Forth Wanderers ‘Slop’

Olivia here. As you may have noticed, the news and social media has been saturated by the appointment of Dr Evil as the president elect of the United States, but I don’t want to talk about that anymore. Instead I’d like to talk about my morning commute. My journey to the Killing Moon office, whilst long and often delayed, is usually relatively pleasant, or as pleasant as crossing the Thames can be. Today was different. Today was the day that Man In The Blue Anorak decided to strike up a conversation with me. Now, any Londoners out there will know that there is an unspoken code of conduct on the underground, the first rule being not to make conversation beyond what is ABSOLUTELY necessary – for example, to mumble your apologies as you push past people loitering by the doors (also unacceptable). Even then, use with caution. However, Man In The Blue Anorak disagrees, in fact, he spits on the invisible code of conduct. So begins my story. Having sat down next me, Man In The Blue Anorak waits a beat, then turns to me, points at my phone and says ‘Is that a Samsung?‘, before shoving his own phone in my face to compare the size. Grateful to get a seat at all on a busy train, I smile and politely reply to his many queries and observations about my mobile phone. BIG mistake. This sets Man In The Blue Anorak off into a series of personal questions, each more creepy than the last: “Where do you live?”, “Where are you going?”, ” You’re so young aren’t you?”, “What does your boyfriend do?”, etc. With each question he leans in closer, invading my personal space, somehow oblivious to my one word responses and my eyes darting around the carriage, looking for someone to acknowledge my clear discomfort. When we both alighted at the same stop, I waited a few minutes on the platform so that I could escape him. This is where the first rule of the underground code of conduct is meant to broken. If you see someone who is being made uncomfortable, please intervene. Pretend you know them, offer them a seat next to you, just please don’t act like it’s not happening. I know this is not the worst thing that has ever happened to someone on a tube, but nevertheless I still left the station with sweaty palms and feeling a little upset. Anyway, this left me craving music that’s soothing, which I found in New Jersey natives Forth Wanderers. Taken from their EP set for release on the 11th November, ‘Slop’ has fast become a favourite, not least because of its slacker rock mood and lyrics like ‘I know I’m weird/ I’ve been told’, which speaks to me on a deeply personal level. With howling block harmonies and guitar in intricate, almost Baroque counterpoint to singer Ava Trilling’s crooning girl next door vocal, there’s a lot to love about this track. An anthem for the ‘weird girl’ and proof that there is still good in America.