‘The wilderness years’ maybe but Holly & David – The Lovely Eggs – are in fine fettle.
Release Date: 17th May 2024
Label: Egg Records
Format: LP / CD / digital
Four years have passed since The Lovely Eggs’ top notch I Am Moron album. A wave of reflection of what’s been happening in Eggland in the interim arrives in the form of Eggistentialism. Holly Ross calls it “the wilderness album.” It’s also an album that sees the Eggs facing up to some of the harsher facts of life – growing up sort of stuff – “realising everything you grew up with and loved is never coming back” serious sh*t sort of stuff.
You have to love The Lovely Eggs for their commitment and belief in the DIY ethos. A band for who the term ‘fiercely independent’ was made.
Then there’s the music, all lush pop, aggressive punk with attitude and groovy psychedelic adventuring. All in lovely egg-y day-glo. It’s a statement about dragging yourself through all the shit to get to the other side. Something they’ve done for 30+ years and feeds into the outpouring of I Don’;’t F@@king Know What I’m Gunna Do. The sneering “we’re gonna die of boredeom” in the the punky Death Grip Kids that kicks in with a defiant “shove your funding up your @rse” is the sort of explosive release of pent up anger and energy (remember – anger is an energeee) that we love about The Eggs.
Heading from a deceptive friendly electro-pop lullaby, Meeting Friends At Night retro boosts into a blur of fizzing psychedelic Space Rock chutzpah. Imagine lava lamp visuals and liquid light shows; maybe the odd laser or two across the ceiling of the New Century Hall as the sonic pallet shifts into a thundering proto Metal groove. Then there’s the wired weirdness of Things – electronic throbs and awkward disco moves on red alert – the mental image of “a baking tray signed by Yoko Ono” the sort of charming train of thought, curve ball approach to the lyrics.
In contrast to the melancholy that People TV, we’re loving the lush My Mood Wave that drips with jangly retro vibe, the spirit of Kirsty MacColl and distant synth waves. It’s mirrored on I Am Gaia with the iron fist in a velvet glove threatening “don’t you f@@k with me“
In defence of their musical lifestyle choices, they admit their unwillingness to give in and toe the line,”ultimately does start to destroy you and the album is kind of a documentation of that destruction and collapse as well as the strength we’ve got to get through it all.” What don’t kill you makes you more strong – and Metallica said that. “Ultimately, this is a hopeful record about survival,” is the Egg’s bottom line and judging by the furore at their local HMV in Lancaster on release day, Holly and David deserve to not just survive, but thrive.
Here’s second single, Memory Man:
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