If there were ever a band that deserved a cartoon series it would be The Smittens. Twee pop demigods to a man, woman and metrosexual cardigan wearer, they do the kind of songs that, superficially at least, make an episode of Glee seem like high opera.
“Typing, Texting” is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the sort of thing that The Smittens could do in their sleep. All the right ingredients are there from pithy lyrics to those slightly off key harmonies and their trademark jaunty lo-fi minimalism. If you’ve ever wondered what kind of music goes well with a latte and a houmous Panini then here it is. Don’t knock it though because it’s from the heart.
Things take something of a surprising turn with “You’re So Cute” however. Admittedly, The Smittens have borrowed this one from trashy twee punksters Cars Can Be Blue but you just don’t expect The Smittens to even use the word sex (or should it be the sex word…) in a song.
Finishing off side 2 on this vinyl issue is a serious bit of bedsit angst called “Get Sad”. It’s only a rather poor sounding demo version that we get here but you can easily imagine how those words could be turned into something positively caustic. Or unexpectedly caustic as this is still The Smittens, after all.
This nicely presented vinyl version is available from Britain’s nicest record companyWee Pop.