Animals That Swim
Animals That Swim enjoyed a good period of the last decade as British Pop’s best kept secret, releasing two albums of life-affirming, literate, heartfelt music filled with acute observation, quirky storytelling and a ramshackle, cinematic glamour.
In keeping with their “could have been a contender, Charlie” worldview, they were championed by anyone with their head screwed on right, and utterly ignored in the get-hits-quick world of Britpop in which they found themselves marooned, but with whom they shared nothing but the occasional trumpet.
Five years after their classic I Was The King, I Really Was The King, the band returned to the fray with Happiness From A Distant Star, released on Snowstorm.
Meeting alien abductees, making a cake with your dead uncle, listing all the reasons today will be an outstanding day… the album found their urge to document the drunken, cluttered corners of our lives undimmed, their deft way with a tune as sharp as ever, and the trumpet buffed and ready for action.
As their fans will tell you with an evangelical, lapel-gripping fury, your life will be immeasurably improved by having an Animals That Swim record or two in it.