The Cool Greenhouse - "Sod’s Toastie": One of the best of the current "talkie" indie bands

When Tom Greenhouse, vocalist and songwriter of post-punk four- piece The Cool Greenhouse, was seeking out ways to make Sod’s Toastie sound different to the band's 2020 self-titled debut, he thought Al lyrics might do the trick. "I envisaged the record at the beginning as a kind of lyrical Turing test," he says. "Most of the lyrics became mine in the end, but the influence of Al writers still haunts the entire record." 

The Cool Greenhouse set these lyrics - largely spoken- word - to clattering rhythms in a manner that makes them a cross between John Cooper Clarke and indie humorists I, Ludicrous or Half Man Half Biscuit. The band incorporated a variety of disarming sounds, including "wailing amps, crackling synths, circuit-bend processors, radio speakers and megaphones". Subjects covered include "incel memesters", mental health and bad haircuts. There's a lot of humour, but Greenhouse sees this as a defensive reaction to a difficult world. “The lyrics are a lot darker on this record," he says. "Don't you realize your mother would eat you if she was hungry enough?' from ’Get Deluded' is a good example. It's funny, but also pretty dark, but also quite possibly very true. What else can you do but laugh in the face of this realization?"