One of the basic rules of life is that you should never, ever agree with Phil Jupitus. Ever.

It’s up there with not running with scissors and not ramming wet forks into toasters. From that rubbish caveman sitcom he did a few years ago on ITV to his awful facial hair, Phil Jupitus is clearly not a man to be trusted, and we have lived our lives abiding very firmly to that rule.

Until he made the single Rotten Love by Levy the Single Of The Week on his BBC Radio 6 show, that is. Because, as much as it pains us to say, we agree with him. Worse, the album’s even better.

Levy is a four-piece band from New York who have been together for
almost two years. James Levy was a regular performer at the Sidewalk
Cafe in East Village where he met bassist James Broughel and guitarist
Matthew Daniel Siskin. Drummer Mike Jones joined later. They’ve cut
their teeth playing with people like Adam Green and The Zutons, and Relevant
Magazine have tipped them as bright stars of the future. And judging by
their debut album – out on Monday – it’s not hard to see why.

Levy make melodic bright-eyed happy/sad guitar pop that sounds both
reassuringly familiar and refreshingly new. Influences are easy to
spot, from Matthew’s Morrissey croon to the My Morning Jacket reverb
dripping from the songs to the hook-filled immediacy of Brendan Benson.

Rotten Love (the album, not the song) is unashamedly simple and pure
- Matthew Levy has spoken about his desire to write songs that
13-year-old want to be able to play, and none of the ten songs here
outstay their welcome by a single note.

Lyrically, it’s an album about the heart, but with a title like
Rotten Love, you can guess that it’s not all flowers and puppydogs.
Sure, there’s hope there – in songs like Rector Street and the wanton
MILFery of On The Dancefloor – but Levy isn’t afraid to explore the
underbelly a bit more. The title song forensically bisects the moments
when a relationship turns sour, and the three-way breakup song Matthew features the line "I’m sorry
that I caused you so much pain," eight times in a row. But crucially, all
the heartache is wrapped up in a jaunty tune that even the most hapless of milkmen could
whistle.

It’s difficult to pick highlights on an album with such high
quality-control as Rotten Love, but In The Woods and
See Saw are the current ear-worms in the batch. No doubt this will
change.

In Rotten Love, Levy have come up with a collection of classic
bittersweet pop songs so full of heart that it almost makes us feel bad for being mean about Phil Jupitus earlier. Almost…

Listen to tracks from Rotten Love at the official Levy website

Search for the cheapest place to buy Rotten Love at Kelkoo.co.uk

[story by Stuart Heritage]