This Could Be Texas

This Could Be Texas is the first and at the moment only album by indie rock band English Teacher. As Allmusic critic Marcy Donelson wrote: "chaotic, poignant, pretentious, fascinating, and thoroughly entertaining despite or because of it all.". The band is live also a fantastic experience and what's not to love about the front lady with the magnificent voice and great personality.

This was a surprise to see added. I discovered the band just after the album released in April 2024 and have been a big fan ever since. I've seen them live 3 times and been fortunate to meet them as well and even have a signed setlist. So of course I love this album! Now do I think it should be included? I really don't think so since I don't think it's doing anything super unique or distinct. It's really good and I love the songs but this style is already adequately covered by the list. It's really good and I recommend the band to people but I don't think it's essential. My personal rating: 5/5 My rating relative to the list: 5/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No

Platonic ideal of a Mercury Prize winner? Seems so, especially winning over Charli xcx. One hears such an effort as this and thinks the "kids are all right" – any maybe better than all right as keepers of the indie rock flame. This is just terrific, arty and dream without being subsumed by those attributes or aspirations. Better because more balanced-seeming than Dry Cleaning and Fontaines DC, on par with BCNR but very much in that realm. The Silversun Pickups vibe (or maybe one means Blonde Redhead) on the second cut is strong and shows positive chopsiness while the rest tof the record excels the promise of those one-hit-wonder-y acts. It rocks but also breathes and contemplates: the brooding "Sideboob" might be the best cut. Vocals are great – vaguely resonant of Siouxsie in terms of intensity. Song (and title) like "Mastermind Specialism" sugggest the audience, who will self-select. "Broken Biscuits" suggests a prog-y future (as does the cover image). The truisms include not everybody getting to go to outer space (and that's okay) and the voice not being right for R&B and blame the council not the rain. Basically no filler -- so an extremely strong debut -- like the Sundays in that sense. Love the band name, but less sure about the album title – what might this Leeds lot know from the Lone Star state? Overall, first-rate modern rock – and so excellent choice, recommender, and thanks for giving a new entry to the genre one likes best.

This was among my favourite albums of 2024, and returning to it now it's even better than I remembered. That doesn't happen often enough. There's a working class wit and directness in Lily Fontaine's lyrics that just sits well with me. Sharp, personal, political without being preachy, and occasionally very funny. But it's the music that keeps pulling me back. Especially the bass playing is outstanding throughout, melodic and driving simultaneously, giving the songs a sounds that most indie rock simply doesn't have. Combine that with the guitar jangle and the precise, ticking rhythms and it lands somewhere unexpected. Different and cool in equal measure. Yes, it's only from 2024 and perhaps we should give albums a little more time before submitting them to a list like this. But this is, I think, one that might endure.

Nice! Never heard of this group before but really dig this sound!

I hate to judge an album by its cover, but... I expect to enjoy this, based on how it looks Nearly twenty albums that won the Mercury Prize (winnable by artists in the UK and [allegedly] Ireland) ended up in the original 1001; two more including this one made its way on the user list. The subgenre of "sprechgesang in a British accent" seems to be doing wonders in music journalism right now (or "sprechgesang in an Irish accent" in Fontaines D.C.'s case). But This Could Be Texas proves to be a lot more than that, with all kinds of genres and moods getting explored. I have yet to decide when an album's identity crisis is a problem (case in point: the Beatles' The Beatles [1968]. One of my favourite albums ever). But this has been one of the more enjoyable examples, and especially forgiveable seeing as they're just starting out HL: "Mastermind Specialism", "Not Everybody Gets to Go to Space", "R&B", "Nearly Daffodils", "Sideboob" July 5, 2026

English Teacher's debut *This Could Be Texas* starts with quite low stakes on a musical level, with the very atmospheric "Albatross". Lyrically speaking, said stakes are conversely very high from the get-go -- but more on that later when we address the songwriting chops of the Leeds band's frontwoman Lily Fontaine... By the time the next three cuts surge from your speakers ("The World's Biggest Paving Slab", "Broken Biscuits" and "I'm Not Crying, You're Crying"), there's no beating around the bush, though: on a purely musical standpoint, this band slaps like very few other ones in the post-punk / indie-rock circuit (British or otherwise). Terrifically dynamic, catchy as hell for the genre, and yet unafraid of taking daring twists and turns if need be, those bangers do everything you can hope for in a band like that. Which makes English Teacher one of the most promising quote-unquote "rock" acts coming out of England nowadays. Not only was the Mercury Prize they received for this debut fully deserved, for once, but it also points towards many good things to come for this Yorkshire act if they can manage to navigate their way into broader popular success... The next batch of three songs, "Mastermind Specialism", "This Could Be Texas" and "Not Everybody Gets to Go to Space", returns to far more atmospheric tones and moods, and yet remains 100% dynamic somehow, thanks to insanely good instrumental build-ups owing to those sorts of minimalist or post-minimalistic arrangements also used by other current English bands such as Black Country New Road, or thanks to a sprinkling of more unhinged intents close to Black Midi. English Teacher still retain their idiosyncratic voice throughout, though. And the production of Marta Salogni -- one of the best up-and-coming producers in the last decade -- emphasizes the strengths of their music in all the right ways. After that atmospheric patch, "R&B" and "Nearly Daffodils" return to the full banger intensity of that earlier trio of highlights in the tracklist. The second cut among those two has an infectious and oh-so-lively rhythm section, along with genius melodic ideas. "R&B" is also extremely catchy. In that one song, Lily Fontaine settles the score with prejudiced actors in the music business trying to pigeonhole her into a category because of the colour of her skin. There's also a quick shot-out to the American indie rock radio station KEXP, who certainly can't be accused of that given how progressive they are (it's funny because English Teacher later played there). And if the lyrical contents of this particular song are more straightforward than the rest of the album's lyrics, they still prove that Fontaine is a rare talent for words and striking images. And the more Lily goes into full-blown idiosyncratic expression means, the better it gets. As quite surreal, oblique and cryptical as those lyrics are, there's a real poetic force to them. The ones in the title-track, for instance, suggesting the awful feelings experienced by the author about the slow descent of England into a fascistic mindset... It's all very artful and subliminal. Yet there's no denying that Lily has things to say, and is dedicated to find the best or most striking literary turns of phrases to convey her ideas and personal emotions... After those two highlights, Fontaine uses auto-tune for the slower yet still bouncy "The Best Tears of Your Life", and the idea works against all odds. "You Blister My Paint" and "Sideboob" then follow one another. Honestly, I feel like they're two quite inert slow compositions that should have been cut from the tracklist -- and if you did so you would have a 11-song LP whose length would be perfectly reasonable (move "Not Everybody Gets to Go to Space" in that exact spot, and you will get a perfectly-paced tracklist). Fortunately, closer "Albert Road" offers a great capper, with one final intense build-up that stops short just as the album itself abruptly ends. English Teacher are strikingly good for that sort of trick, and I hope they keep on exploring those types of musical ideas in the years to come. So that's it. Excellent album overall. The slower patch of songs right in the middle of the tracklist may sound a little weird on first listens, but they absolutely deserve subsequent spins to fully reveal their wonders. And there are at least five bangers that automatically slap in the tracklist. I hesitated to give a 4/5 - 9/10 mark to this record because of its very little flaws, but f*ck it. This band deserves to be more famous than they are today. So they're gonna join my 5-star gallery (I want to show a little support here). Is it because my real job in life is actually being an... English teacher? Lol, maybe. But the large majority of Lily Fontaine and her three pals' "lessons" are too stellar for me not to notice them. Looking forward to studying their next curriculum... 4.5/5 for the purposes of this list dedicated to essential albums, rounded up in 5 9.5/10 for more general purposes (5 for the musicianship and production values + 4.5 for the artistry) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 123 (including this one) Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 143 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 316 ---- Salut Émile, Tu pourras lire ma dernière réponse sous le *Little Criminals* de Randy Newman. A+.

OK so the album art. Basic English countryside (nicely rendered to be fair) plus ... a not quite Dali guitar? If one of the sheep and a guitar accidentally wound up in the pod from The Fly? Given that and the fact that the sharer hasn't finished the list, which is an unfortunate bias I've admitted to before, I went into this album with the entirely wrong mindset. Nonetheless it won me over by the second song. Absolutely loved the whole album. Singing, talking, music, dissonance, lyrics. Not groundbreaking or foundational, but absolutely enjoyable.

As the album started, I was not getting a great vibe from the first few tracks. The vocalist seemed a bit affected in the delivery, and the songs felt a bit same same, not a lot of variety in the style. I'm glad I stuck with it. It got quite a bit more interesting about a third of the way through, much more range, different instrumentation, some harmonies that were cool. The five star scale is limiting, but generally I give a four to anything I think I want to listen to again, and so I'll give this four stars.

Should’ve been the last dinner party’s mercury prize

I'm typically a fan of Windmill scene bands, however English Teacher don't have much identity of their own. They obviously take parts from their peers, you have art punk, post rock, and even BC,NR style chamber pop, but none of it is done particularly well. I found the post-rock songs to be the better songs on the album though. There is a bright spot in English Teacher's style, and that is the poetry that infects some of the song. I'm guessing the front-woman of the band is a poet in her spare time, and I found the more poetic songs, such as Broken Biscuits to be the more interesting parts of the album. It does suffer a little from that "we're so British and quirky" style of lyrics that infect so many of these bands, including BC,NR, but the potential is there. The album could have been better if they leaned into that aspect instead of trying to chase the trendier bands. Should it be on the main list: No Top 3 songs: "I'm Not Crying, You're Crying", This Could Be Texas, Albert Road

Cover: 5/5 I don't know what I'm looking at exactly and that's what makes it intriguing. This album proves that there are so many artists and albums out there that deserve to be discovered. I never heard of them before and think the album is really great.

Wow, I really had no expectations going into this, even though Spotify had trickled a single track into my life in 2021, 2025 and March 2026. Albatross (one of my favourite birds) grabbed me from the start. Every track after that engrossed me more and more. Definitely putting this on my play-again-soon list.

Sometimes Fiona Apple, sometimes Lambrini Girls, sometimes quirky, sometimes genuine. I really loved every aspect of this.

Indie rock out of Britain's most recent batch of guitar music makers. And it won the Mercury Prize! This could've easily been added in the book's next edition. Consistently engaging throughout the entire runtime, English Teacher runs the gambit of groovy post-punk, meditative post-rock, and energetic art punk. Complimenting this incredible songwriting is vocalist Lily Fontaine, who's lovely singing (and presumably lyricism) gives This Could Be Texas it's emotional weight that is best analogous to Thom Yorke's work on OK Computer and Kid A. All of this is packaged in a rich production that highlights all the best that the band has to offer. Perhaps some of the finest modern indie rock that the 2020s has on tap. CONTENDER FOR THE LIST: Probably, given it won the Mercury Prize!

Favorite Track: The World’s Biggest Paving Slab

New to me, I enjoyed this

I've been staring at this album cover for about 15 minutes trying to figure out what the hell this blob is supposed to be and I have made no progress. On first glance I thought it was some sort of bone or an ear based on the shading. But then theres sort of a guitar neck sticking out of the top right, and a splash of flesh color to the bottom left that are confusing me. This kind of reminds me of Water From Your Eyes (particularly I'm Not Crying, You're Crying). Made for some slid indie rock -- really enjoyed Not Eveybody Gets to Go to Space and R&B. Kind of lost focus through the back half. Probably somewhere in the 4 range.

Really digging this so far. Kinda reminds me of some Wet Leg in a way. KEXP shoutout in R&B! Is this a shapeshifter on the cover? This was a cool sounding one. Really liked it towards the beginning and it fell off towards the end, but still a solid 4.

Really good. I've added them to my collection

This was a great surprise. I do not know exactly why, but the album really caught my attention from the start to its end.

Good modern rock of the indie/post-punk/alternative variety. The spoken word vocals remind me of Florence Shaw

First thoughts: This sounds like every indie band everywhere. Then you hear her voice and think, she has a lovely voice. Then you start to really listen to the songs - the depth, the maturity, the beauty. It's so good. This will be going into my regular rotation. 4 stars.

I’m don’t remember ever hearing of English Teacher, which is odd, because I know I was scoping out a lot of ‘best of’ lists that year, since Cowboy Carter and Only God Was Above Us Came out that year. Regardless, I have no clue what to expect from this album, but I’m excited to check out something recent that wasn’t even on my radar. This wound up being a really solid album. I really enjoyed how the songs on this album developed, and I thought the way that the band arranged the instruments was really interesting. I really liked that they used a harmonium and synthesizers, and the way they incorporated those elements with the guitar playing was really good. At times, this album really reminded me of Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road. This album had plenty of good songs on it; “The World’s Biggest Paving Slab,” “Broken Biscuits,” “This Could Be Texas,” “R&B,” and “The Best Tears of Your Life” were all really good, and each one offered up something different to the album as a whole. While I enjoyed this album, I don’t think it’s something I'd come back to. While I liked the band’s sound, I didn’t think they really offered up anything particularly new or innovating. On top of that, the songs that didn’t stand out to me felt a bit like filler, and I felt my interest in this album oscillating quite a bit over the course of its fifty minutes. I still think it was really good, but I’d just personally gravitate towards something else if I were in the mood for some indie rock. I think this was a cool contribution to the user list though; as an American, I often forget about the Mercury Prize, so this was a nice way for me to branch out.

Reminded me of a lot of things, along the late 90s, 2000s/2010s spectrum of American indie rock. But it had its own sound. Less enamored with the spoken wordish stuff as opposed to the actual singing, but I generally liked this pretty well.

It's alright, but there's so many Windmill Scene albums that I would add before this one.

Kate Bush vibes? Kinda cutesy but not so much I wanted to turn it off.

When these songs are in the pocket, it's really good. But it's just not in there enough.

Too many songs are ruined by talking or sing-talking lyrics. It lays bare the Courtney Barnett impression. But, some good songs by a great vocalist.

Quirky and varied- some tracks hit me better than other. Nice to see something different being tried.

Decent enough, like a hybrid of Ooberman, Roddy Woomble and Self Esteem. But if this is the best album of 2024, it must have been a pretty quiet year in British music.

Awesome

Enjoyed this LP when it came out a few years ago, incredibly ambitious for a debut LP with some killer instrumentals and overall lyrical focus. Not every swing connects artistically (there's definitely an issue with repetitive refrains/choruses and the album runs about 10 minutes too long), but I'd rather a new band aim for the stars than play it safe. Excited to see what this outfit puts together for their sophomore release, even a little bit of editorial polish would put this album in high-4 territory.

Rating: 6/10 Best songs: I’mm not crying you’re crying

huh, for some reason I'd got it in my head that that "R&B" song was Wet Leg. These guys are good. Will they stand the test of time and deserve to be on this list? IDK

5/10. I thought at the start that I might like this, and ended up feeling pretty neutral.

Okey-dokey indie alt folks I'm good. These are fine thanks

One of the standard indie rock configurations.

Indie rock. Ni fu ni fa.

While i am enjoying the resurgence of this style of uk post punk music, this band just haven’t clicked with me yet. I’m sure they might in the future.

Some more Windmill Scene stuff. Good but ultimately pretty unremarkable. An extra shiny 3/5.

I may give this another listen. It was ok.

Fine 3

Well it's definitely as boring as Texas. Almost.

It’s been 24 hours and I can’t remember it. Just had a little recap and I think I didn’t hear what was special about this. Sorry.

This Could Be Texas is the sort of alt-indie bollocks I really don't like, some middle-class kids 'trying to find themselves' making art rock that isn't original or interesting or good, but it ticks the pretentious tickboxes and voila, here's a career. Anyway it's just boring, she's either doing spoken word or mumbling in a poorly-mixed vocal track, scrapes a 2 because objectively it isn't absolutely shit, I just can't stand this style of music.