Rec Centre is the hook-heavy project of multi-instrumentalist/writer/all-around polymath Alex Hudson, who in his liner notes gives props to both Enya and the X-Files as major influences while making an album that sounds like neither of those things.
Refreshingly, Monster of the Week features bass guitar as a dominant instrument. Opener “Like I Care” is an assault of fuzzed out bottom end and shoulder-shrugging power pop. The blissed out lone-wolf anthem “Initials” proclaims he’ll “Make my friends believe I’m seeing other people”.
Recorded and performed with frequent collaborator Jay Arner, there are flavours of shimmering C86 pop, soundtrack synth, and big bass rock. This is hook n’ harmony, shimmering indie pop at its finest, with a cool-handed approach to lyrical self-awareness, shouting out what you’ve been thinking all along: “I finally figured out, I don’t wanna be famous / I guess it's just as well, I was never in danger” ("Celebrity Deaths").
Chock-full of Gen-Y anthems, Monster of the Week celebrates a life you’ve chosen, not imitated.
★★★★
