Working Men's Club
Details
LP / Format
Heavenly / Label
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CRITIC REVIEWS
100
It’s rare that a band who seem so geared towards chaotic live shows manage to capture the same energy on record, and even rarer for them to manage it on their debut, but Working Men’s Club seem to pull it off without even trying.
100
A world away from their early work, the Todmorden group find chaos in the every day on their superb debut.
100
Really, this is a very special record, inspired by a fairly specific past but managing to sound fresh, contemporary and original, due in no small part to the precocious talent and charisma of singer Syd Minsky-Sergeant, a true star in the making.
90
They're well worth the wait ... with leader Sydney Minsky-Sargeant’s stalking through this potent set of bruising electro songs like a cool composite of Stephen Mallinder and Mark E Smith.
1mo
90
Working Men’s Club need to be listened to. They offer a vital escape into the unusual, acting as an ecstatic placeholder in a world where we often (ok, always) need to get away.
80
For now we'll just imagine how fantastic this would sound in a cramped club, but the spirit of youth culture is here to be imbibed. Get in the biggest round you can and drink up.
80
Stark electronics are undercut with funkier elements of Detroit techno, acid house squiggles and Italian house pianos to create a danceable sound that’s simultaneously austere and uplifting.
80
This rhythmically expansive body of work could pass as a mixtape, traversing through a medley of sounds, eras and genres. The one thing consistent throughout are the standout vocals of Minsky-Sergeant.
80
It's the underlying sense of unease and something to prove that really adds the edge.
80
Working Men’s Club overcome change to create a debut more than worth the wait.
70
Working Men’s Club is nothing we haven’t heard before, but the sheer force of Minsky-Sargeant’s conviction makes it difficult to resist.
60
The group have certainly done their homework, and unfortunately the album has the feel of an academic exercise.
Filled with battery, this debut album is joy to my ears. By the way I listened to this at 2 a.m and my insomnia is reinforced. I'm fascinated by the instrumentation, the subtle yet intense transitions and the craziness of the genre mixing are a great bonus. I'm so oftenly bored by bands, that's why I don't usually review many, but sometimes bands like this make me shiver of excitement, the spontaneity that lacks from the old days, when the old-school musicians were innovating not for the sake ... read more
It’s likable but really hard to see an overarching tie that binds all the tracks together.
There is a lot to like about this album. In terms of spiky post-punk, Working Men's Club deliver the goods in spades. But it's not post-punk in the traditional early Simple Minds/U2 vein. Think more along the lines of the love child of Gang of Four and the Human League who happens to really like banging a cowbell ("A.A.A.A"). Did I mention there are a lot of synths? The album comes roaring out of the gate, but my fear that everything would start to all blend together is ... read more
Earlier this year I heard the brilliant The Passion Of by Special Interest, and it left me craving more post-punk-techno crossovers. So, I was pretty excited to hear of Working Men's Club releasing their critically acclaimed debut centred around punk rock attitude and dance beats. And whilst it does lack punch in some spots, Working Men's Club is a smooth, wonderfully produced and sonically diverse album that is well worth a listen. The biggest negative that I can draw from this is that some ... read more
Working Men's Club manages to capture the energy of the post-punk genre on their self-titular debut, without simply rehashing the same post-punk ideas that every other band in the niche has been beating to death. The album fuses in lots of electronic, psychedelic, jam, & even jazz elements to create a unique sound, that only resembles post-punk it's ferocious energy & vocals. It makes me really want to see this band live, just to see how the crowd reacts. Do we dance, do we mosh, do ... read more
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Track List
- Valleys
- A.A.A.A.
- John Cooper Clarke
- White Rooms and People
- Outside
- Be My Guest
- Tomorrow
- Cook a Coffee
- Teeth
- Angel
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Added on: March 11, 2020