Immediately after forming in 2015, fuzzy trio
UV-TV
began finding their sound, one that was abrasive and angsty while still embracing shadowy melodies. Like the best of the early
Slumberland
roster or certain C-86 bands,
buried pop songs under jittery, punky blasts and added disorienting shoegaze ambience to the mix at times just to throw the equation off balance. Their 2017 debut
Glass
was recorded in an unused train station with decidedly lo-fi equipment, adding an even murkier quality to their toothy but hazy sound. Between their first album and 2019's
Happy
, the band relocated from Gainesville Florida to New York. The major life shift of that transition isn't directly apparent in these songs, but the band sound clearer, angrier, and more keenly focused than before. A major production upgrade means the interplay between guitar leads, blazing drums, and subtle acoustic guitar overdubs on exciting album-opener "Hide" aren't lost to blurry fidelity. The song is exceptional, merging the cool detached pop of '80s college rock heroes like
Echo & the Bunnymen
or
Teardrop Explodes
with a supercharged punk energy. The band succeeds similarly on the angular "Mirror" and the sauntering, midtempo "World." Where the bombast of earlier material came across as mere angsty punk,
exposes a wider range of dour emotions. From confusion and frustration on "Inside Out" to the grim perspective of walking through ugly city scenes on "Walk,"
's dissatisfactions are easier to connect with than ever before. Even the driving title track quickly exposes itself as misleading, with singer
Rose Vastola
embodying a fake smile in lyrics "I'm so happy for you, well it's true" before screaming the bitter punchline "I'll tell you, it's just a lot of shit!" The album's nine songs run by in less than half-an-hour, offering up a streamlined sound and some of the band's most infectious songs to date. ~ Fred Thomas