The Lovely EggsWildlifeReview

It is generally considered poor form for an album reviewer to unquestioningly recycle information gleaned from the press release included with the album. Nevertheless, sometimes it seems to say everything you were planning to.

The blurb for the third album by married Lancastrian indie duo The Lovely Eggs notes that they’ve worked, if only fleetingly, with John Shuttleworth and Jad Fair. The notion of them acting as a connection point between these two – a bumbling, Casio-playing Yorkshire comedy character and an American lo-fi icon who elevated not knowing how to play music into an art form – is pretty much a perfect summary. Still, you may be wanting to hear about the album…

Make no mistake, The Lovely Eggs are about as indie as indie gets. In addition to Shuttleworth and Fair, their stylistic ancestry takes in the tweest of 80s twee-pop – Talulah Gosh or The Pooh Sticks – and other descendants of theirs, like Helen Love and Bearsuit. Holly Ross, vocalist and guitarist, used to be in Angelica, who were briefly notable in the late 90s with a single called Why Did You Let My Kitten Die?.

This all masks the fact that the duo can rock when they wish, even if they’re not exactly Slayer. Opening track of 18, Allergies, is a spirited clatter which attempts mild psychedelia two-thirds through; elsewhere, the 59-second The Undertone is a petulant punkish thrash.

Listeners turned off by whimsy in music, or dubious about the affectations of the twee scene, should proceed with caution. At certain points on Wildlife, you feel The Lovely Eggs are missing a trick by not actively writing songs for children.

The brief title track is essentially a list of animals which shouldn’t be considered wildlife (flies, worms etc); and Green Beans actually has the sound of a ringing telephone while Ross sings about the same. I Just Want Someone to Fall in Love With mentions “a lobster on a lead” for no obvious reason other than it sounds funny.

All this considered, Ross and husband David Blackwell have charm in heaped spoons, and are unlikely to disappoint existing Lovely Eggs fans here.