Pleasureland Reviews
Razorcake
This Welsh band is back with its fourth album, seven years after its last effort, Send More Bees. Whilst the musical blueprint still retains the ’90s indie rock quality the band has maintained since the beginning, Pleasureland adds a darker, noisier layer to the proceedings. There are still more than enough moments of catchy tunes coming to the fore, but this additional element has me considering this record as the band’s high point so far. Tom Willecome’s vocals are soulful, unhurried, and perfect for the melancholic offerings. This record also sees the recording debut of Tom’s daughter Heather, a.k.a. The Hurricane, on the glorious “The Hurricane Takes the Wheel.” Anyone with a penchant for ’90s-influenced indie rock should jump aboard the Bedford Falls train, as this band nails that sound and does so with aplomb. –Rich Cocksedge (Brassneck, brassneckrecords.bigcartel.com / Engineer, label@engineerrecords.com, engineerrecords.com)
Thoughts Words Actions Blog
Few bands wear their influences as well as Bedford Falls. For over two decades, the Cardiff-based quartet has been crafting music that bridges the anthemic vibes of eighties college rock, the contemplative openness of emo, and the infectious liveliness of nineties indie. Their latest album, Pleasureland, released on October 4, 2024, continues that legacy yet it does it in a bold refined way, acting as a distillation of everything that makes their music compelling. It’s a record that hums with natural emotion and musical precision, proving once again that Bedford Falls is a band still at the peak of its powers.
It’s nearly mindblowing how Pleasureland feels immediate. This isn’t a record that demands multiple listens to be appreciated, but a masterpiece that grabs you from the first spin. But with each repeat, new details emerge. A subtle harmony tucked behind a chorus, a guitar line that shifts slightly in its repetition, a bass run that locks in with the drums at just the right moment. It’s an album that cites attention without requiring it, as suited for an introspective listen on headphones as it is for blasting through speakers at full volume. And yet, for all its energy and intricacy, Pleasureland never feels predictable or overly planned. There’s an organic quality to it, a sense that these songs weren’t labored over but lived through. That authenticity is what makes Bedford Falls such a magnificent band and what makes this album one of their best. It’s a record built on feeling, on instinct, on the kind of chemistry that only comes from years of making music together.
Send More Bees Reviews
Razorcake
Bloody hell, it’s hard to believe that it’s been six years since Bedford Falls released its last album, the wonderful Elegant Balloons. That is a lifetime to many bands, but Send More Bees is just the third long player in sixteen years from this Welsh-based outfit. The wait is worth it though, as the intervening years have seen the band add a touch of Americana into its work, to sit neatly alongside the undeniable influence of Superchunk and Hüsker Dü. The big guitar sound still resonates loudly whilst cymbals crash noisily, but it’s frequently countered by a dose of melancholy via Tom Willecome’s vocals. Another wonderful collection of songs. –Rich Cocksedge
It has become clear to me that we are living in a resurgence of the music of the ‘90s. While many may blanch at the thought, I’m alright with it. Bedford Falls must be happy. The Welsh band has been around for fifteen years, but their heartfelt Replacements meets Lemonheads delivery is probably sounding fresher than it has in years. Let me put it this way; when I was eighteen, I would most likely be listening to this non-stop. When I was twenty-two I would have shunned it because it wasn’t “punk” enough. Today (at forty-four, if you’re keeping track) I only separate music into stuff I like, and stuff I don’t and I really like Bedford Falls. –Ty Stranglehold
Welsh dudes who’ve apparently been around for some time. They’re convincing enough—this is a pensive, morose batch of songs that hearken back to ‘90s indie guitar pop shit without sounding cloying or kowtowing. It’s a bummer of a record, dense with atmosphere, and all in all it sounds pretty good. –Keith Rosson
Ibuywaytoomanyrecords Blog
Send More Bees is Bedford Falls’ third album, but for whatever reason it’s the first one of theirs that I’ve heard. No matter how much I’d like to think I stay on top of things, at least within the genre of music I tend to like the most, bands like this still slip through the cracks. I’m not entirely sure how I’ve missed Bedford Falls until now, but I’m happy to be correcting that problem at last.
Bedford Falls are playing a slow burning slice of the fuzzed out bliss of bands like Superchunk, but with a lower key take on the proceedings. The bulk of the songs take mid tempo pace to allow the vocals melodies and lyrical imagery to really take hold. Taking a more measured approach does give everything a bit more room to breathe and some of the songs flourish in this atmosphere.
If there’s a criticism, it’s that the first batch of songs tend to somewhat blend together a bit, but it also makes the songs were Bedford Falls step on the gas, like “Reason To Believe” and “Defeat Artist” stand out more. These songs take on a dynamic, Starmarket-like feel and the energy builds and the vocals have a focused urgency to them. I do tend to prefer the faster ones at the end of the day and wish there were a few more over the course of the album. Still, when Bedford Falls are on, they are really on and it’s an album absolutely worth checking out.
Elegant Balloons Reviews
A Sound Reaction
THIS week’s column is your veritable game of two halves – two diametrically opposed outfits both possessing a sense of emotional intuition but delivered in markedly different ways.
First up a band causing a joyful, raucous ruckus.
If you, like me, hold a check shirted fondness for the driving alt-rock of ’90s powerhouses such as Husker Du and Buffalo Tom, then you’ll not only adore Cardiff outfit Bedford Falls, you’ll want to clutch their new album Elegant Balloons to your collective hearts.
Reading their roll call of alt-rock influences Superchunk, The Replacements, Guided By Voices, Sugar, Dinosaur J, The Posies, and Nirvana tells you exactly where they’re at.
The adrenalin charge of opener Cunningham – all chiming Orange Crush-era REM chords sets the tone for an album that never wavers from its path. Namely that of straight up, eyes on the road, gear stick shifting melodic rock.
Singer Tom Willecome’s grizzled deep as a mineshaft vocals resonate throughout a collection of passionate songs that are both thrilling and enthralling.
Highlights Summerdress, Disappointment, and Crockherbtown (named after the long forgotten area of Cardiff city centre) recall the blue collar rock ‘n’ roll of The Hold Steady, but also reverberate neatly with scratchy echoes of Green On Red, The Dream Syndicate and The Rain Parade.
While there is little deviation from formula, there doesn’t need to be. This is an album that has a strident purpose and a resolute sense of focus.
It maybe five years since they delivered their debut long player Savings and Loan , but thanks to their hook-laden, barnstorming follow up, we can only hope their next opus takes marginally less longer to turn up.
Consider our appetites firmly whetted. Dave Owens
ClashMusic
Piss-easy, this songwriting lark. Handful of chords, catchy melody, some words that don’t sound too daft… et voila! You’ve got yourself a song, with little to no rocket science involved. So why do so many bands get it so wrong? Maybe there’s something in this ‘talent’ notion that gets passed around so much.
Happily, Cardiff quartet Bedford Falls are unafflicted by trivialities such as duff tunes. After a decade on the DIY punk rock scene, their second album Elegant Balloons is ready to drop via the ever-excellent Boss Tuneage stable, and it’s pretty darn excellent.
Packing the hefty punch of Hüsker Dü’s finest works, it’s a record that fizzes and pops with the tuneful rush of prime Buffalo Tom – not to mention REM’s melancholic panache. Good old-fashioned college rock at its finest, basically.
The album was written in a burst of post-tour enthusiasm, following a jaunt around the US with like-minded Buffalo, NY types Failures’ Union, and sure enough the there’s an audible sense of gleeful purpose to the twelve songs contained therein.
You can get your hands on ‘Elegant Balloons’ from August 27th, but you can hear the storming opener ‘Cunningham’ right now. Sauntering out of the tracks with graceful confidence, it’s a guided missile heading straight for the hearts of Hold Steady fans everywhere.
Room Thirteen
Cardiff based indie/punk-rock trio Bedford Falls have some great, catchy tunes on this new album Elegant Balloons – there is a real 90s feel here, reminiscent of bands like Sugar, with their chuggy punk edged alt-rock, and perhaps, to a degree, Husker Du also spring to mind. Cunningham opens the album – it’s a great way to start, throwing you an instantly catchy chorus and some great female backing vocals to round things out.
The quality stays high throughout, second track in Prick is also another bouncy tune but with a line in mildly pissed off lyrics which focuses your attention nicely. Connor has a rich and full sound, warm and all encompassing guitars fill out another memorable tune and this is followed with Burgundy which to my mind has a Wedding Present edge – a jangly guitar sound and upbeat feel backed by heartfelt lyrics. Another highlight is the fast paced but slightly melancholic edge of Disappointed which is a great sing long track, but it feels pointless picking favourites as honestly there aren’t really any low moments; the album has been well constructed and chugs along nicely from start to finish.
Actually, it’s really good to hear some solid and straight forward melodic rock songs for a change – assured, warm riffs, heartfelt and down-to-earth lyrics and beats you can move to, all played with a mature and comfortable air which makes you feel instantly at ease – it’s guaranteed that minutes in to the album you’ll find yourself bouncing along and singing back Tom’s great vocal lines. We can also recommend catching this lot live, they sound just as good and won’t disappoint.
Razorcake
I really liked this a whole bunch. Bedford Falls sounds like a British version of late-‘80s early-‘90s melodic punk-derived rock’n’roll the likes of later-era Hüsker Dü, Moving Targets, the Lemonheads after they were punk but before they went totally hippy-dippy, the Goo Goo Dolls after they were punk and before they made their sappy, watered-down fortune, and Hang Time-era Soul Asylum. (Sound of dead horse being flogged.) It’s been a long time since I’ve heard a new record that can pull off this sound without sounding derivative or tributary, and BedfordFalls accomplishes that difficult task. Me want more. –The Lord Kveldulfr
Savings and Loan Reviews
New Noise
Lovely stuff this, like The Lemonheads or Leatherface or something J Robbins has got his wonderfully grubby hands on, but only, y’know, from Cardiff. By their own admission ‘Savings And Loan’, the second album from Bedford Falls, is made up of emo melancholy and sad songs about girls, but with songs like the super-melodic ‘Slowdancing’, the fizzy, catchy spark of ‘Paperbacks’, and the touching sway of ‘Temperancetown’ on their side, it’s easy to forgive them sounding a little soppy sometimes. Sadly, in today’s fickle, mindless, and mega-money-orientated music business, the Bedford boys will have to fight hard to go far beyond the valleys, but in a perfect world these songs would be on your radio every single day. Superb.
SubbaCultcha
Bedford strides on this evidence
This rather nifty Cardiff-based band first came to my attention with a couple of the better moments on a label sampler from the great (and much missed) Newest Industry label which were tuneful and heartfelt in the vein of old-school, pre-success Lemonheads or latter-day Husker Du. Now they’re onto their debut album, “Savings And Loan”, which continues in a similarly delicious vein.
The disc itself is worth a mention as it’s been made up to look like a vinyl record – very fitting and something I’m surprised you don’t see more often. The real joy about this band are the songs though – simple, no-frills rock tunes which soar and descend with searing emotion and true soul.
I’ve recently noted that there are a few signs that the UK’s melodic punk scene – which Bedford Falls overall probably just about fit in with – is beginning to undergo a revival. It’s a long way back to the glory days of the last decade when the likes of Snuff and Leatherface ruled the roost – but if we’re producing bands of this quality, the omens are good. Well worth investigating further. – Eddie Thomas