Jangly guitars, high male harmonies and a relentlessly twee attitude – yep, ‘Hours Up To Midnight’ is another offering of bite-sized indie pop snacks to gorge on when you’re down – 4 short songs with undeniable charm and childlike naivety that’ll melt your heart or nauseate you, depending on what kind of person you are. ‘Hurry On Home’ is about as light and fluffy as pop gets, but a little misleading as cuts like ‘Golden Boy’ sound like The Postcards are actually throwing darts at pictures of their ex-girlfriends instead of baking cookies and helping old ladies cross the road. Still, for all the venomous lyrics are blunted by soft voices and warm guitars. Closer ‘John Peel Was A Friend Of Mine’ is a highlight, almost a long-lost demo from the Beatles when they were still playing tiny basements in Liverpool.
For all the sweet melodies The Postcards suffer from the same problem as many an indie pop outfit – namely that their lyrics aren’t great. That’s not to say that the single is a bad effort; they’re good at what they do, but unlike really great indie pop bands like Tilly and the Wall and Rilo Kiley there’s a deficiency of imagination and daring.
Stand-Out Track: John Peel Was A Friend of Mine
Ollie Khakwani
