the black watch • The Morning Papers Have Given Us The Vapours • 2024

“an immaculate run of late-period brilliance that began with 2020’s Brilliant Failures ) is perpetuated on Morning Papers. With aspects of his previous MBV/Go-Betweens-gone-Beatles indie rock paradise remain, the first half feels like a’80s KROQ U.K. fest from days of Robyn Hitchcock, Lucy Show, and post-1981 Bunnymen (“New Brooms Sweep Clean”) transmogrified into Fredrick’s delicious hooks. All excellent—but it’s the second half that really takes off, when Fredrick’s guitar deals more stimulating distortion. Start with the buzzy C86-gone-baroque beauty, “More Lies”; here, Frederick’s melodic powers and poetic soul take flight anew, into the standout, noisier, fantastic “There and Here” (satirizing callousness), then continuing unabated ’til the driving-yet-bass/drums-free closer, “The Morning Papers.” Wonders don’t cease.”

- The Big Takeover