NEW ALBUMS
PIP BLOM
Welcome Break HEAVENLY
8/10
Homage to Catatonia: Dutch foursome perfect Britpop 2.0
The 1997 Select cover stars that never were, Amsterdam boy-girl pop kids Pip Blom have not changed their core values in the two years since their bumptious debut LP Boat. Recorded in lockdown in Ramsgate, and named after the British service station chain, Welcome Break is a deceptively simple collection of slightly melancholy bangers; shades of the 1980 Undertones on “You Don’t Want This”, nods to Kenickie on killer single “Keep It Together” and the best bits of Echobelly on “Faces”. However, the familial resemblance to Pip and Tender Blom’s dad’s group, awkward 1980s Peel faves Eton Crop, is there. Play loud, listen carefully.