Clean Cut Kid - Felt

Citing The Beatles and Michael Jackson as influences, Clean Cut Kid enjoyed a positive reception after bursting out of Liverpool in 2015. It was their live performances that impressed most, with a set full of gutsy, explosive choruses. Debut ‘Felt’, however, fails to capture what made the Scouse four-piece an exciting prospect in the first place.

Without the raw energy of their live performances, the simplicity of the songwriting is exposed. Sentiments range from loved-up and cuddly (“I’m gonna keep you safe, keep you warm”) to heartbroken (“I’m letting you go/I’m leaving you behind) with little nuance in between – consistently it’s very basic subjects that are explored with no unique or interesting perspective.

Clean Cut Kid do know their way around a power-pop song, but the likes of ‘We Used To Be In Love’ and ‘Time To Let You Go’ are so cliched and overblown they could pass for rejected Journey numbers. Even the more enjoyable cuts like ‘Vitamin C’ and ‘Leaving You Behind’ lack strong enough hooks to become festival favourites.

Having built a reputation on the live circuit, Clean Cut Kid’s debut ‘Felt’ feels like an exercise in taking the raw, gutsy songs from the live sets and polishing them up for the radio. While there are a few festival-rousing choruses in the mix, sadly, the songwriting always comes up short.