White vinyl press w/ bonus 7" - edition of 500
The official line is that Levity is The Stroppies second album, the follow up to 2019's Whoosh, though the two eight-song records that fall either side of that are substantial documents in their own right, important in revealing the Melbourne four-piece's gentle evolution since their debut in 2017. The vocal trade-off between bassist Claudia Serfaty and guitarist/keyboardist Gus Lord has been a constant across those records, earworm merchants with a knack for a canny phrase and a wink of the eye, a winning trait alive and well across these ten tracks. Where the most notable shift has occurred is in the muscularity of the songs, a little more motorik steel to what are ostensibly sideways spun pop songs, an infectious amalgam of Slates-era Fall, Chris Knox wonky melodicism and XTC archness. Believe, I'd not make those comparisons lightly, but the Stroppies have a way of twisting the formula to their own ends, recalling the greats while impressing their own increasingly distinct image. And i've found it near-impossible to extract the hook of Up To My Elbows out of my head these past few weeks, finding myself uttering it out loud in random, idle moments, public or not. Sorry to anyone who has had to experience that, but somethings are undeniable. Note this is the limited version with the additional 7" containing two *secret* tracks. Well then.
