They say you should never judge a book by its cover. Never has a statement been truer. The somewhat satisfied, large man, drooling burnt sugar from his stubble that wraps this second studio record from Coach Party is quite striking. But it unmistakably links to its impactful title, ‘Caramel’. 

I’ve been really giddy about the follow-up to 2023’s ‘KILLJOY’ since I first heard the release news. I’ve seen Coach Party a handful of times over the years — the first was supporting The Mysterines — and they just nail their sets religiously. 

There are ten songs, coming in at around 30 minutes, to devour on this sophomore album, and we should all be familiar with four of them already. ‘Girls!’, the gnarly, angsty banger, was their initial drop of the campaign, and boy, did it slap. It took all previous bottomless brunch anthems and skyrocketed the vibes to somewhere far more hype-building and just, well, better. I’m not the type for chavvy tunes, fake tan and pornstar martinis (though, of course, each to their own — you’ve gotta brunch your way), but this track is the very, very fun — and heavy — celebration of all things feminine I needed. 

‘Do Yourself A Favour’ is another earworm that’s been on rotation lately. It predates ‘Disco Dream’, and it’s deliciously grungy. Very typical of OG Coach Party, signalling that they’ve grown their sonic capabilities by supercharging them, not by losing their core style. ‘Disco Dream’, however, might even be fuzzier and scuzzier still. It’s got this similar playfulness to ‘Girls!’, but it feels more intense. Maybe even sinister. The ultimate embodiment of when the speakers and strobe lights get a bit much after a few drinks on the dancefloor. So, obviously, it has to be played extra-loud, people.

‘Georgina’ verbalises the frustrations of feeling low and detached from one’s true self. It’s raw but deftly handled and relatable. Then you get ‘Control’, an addictive bop to replay. Ooh, it’s just so animalistic and feisty! And because it’s short yet razor-sharp, I couldn’t help but add it to the week’s release recommendations list. 

The effects they’ve got on the guitars and bass are so raucously distorted throughout that I’m crying out to catch a gig of theirs again, just a few songs in! That said, the slow and shoegazy ‘I Really Like You’ is the sort of easygoing, wistful number you’d imagine from its name — and it breaks up the pace. You’ll also detect a much softer vocal tone to match. But the dreamy, synthy ‘Fake It’ — similar vocals and all — rises to the top by contrast. Again, it’s very classically them. 

‘Medicate Yourself’ is all about papering over the cracks; slinging a tablet down the throat in the aim of cracking straight back on. More than a placebo, but a ticket to recovery — which is, largely, not the way to cope long-term. But it links back to the themes of mental health being rooted beneath the flippancy of the lighter, abundantly joyful topics they also navigate on this record. A nice balance is struck.

Rounding it off is ‘Still Hurts’, where the metallic pedal effects give the strings a different sound entirely. And it works well. It’s one of the calmer tracks on the album until it plunges into mighty, riotous shredding, too, thus tying up ‘Caramel’ with the gusto it deserves.

If you only download one track, let it be: ‘Control’ or ‘Do Yourself A Favour’