Their début full-length, Ride With Me, manages to get pretty close to these goals. Opener ‘Glass Matters’ has a Britpop vibe, that sort of radio-friendly gaiety of 90s guitar band, while the vocals lend the song a kooky, unconventional edge. This peculiarity continues with the title track, a blend of who-gives-a-damn lyrics and spiky guitar solos delivered in a manner difficult to peg, Pavement meets the original post-punk generation. The irregular aspect in toned down for ‘Monarchy’, a buoyant song where the guitars are sparkling and the percussion sharp and the vocals like one big promise, all melded together like a declaration of hope.

‘Thank You’ changes the tone again, sounding like a shoegaze song covered by a 70s garage band, while ‘Real Good Time’ and ‘Touch a Tiger’ are slow and atmospheric, the percussion tempered behind shimmering, psychedelic guitars. The guitars pick up again for ‘Hometown’, the song swinging toward the pop-punk end of the spectrum with heartfelt lyrics of hometowns and halcyon youth.

The final songs see another change of direction. ‘Mennonites’ is jangly and carefree, almost straying into ska-punk territory with the bouncy guitars and half-sung, half-spoken lyrics, but the three closers (‘Chiko’, ‘Finnish Prisons’ and ‘Dirty Wedding) flick between grungey rock and moody punk, reminiscent of the weirder Japandroids material if it switched out the raw noise for something more idiosyncratic and quirky.

You can buy Ride With Me now from the Table People Bandcamp page.

P.S. Table People are part of the Loose Union collective, which you should check out.

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