Alpaca Lips – Hey There, Smiley (Album Review)

Hey There, Smiley is the debut album from British-American band Alpaca Lips, which I will admit is a cool name.

The album is very much alternative, emulating a lot of what we’ve heard from the late 90’s to early 2000’s, though with an essence of freshness to it. You can hear this in the opening track “Jacks and Gin”, led by the pulsating rhythm of the bass and further elevated by the high notes on the lead guitar.

The track leads the way as to how most of the album is going to end up sounding, especially with the following track “Accidental Daredevil”, one of the catchiest tracks off the record, and there’s plenty more of those throughout.

Regarding the vocals, I mostly like them. Are they the most impressive? No, but they do the job and fit with what the sound is asking for. I would say that the lead vocals are reminiscent of a grungier version of Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys.

However, I also want to give credit to the backing vocals, which add an extra layer to several tracks that wouldn’t be the same without them.

Guitar work throughout this album is pretty satisfying. It’s usually pretty soft, but you have tracks like “Run Little Rabbit” that shout at your face with its heavy riff. “Tin Man in a Trench Coat” is another cool song that balances being heavy and being laid-back when it needs to, and I have to appreciate the flavor that the electric piano adds to it.

The more acoustic tracks are also great, with “Red Confetti” (one of my favorites) and “Better Down Here”, showing how versatile the band is with playing around with different sounds. However, I think the best guitar moment on the record is on the last track “Diamond from Coal”. It’s a bit ironic, since it’s a piano-driven song, but that guitar towards the end lifts the song (and the album on top of it) to its ethereal conclusion.

As much as I like this record though, I will admit that there are some weak points, particularly towards the end. “Beer Bottle Ocean” is the weakest track here, along with “Bulletproof Skin”; while both songs have good instrumentation, the melodies feel lazy and uninspiring, and the chorus more so. I also found “June” to be a bit of bore, and “Watercolor Racecar”, as much as I like it, feels like a Red Hot Chili Peppers rip-off.

Here are my ratings for each song on a scale of 0-4:

1 Jacks and Gin. 4
2 Accidental Daredevil. 4
3 Bulletproof Skin. 2
4 Red Confetti. 4
5 Tin Man in a Trench Coat. 4
6 Last Troubadour. 4
7 Steal Away. 4
8 Watercolor Racecar. 3
9 Skeleton Tree. 4
10 Beer Bottle Ocean. 2
11 Run Little Rabbit. 3
12 Better Down Here. 4
13 June. 3
14 Diamond from Coal. 4

SCORE/Excellent: For a bunch of lads just starting off, this album is a great effort that brings a breath of fresh air to a saturated genre of music. The band should celebrate this release, and I would advise them to keep moving forward with their career. Now, I should add a bit of caution and not be tempted to go down the same route many indie bands go through. By that, I mean that the band should make music that comes from their hearts, but also keep playing around with what they got. The reason why I like this album is that it doesn’t feel one-dimensional, with most songs on it having their own personality and their own take on the style it’s influenced by. Regardless, I urge the band to keep doing what they’re doing and to promote their music as much as possible. I hope to be hearing the name Alpaca Lips very soon.

[We rank albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]

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