Just Mustard - WE WERE JUST HERE

The ability of Irish shoegazers Just Mustard to weave magic via an admirable command of sonic texture has been known for some time now, given the enviably steep rise that preceded their 2022 second album ‘Heart Under’, for one. This time around, for its follow-up, they’ve turned their (still-downward) gaze somehow at once inward and out, creating a record that’s - for the most part - as mentally claustrophobic as it is indebted to the rhythm, pace and environs of the night. It’s best showcased in the title track, on which a pacing drum pattern competes with heavily distorted guitars and a hypnotic vocal refrain from Katie Ball to present a track pitched perfectly in the centre of a Joy Division to LCD Soundsystem spectrum, all the dark, bassy echoes of the former dancing to the latter’s disco beat. ‘SILVER’, meanwhile, contrasts a stronger, more direct vocal against a soothing rhythm section, its near-motorik repetition evocative of a midnight drive lit only by the coming and going of motorway lights.


Elsewhere, it’s a push-pull between the light and dark that ties together ‘WE WERE JUST HERE’: the cacophony of distortion that drives opener ‘POLLYANNA’ contrasts with the softness of Katie’s vocal; and the whirring guitar squall of ‘ENDLESS DEATHLESS’ stands stark against her naïve delivery on the track. Better still, Katie’s ghostly presence on ‘THAT I MIGHT NOT SEE’ is met with pummelling, almost metal drums and layered, screaming guitars - a whole goth mood, if there ever was one. This formula doesn’t always work - ‘DANDELION’ is pleasant if forgettable among the maelstrom elsewhere, and the sadness of ‘SOMEWHERE’ threatens to sink into lethargy, but overall, third time is largely lucky for Just Mustard.