Every so often, when the wind is fair and the stars align, the right album comes along at precisely the right time. It may not be the album you wanted or went looking for, but it appears in the perfect time and place and captivates you regardless. In a world that is – frankly – going to shit on so many levels, you might think that the perfect album for our current end times would be some outlandishly grim slice of misery, of the sort metal does so well. But you’d be wrong.
What we have here is an absolute gem of an album. Thirty-four minutes of irresistible, irrepressible, twee-flavoured indie rock, full of bounce and jangles and killer hooks. It’s almost indecently poppy, cutesy, and uncomplicatedly uplifting, without so much as an eye twitch of cynicism and sarcasm. Earnestness and sincerity of this magnitude have been so far out of fashion for so long at this point, that even leaving aside the musical style for a moment, the sheer straightness of this is unusual. It’s almost a rebellious act in its own right; countering the inherently sardonic and pessimistic world we live in with heartfelt, wide-eyed indie pop that is the exact opposite of the prevailing mood. As such, Part of the Problem, Baby is a truly splendid antidote to the state of the world in general at the moment.
“Most of the tracks on here would be a standalone standout on a lesser album, so having assembled an entire album of this calibre is no mean feat.”
Musically, Fortitude Valley are presenting a fairly distinctive sound here, with indie, pop and punk elements that bring to mind the jangly cuddlecore embodied by Cub, an offshoot of twee pop, as pioneered by the likes of Tiger Trap and Black Tambourine. This is where the bright, catchy hooks come from, not to mention the deceptively simple, childlike joy woven throughout, with just a hint of something heavier lurking in the background by way of a persistent edge to the guitar work.
The lyrics are, for the most part, every bit as sweet and cheekily confessional as all of the above plus a few punk sensibilities would indicate: for all the twee elements, Fortitude Valley aren’t sugarcoating or avoiding anything here lyrically. It’s all actually pretty forthright – and disarmingly so – especially when lyricist and lead singer Laura Kovic casually reads herself and the listener to filth, before wandering off to find another of those impossibly catchy hooks. Having an existential crisis on a Saturday night, indeed.
There are a couple of minor missteps here, such as the title track not quite living up to the tracks either side of it, and while ‘Into the Wild’ is excellent, it sounds like it’s from a different album entirely, but these are trifles compared to the otherwise consistently high quality across the album. This kind of indie pop is one of those genres that sounds infinitely easier and simpler to get right than it actually is, and most of the tracks on here would be a standalone standout on a lesser album, so having assembled an entire album of this calibre is no mean feat. Lyrically there’s a coming-of-age story hiding underneath the hooks, but the whole thing is so much fun musically that it’s entirely too easy to get swept up in the vibes and just enjoy Part of the Problem, Baby for what it is. Which is a masterpiece of sincerity, hooks and pop, and the perfect counterpoint to the state of the world in general these days.