By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2

Tracklist: Big In The Suburbs; Home For The Weekend; Knock And Run; Deere John; Soak Up The Culture; Shopping; Cul-De-Sac; Pampas Grass; The Roundabout Racehorse; Under Milk Wood; Family Photos; Country Cousins; It’s Not Like This In France; Life Is A Motorway

Under Milk Wood is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas where the narrator invites the audience to listen to the dreams and innermost thoughts of the inhabitants of the fictional small Welsh fishing town, Llareggub.

• Read on for reasons including why this is the best album of 2025 so far

Llareggub, of course, is bugger-all spelt backwards and, yet, Southampton/Brighton band Welly’s debut album which includes a track titled Under Milk Wood is an affectionate look at where they’re from with 1 eye on the stirrup of the Roundabout Racehorse that offers a way out.

Title track Big In The Suburbs opens the album and was a song of the week for us in November when we wrote: ‘It sounds like actual Harry Enfield sampled on the introduction of the track which reminds of Pulp and Blur but reinforced by the very British before Britpop storytelling of bands like The Jam and The Kinks.’

Song 2 is Home For The Weekend which formed part of Live In A Village Hall, a March 2023 album of the month for us, and of which we said: ‘We’re writing this listening to Home For The Weekend on a train heading for the village we grew up in on Mother’s Day and immediately the mad percussion makes us think Thompson Twins and Talking Heads.’

Knock And Run is the 1st song we’d not heard before and is the sound of innocent yet annoying youthful japes in Wilson sports socks to 1-hit wonders like the Macarena if played by 90s Elastica going Girls Aloud cover Pet Shop Boys.

Deere John was also on Live In A Village Hall and ‘has us in Blur Parklife/The Kinks storytelling territory with a ‘1 wife, 2 flings’ character who hates his job, is ‘too old for nightlife’ but loves his lawn and in his darkest moment contemplates putting his head too near his beloved mower’s blade as the insane guitars whirl.’

Soak Up The Culture was song of the month for us, appropiately, in July when we said: ‘Blur’s 1994 summer anthem Girls And Boys might be the obvious lyrical jumping off point but we can still hear influences including vintage Duran Duran and the much-missed Younger Younger 28s in the gruff delivery and jarring yet classic pop guitars.

‘The Brighton/Southampton collective are packing their passports urging: ‘Head just like a sponge, Soak Up The Culture, now!’ on the lead track and, rather more comically, ”Yeah yeah, ciao Bella, I’m such a nicе fella! My name’s Matthew, Tell me all about you. D’ya want to come and be sick in my hotel bathroom?’

Shopping was also a song of the month for us in July when we said: ‘Writing about their brilliant 2023 London Tower Bridge gig we said: ‘We bellow out the lyrics to Shopping similarly bemoaning our part in the death of England’s high streets at the same time as Welly does. The keyboards remind us of The Stranglers via Elastica and the vibe is Britpop.’

Cul De Sac was a song of the month for us in September when we said: ‘Singer Elliot Hall may be nicknamed Welly but this new single feels very much that it is showcasing the strengths of the 5-strong band. Our favourite part is the keyboard outro showcasing Hanna Witkamp’s role reminding of Pulp‘s delightful electronica in their 90s pomp after lead singer Welly has declared: ‘Let’s go disco like it’s going out of style.

‘Guitarists Joe Holden-Brown and Matt Gleeson join bassist Jacob Whitear with spiky Blur-esque chords for lighthearted backing vocals including: ‘We’re all cruising for a bruising’ for a tale of doomed romance that reminds of the ‘English parochial school of songwriting’ Welly discussed in a recent NME interview.’

Pampas Grass is the slow 1 – with a twist. Kate Bush’s epic Babooshka is the vibe as neighbours’ curtains twitch on this suburban street and the pay-off is worth not spoiling.

The Roundabout Racehorse is the latest single and a little too trading on Duran Duran joy for us but the need to escape 1’s surroundings is given more original lyrical expression. ‘I can’t (repeat) … go home tonight’ is an epic live singalong.

Under Milk Wood is the sentiment that binds this collection together while Family Photos is our new favourite Welly song. Life is cyclical, we think, as Welly sings: ‘Round and round and round again’ while surveying childhood snaps musing simultaneously: ‘When will all my dreams come to pass?’, ‘I once had a dream of getting out’ and ‘Spending weekends in a tizz, spending weekends slightly pissed …’

Country Cousins is another uptempo bop underlining the differences between rural and town life, It’s Not Like This In France is 1 of the reasons we 1st fell head over heels for this band and Life Is A Motorway is once again gorgeously contemplative reminding where we began not to ‘spend a lifetime looking for heaven when you can find it on the A27’.

Welly – the sound of today, tomorrow and yesterday while causing musical mayhem in their wake and pipping Lady Gaga to album of the year so far.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Welly Tickets
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