Superorganism, Gorilla. 20th September 2022

The debut album from Superorganism was fantastic. A brilliant dose of glitch pop indie bangers and those early gigs lived up to every bit of the hype. It’s with some sadness then that I’m struggling to get on with World Wide Pop, the follow up. They seem to have smoothed out the edges just a little too much. The production is again wonderful, but I’m really intrigued to see how these new songs land live. They kick off with ‘The Prawn Song’, always a favourite and boy that bass is bouncy. The hooks are infectious as everyone’s heads bob and Gorilla starts to smile. ‘World Wide Pop’ follows and y’know what, it’s okay. It signals the flurry of a few new songs, but it’s obvious that the crowd don’t know the new stuff quite so well. ‘Put Down Your Phone’ is one of the better ones, it’s a bit slower and very catchy. Good advice too! ‘SPRORGNSM’ lands and fuck me it sounds ace. It’s hard not to spot the difference between the two albums though. ‘Night Time’ too is met with a roar of approval. It’s pure disco and the crowd respond accordingly. A proper feel good bliss-filled banger. I’m warming to the new songs though. ‘Black Hole Baby’ is fun and the band look like they’re having a blast, “Explosion!”. ‘It’s All Good’, makes everything feel so. It’s followed by ‘Nobody Cares’ and these two back to back mean it’s bounce around and smile like a loon time. Songs like ‘Flying’ feel like much more straight up pop. Maybe that’s the intention. It’s not for me quite so much, but it’s does make them feel more well rounded and probably a stronger band for it. Who wants a band that just does the same thing all the time!? “Manchester do you like to mosh?” shouts Orono. There’s a little reluctance and my young gig buddy declares “This isn’t going to end well”. It’s not exactly carnage, but it does go off. Orono orchestrating, she’s grown into the front woman role brilliantly. Bizarrely admitting that all the jumping has loosened her underwear. ‘On & On’ might be my favourite of the new songs and feels like it should be a bit further into the set. Certainly not before ‘Solar System’ that strays a little too close to kids TV. The pom-poms are out for set closer ‘Teenager’. This is a weird one, the track sounds awesome but I do find the chorus a bit annoying. ‘It’s Raining’ kicks of the encore. A bouncy little bugger, it sees support Dylan Cartlidge take the stage to join in. Before ‘Something for you M.I.N.D.’, with several fans on the stage blows the roof off. It’s a good set, but I think the previous couple of times I’ve seen them have been better. I’m not giving up on them though, you’d be daft to. I just need to listen to the new stuff some more. I’ll definitely be there next time they’re in town and if you’ve not caught them live yet, do so as soon as possible. Happier music than this is hard to find.