This Could Be Texas

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.