It's Fun to Be Clean

Clean is definitely what this album sounds like. There's nothing lo-fi about The Airfields debut album Up All Night - a record that puts them in a whole new universe from their first ep City-State. It's an icy indiepop sorbet and I'm already convinced this will be my favourite album of the year. It's got everything! If I called Pants Yell!'s latest album their The Boy With the Arab Strap, this is The Airfields' A Certain Smile, a Certain Sadness. The similarity to Rocketship has always been there, but this really is as good as that classic album. And there's no doubt that in a few years it will be just as legendary.

All the songs from the Cloudberry ep from last year are included, so don't worry if you never got a copy of that. They're arguably the best songs here, but it's really hard to make such distinctions. New favourites appear all the time, like the jangle-fest of an opener "Prisoners of Our Love" and the strolling "St. Monday" for which they must have nicked The Clientele's tremolo pedal. And "Happy and Safe" is even bouncier than anything on The Lodgers' Grown-Ups.

I won't upload a song from this album, because it's miles above mp3s, torrents, and filesharing. You need to hear it all in one piece, running your fingers over the beautiful artwork. After all, I wouldn't upload a Rauschenberg bricolage even if it was technically possible. (Besides, there's still a sample on Cloudberry's page in case you don't agree.) Instead here is a song from the Laneways 10", because I'm shocked that the white vinyl version is still available! It's 1) on the best format in the world 2) limited to 300 copies and 3) the silk-screened cover is stunning. Buy it, I tell you.

CLOUD 39 The Airfields - Red Fox