January 18, 2012

Foe - 'Bad Dream Hotline'

This debut doesn’t disappoint

Album Info

Release Date: January 16, 2012
Producer: Entrepreneurs
Label: Vertigo
Fact: The record was mixed by Dan Grech (The Vaccines, Howling Bells) and Mike Crossey (Arctic Monkeys, Foals)

So 21-year-old snot punk grungette Hannah Clark has released her debut album at last, and it doesn’t disappoint. The thrust and sneer of early singles ‘Tyrant Song’ and ‘Genie in a Coke Can’ set the listener up for a tight 12-track record, filled with snide and self-mocking pop culture references, and scuzzy guitar hooks. Surprisingly, there’s a cleaner sound than previously, thanks to longtime producer Entrepreneurs. The standout is surely the beguiling ‘A Handsome Stranger Called Death’. Wurlitzer organs twine around a mirror-view Lily Allen cut, as Clark intones, “Someone save me, I don’t want to be another dead twentysomething or other”.

Ailbhe Malone

Click here to listen to the album in full

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9.6

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