This CD came finely packaged in an extra-large case that won’t even fit on my CD shelving. It’s aesthetically pleasing on the eye, but an absolute nightmare for the anally-retentive, avid alphabetising, CD hoarding lunatic like myself. Perhaps that’s just how CD’s are packaged on the mainland, but my shelving is from Ikea. I thought they would have been prepared for such geometric predicaments. It’s every man for himself when it comes to a bit of nitpicking organisation it seems.

We Only Said are difficult to pin down. Very sparse arrangements, which propose eerie swelling moods. It was quite a difficult effort to listen to from start to finish. It’s moderately engaging, but it all feels like a crescendo to nowhere. The upsurge distends gradually, with downtrodden, disjointed guitars and the bleating of a cantankerous rhythm, yet the whole article rarely has a gratifying climax. Never a hook or memorable vocal, nor an exciting piece of instrumentation that makes it all worthwhile. Instead, the 40 minutes dig their feet into the ground and drags them along for the full duration. It’s not a bad record by any means, as I’m certain that grumpy, sparse indie rock of this ilk will be widely appreciated. It wears influences on it’s sleeve that will get attention – Slint, Unwound etc, which will get them far enough on their own merits, but it lacks anything that was memorable enough to write about and tell you.

It’s sluggish and slightly empty. It sounds grumpy, like you’ve just dropped your toast and, like always, it’s fallen butter side down. On first listen, you’ll wait and wait for some rewarding climax. If the lack of the latter disappoints, then there may never be a second or third listen.