I’ve been a fan of quirky creative French lad Supersonic Boy (Tom) for a couple of years now, so I cannot let the release of his debut album Welcome To The Underground pass by, although I’m fashionably late to the party once again.

There is a sheer pleasure of emotion pulsing behind Welcome To The Underground. I feel the sheer joy of creating music in this album, and it threads through and rewards in every track.

Whatever you might think, you won’t help but love that infectious, unashamed pleasure which bounds out at you. That gives the album a vital living pumping heart and I can’t help but adore this collection.

There’s a massive range of influences in Welcome To The Underground. Vocally Supersonic Boy reminds me of the classic punk sardonic delivery of Pete Perrott (of the Only Ones). That mix of excitement in music making and that dark toxic vocal delivery is a delicious dish of chalk and cheese.

Purist and Proud has the ear for a banger right from The Libertines. The subject matter of the song where music is all, chimes a chord. As does A World Without Music, where Tom tells us he feels alone without music, in a particularly catchy and bouncy way. I hear and feel you brother.

Pieces of Nature has a hound dog nihilistic delivery which kind of reminds me of the Stones (the Rolling ones), in others like Pieces of Nature there is a late 70’s euro disco echo of Giorgio Morridor. Mad People is perhaps the track that has taken off from this collection, a piece of weird dark dance, where it seems your house party has been taken over by mad people living it up for the moment.

There’s always something of the dramatic theatre with Supersonic Boy; you always get a full performance.

I love the updated version of Treasure Island, as it gives a good feel for how Tom’s music has developed over the past couple of years; from lockdown sparse, this is a full sounding complex beast of a track. There’s a nice blend with a banging beat and some nice twiddly musical bits to keep it interesting.

While the musical world is busy, spare a bit of space for Supersonic Boy; this is an album well worth an explore.

* words by Tiggerligger

* images from Supersonic Boys own socials