Album Review: Joey Fourr, TO THE FLOORR

Chloe Mayne checks out the debut longplayer from London-based odd-pop darlings Joey Fourr:

Joey Fourr come across as one of those hidden gem-bands that pass evening after evening holed up in small and musty bedrooms, giggling slightly with cabin fever as they churn out demo tape after demo tape in a toy-instrument wormhole. Outside, a city swarms and seethes around them with gentle watery laps. It’s that classic romantic imagining of cooped-up, tongue-in-cheek pop genius that I daydream about when a wonderful sonic creature like this one crawls shyly across my path.

TO THE FLOOR, the outift’s debut LP, was recorded in a pair of London basements that have since been bulldozed; suitably elastic bubbles for these stretchy sounds. It’s here that things get pastel and glitter-washed, and the pop magic unfolds.

The record leaps into being with what has become, and this is no whimsy, one of my favourite tracks of the year thus far. ‘My Dolphins’ is a lo-fi dream, washing in and out in glorious waves of shoulder-jilting bass and cheeky finger-clicks. As a huge fan of Connan Mockasin and Ariel Pink, this track opens up and luxuriates for me in all of the best ways. There’s just a slight sprinkling of fuzz to give it that devious old-sofa feel amongst the glassy sheen.

It’s difficult to beat that cracker of an opening, but TO THE FLOORR gives it a good ol’ whirl. ‘Gold Boy’ is a rumble and tumble resplendent in perfectly placed knocks of the cowbell. ‘Dirty Hole’ swings in with its hands buried deep in pockets, a slight swagger in its step. The just-off guitar noodles add a fantastically mellow strangeness and quickly become a defining feature of the record.

‘Luv Is In The Mornin’ is another wound-back jewel that demands repeat listens with its swirling chorus and shaky drum-kicks. All up, it’s an excellent offering from a band I’ll be pinning brightly-coloured tabs on, beginning now.

You can order TO THE FLOORR here. Go on, it’s a cracker.

Words by Chloe Mayne.