I have to keep reminding myself that Charles and Rebecca, the only two members of the U.K.’s Slow Club, are in fact from the U.K. The songs featured on their debut album, Yeah, So, deliver the sort of creaky-floorboard “Momma, fetch the milk pail” folk-rock you would expect from a band who grew up shucking corn and listening to old Johnny Cash albums, which maybe they did.
“It Doesn’t Have to Be Beautiful,” the first song on the album that really grabs you by the belt loops, has a rockabilly feel to it with twangy guitar and Rebecca’s modest yet perfect drumming. In this song, the two join in on singing, “It was fun while it lasted/’Cause nothing ever does/Love has lost its meaning/It was wasted on us.” The rest of the album falls in line with the bittersweet, simple songwriting illustrated here, and although it doesn’t shout, it whispers loud enough to be a memorable keeper.
