Album Review: Gloo - 'How Not To Be Happy'
Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get stuck in this record.
How Not To Be Happy is the latest offering by West Sussex rockers Gloo, who have been teasing this brand new release since the start of 2020. After their stellar debut A Pathetic Youth, the hype has only grown and fingers were crossed that they avoid the sophomore slump. Therefore it’s a relief to say they swerved that slump, trucked down the motorway and are on the journey to rock and roll success!
The first single ‘Work so Hard’ stands as one of the best tracks on the record. It’s loud, it’s catchy, and the attitude is so rude and raging it’s contagious. As a first taste of the band’s sound with the album, it’s sweet and juicy and tangy and spicy all in one - no matter your tastes, you’ll want more and more and more. So as the third track, it allows listeners to get more and inhale the vibes until they’re satisfied.
The teenage loudmouth personality is exciting and electrifying, sparking through every guitar string plucked and every drum beat slammed. Young at age or young at heart, this will light the soul on fire and make you a rowdy anarchist in the best way.
‘Swimming in Your Sea’ is another standout. Slightly soothed but still full of fight, it’s one of the more reminiscent tracks of the “golden days” of rock and roll and the influence remains strongly recognisable and importantly used to inspire generations that have come and others that are yet to.
Gloo are still a band on the rise, and they’re surfing the rock wave with sophistication and angst right to the moon with How Not To Be Happy. If the studio versions sound this awesome, just wait until they hit the stage again.
Put away the solvent; this is a sound you never want to peel away.
Words by Jo Cosgrove