In the po faced world of indie pop, there is much in the way of enforced jollity but little in the way of bloody minded, self-loathing self-deprecating humour. At least until now, as the surely soon to be massive Leeds band The Whatevers prove with their mini album "Eyeliner, Feedback, Fanzines Etc."
Without even waiting for the correct indie boy haircut, the true gods of C86 and cardigan wearers get grumpily name checked in the title track (come on down Mark E Smith, Stephen Pastel and Orange Juice…) before that self-important trendiness gets kicked in the best low budget temper tantrum tradition. As if to further reinforce the minimalist approach, The Whatevers follow on with the sparky and scratchy deconstruction of the rock and roll attitude "Kickin' Ass and Chewin' Bubblegum (and, yes, they are all out of bubblegum). Andy Warhol would surely have adopted this band just because of this song alone.
The train is truly out of the station now and the economy class is soon filled with the crudely executed "Sound Like The Beatles" OK, we are in indie pop land this could actually be a guerrilla attack with further attacks on the dangers of pretension provided in "Modern Pop Music". Pausing only for a nice glass of lemonade, they sink the boot right in whilst, of course, wearing the right shoelaces. This is momentous stuff but surely would go unappreciated on Radio1, Radio 2 or Radio 6 or wherever the pulse of the nation's youth now resides.
The Whatevers are not finished yet. Not by a country mile. Next on the target list are sub culture hangers on (rich kids who, in addition, can’t handle their drugs) in "Untru Punx" before the big, noisy finale. What else could they call their exit song but "Fuck This Underground" and it is a cataclysmic distillation of the concept of The Who Sell Out crossed with Cars Can Be Blue attitude squeezed into two minutes and thirty seconds. Shazam!
Sound quality verges on the painful and the performances are universally ropey but "Eyeliner, Feedback, Fanzines Etc." must surely be hailed as nothing short of a post punk masterpiece.
Available as a download from Bandcamp.