In the beginning of the year, I was super-excited about the debut EP from Scotland’s The Hermit Crabs. The "Feel Good Factor"-EP/single was a refreshment of pure pop; Catchy, Cute and Clever. The three songs on the single were all favourites of mine, and they could all have been the title track. Great songs.
Now I’m sitting here with the Hermit Crabs’ debut ALBUM, "Saw You Dancing", and at first glance, – the title, the cover, the design, – I like it a lot.
So, full of expectations, I’m starting to listen. 10 songs, – popsongs with a touch of twee and folk. The band continues in the same direction as they did on the single, with a quite simple style, – not too many elements and definitely not too many modern studio effects or electronic additions. What you hear on the album is probably how the band sounds if you put them on a stage somewhere. It’s the real thing.
Some songs are wonderful, – like the "Friend’s folk festival", "Closet fan" (where the album title appears), "Secrets and lies" and of course the single "Feel Good Factor". Especially "Friend’s…" will be on my personal mixtapes for months to come, – a classic popsong with clever lyrics. The Hermit Crabs are good at lyrics, and I’m often smiling when I listen to their songs, thinking "mmmm, that was a nice way to say it!". At their best, The Hermit Crabs are popstars in my little world. They really manage to add "the feel good factor". At their worst, they sound uninspired and (forgive me, please) dull. I miss variation in the sound and instrumentation, and I miss more "life" in the vocals.
This is definitely a good debutalbum, and I’m not hesitating to recommend this fine band, but on future releases, I would love to hear them play out their full potential.
[rating:4/6]
The Hermit Crabs – Friend’s folk festival
