vegas water taxi – long time caller, first time listener
vegas water taxi's latest LP offers a joyful alt-country promise of a social life
Most of us have had enough of winter now. But wait. Shout “Taxi” – here’s a band offering a balmy chink of summery light. vegas water taxi, led by Ben Hambro, have spliced an EP from last year and an EP from last month to form one fantastic LP. long time caller, first time listener, their second album, follows 2023 debut things are gonna be alright and offers a joyful alt-country promise of a social life. Hambro has the sardonic cultural wink of Lou Reed and the melodic ear of The Lemonheads.
The album opens with brat summer, which imagines the police rounding up folk who hadn’t participated in Charli xcx's world with the echo of the guitar line from Five’s Keep on Movin’. Backed by some great steel guitar, chateau photo is about realising you’d been cancelled from your pal group after a break-up; 'She left me for a guy who’s working in PR / He’s putting out a press release that I’m crying in a bar', while the Tom Petty-tinged ozempic (celebrity weight loss anxiety blues) nails the self-image wave; 'If I said I hate my body / Would you hold it against me?' What a ride. We just need some Scottish dates.
Listen to: brat summer, chateau photo, ozempic (celebrity weight loss anxiety blues)