New Music: Martha - Precarious (The Supermarket Song) (Video)

Ever since Durham punk-pop upstarts Martha released their second album Blisters in the Pit of My Heart at the beginning of July, not a week has gone by without someone of a more indie / DIY persuasion extolling the virtues of the record on my social media channels (which is basically Twitter and a tiny bit of Instagram). So with all that praise beginning to slow down my broadband, a couple of weeks ago I finally took a listen. 

Guess what? It’s a rollicking romp of a recording, full of energy, witty but personable lyrics and singalong tunes. Sure sometimes it verges into cliché and if you’re a fan of playing ‘spot the guitar riff’ you’ll be able to pick out a few that you’ve probably heard before, but Blisters in the Pit of My Heart is an undeniably euphoric and joyous sounding thing. I can imagine people hollering along to this one as they pogo around their bedrooms. Much like another punk-pop record from earlier this year, Misty Miller’s The Whole Family Is Worried, it stands out because of its sheer tunefulness. It’s easy to understand why readers of websites like Drowned in Sound are taking it to their hearts. 

Remember the Rihanna and Calvin Harris song We Found Love? Well I often wondered where that hopeless place was. I like to think it was in Lidl or Tesco. If it was, then Martha have gone one better and made it very clear, because Precarious (The Supermarket Song) is all about finding love amongst the groceries. It’s chock full of lyrics that will appeal if you can relate to feeling a little bit awkward about romance, life and expressing yourself: “I’m an unexpected item, in your bagging area,” is my favourite. There’s also something very lovely about the way the band sing of desire as well: “You won’t know until you try it, I’m a person, you’re a person, nothing else is really certain, and the evening is still young, let’s get out of here and have some fun.” 

Hurrah for finding love in a hopeless place – this is the band’s new video for the song. Go and take a listen to Blisters in the Pit of My Heart if you haven’t already done so.

Martha - Precarious (The Supermarket Song) (Video)