lovable debut record.
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