Happyness - Write In

by Adrian Huggins

published: 8 / 5 / 2017

Label: Moshi Moshi Records
Format: CD

Equally enjoyable second album from London-based three-piece Happyness, the follow-up to the critically-acclaimed 'Weird Little Birthday'

Review

Happyness are a three-piece band from South London who made great waves with their debut album ‘Weird Little Birthday’. Their debut output was firmly rooted in the US college rock style harking back to the post-grunge days and found them making fans across the pond in the US as well as being very well received in their native UK, where they notably received the NME award for Lyric of the Year in 2015. ‘Write In’ is Happyness' follow-up and seems to have come around quickly mainly due to their 2016 EP ‘Tunnel Vision On You’ bridging that gap. There is development and an added maturity to ‘Write In’, which is sure to please many of their original fans. If ‘Weird Little Birthday’ was the soundtrack to the fuzzy warm, not-leaving-your-bed kind of day that follows after a heavy, life-affirming, wild night, then 'Write In' is the soundtrack to being outside in the sun and carefree and loved up. Album opener ‘Falling Down’ begins with a serious tone but this quickly lightens up with its Pavement meets Lemonheads sound. ‘The Reel Starts’ has a fantastic Beatles feel to it with a swooning chorus transition that really hammers home how the band has grown into their own when it comes to song writing, ‘Through Windows’ also shares this development with gentle key changes and layered vocals throughout. ‘Anytime’ and ‘Bigger Glass Less Full’ have more of a playful Pavement/Yo La Tengo vibe to them and there is even a smidgen of surf rock evident on the sublime ‘Uptrend /Style Raids’. These songs all help with the momentum and flow of the album, without losing the direction. This is very much an uplifting but mellow album and the songs are impeccably woven together to make it feel very complete and self-contained. There is an unmistakable Teenage Fanclub feel to ‘The C Is A B A G’ and ‘Anna, Lisa Calls’ which sees the band making the most of their ‘fluid’ roles within the band. I really enjoyed ‘Weird Little Birthday’ but the only negative that stuck out was the Americanised sounding vocals, which, while at one level sounding fantastic, somehow didn’t seem right once I had learnt that the band are from the London area. On ‘Write In’ the band sound like they have, however, found their own voice and this really lifts it in my humble and nit-picking opinion.

Track Listing:-

1 Falling Down
2 The Reel Starts Again
3 Anytime
4 Through Windows
5 Uptrend / Style Raids
6 Bigger Glass Less Full
7 Victor Lazarro's Heart
8 Anna, Lisa Calls
9 The C Is A B A G
10 Tunnel Vision On Your Part