Anyone remember The Lightning Seeds? Devoid of usual pop star traits like style and personality they may have been, but that one with the funny beard knew his way around a tune. Well, think of Brighton’s The Upper Room as a better looking, more interesting, post millennial update. The 12 gorgeous glacial pop nuggets that make up this debut album are the very definition of quintessential^ English, from ‘Combination”s New Order-ish chemical glow to the shamelessly catchy hooks of hearts on sleeve pop like ‘Kill Kill Kill' to the forked tongue misanthropy of 'Never Come Back'. They’re unlikely to be squirting syringes of their own blood at you anytime soon, but these songs could charm the pants off you.
