Indie outfit BLOXX have returned: their 2020 debut Lie Out Loud earned the four-piece recognition and a core, cult following. Charming hooks and big, festival style riffs made the debut record a superb piece of feelgood indie-pop, and this brand new EP is more of the same.
Indie sleaze is well and truly back and BLOXX are taking full advantage with their relentlessly catchy and summery EP. The riffs and rhythm are filled with sunshine, but the lyrics of the piece are often much more introspective and explore darker themes. Opener and title track Modern Day is a prime example of this: upbeat rhythm and fantastic indie-pop guitar parts are matched with lyrics reeling at the state of modern life.
The chorus will be in your head for weeks, but so will the melancholia of the lyrics, bemoaning people for ignoring pressing issues – ‘Head underwater while the worlds on fire’ is pretty on the nose, but also bang right. These themes are prescient throughout Modern Day, and continue on Television Promises, which takes aim at reality TV, influencers. and the general lust for fifteen minutes of fame. BLOXX have a habit of writing these fantastic, soaring choruses that are just made to be bellowed out – they will be right at home on the euphoric field of a festival, or a sweaty academy. Whist the big choruses are relentlessly upbeat, melancholia runs through the veins of these tunes, and the two colliding elements of BLOXX personally collide to tremendous effect.
Runaway is slightly deviated, following a more electronic lead, but BLOXX pull it off in style, and their knack for those choruses is as prescient as ever. Weight in Gold is the highlight of the piece, with frontwoman and lyricist Ophelia Booth speaking candidly on issues of self-identity, self-esteem and self-worth. This cut is absolutely prime for Radio 1, with the glorious catchiness seeing this song worm its way into your brain for days at a time.
Modern Day is a gorgeous slice of indie-pop, and with only 5 tracks BLOXX leave the listener desperate for more. It’s innately catchy, but you can’t write BLOXX off as your standard pop project. Their songwriting skills are massively apparent, and I challenge any prospective listener to reject their introspective pensive words.
Words by Charlie Brock