Constantines

So I wanted to tell you about Constantines because they are kind of my life right now. I’ve had their 2003 album Shine a Light playing non-stop since I discovered them a couple of months ago.

There are a few tracks which, at first listen, might appear a bit pedestrian. The first track is your standard hard rock/punk intro and Young Lions – the only track released as a single from this album – is what you’d expect; a catchy, mellow indie tune, kind of similar in style to the National’s output.

However, delve a little deeper and you find some really great tunes like the title track; a cacophonous delight of smashy guitars and drums. The use of brass instruments in some songs is inspired – particularly in Goodbye Baby and Amen. If you listen to that song and don’t die of heartbreak then, well, I just don’t know anymore. That song is everything to me right now – when the brass kicks in at the 2nd chorus it’s fucking rad man. I even love the experimental jazz-style trumpet tootle which makes me feel like I’m in that episode of The Mighty Boosh, you know the one where the evil jazz cell infects Vince?

Anyway, what this album lacks in structure, it makes for times infinity with amazing songs that make me forgive any issues I had. Insectivora was the song that made me fall in love with the album and that love has only intensified.

Bryan Webb’s voice is brilliant, from Shine a Light's murmured verses, to the inevitable shouty denouement of every song pretty much, to On to You wherein he at times channels the late great Phil Lynott. Some songs sound a bit Foals-y too, in terms of jangly guitar riffs and even vocals. There’s something for everyone!

I just love them, and I’m sure there’ll be some people who read this who’ll love it just as much.

Him & Her

I know a lot of people are already aware of this BAFTA award-winning BBC sit-com, but I still think it is criminally underrated.  Him & Her may have been dismissed by some as being a little uneventful as television goes, but if you stick with it there is so much to enjoy.

Him & Her happens to fall into the exact genre of subtle, character-based comedy I really enjoy so it might not be for everyone - if you like Gavin & Stacey definitely give it a go.

It follows the relationship of Steve and Becky, whose sole aim in life is to stay in their pokey flat, watch telly and have sex - whose isn't? - but a select number of family, friends and neighbours seem intent on sabotaging this plan. Their blindness to the couple's lack of enthusiasm is the source of a lot of humour, particularly Joe Wilkinson's fantastic performance as Dan, their socially inept neighbour who wanders around the flat at the least possible opportune times, sneaking biscuits and swigs of Advocaat.

As brilliant a comedy show Him & Her is, the further into the programme you get the more involved in the characters' lives you inevitably become. The unwavering realism and excellent character development mean that even though nothing much tends to happen, when events like Shelly's outburst in series 3 (and basically every moment of the final series) occur, the viewer is on tenterhooks.

The main catalyst of drama is Becky's sister Laura, played by Kerry Howard, whom I think I hate more than any other fictional character I have ever come across - rivaled only by Professor Dolores Umbridge.

Steve & Becky serve as a beacon of casual and unglamorous, yet aspirational, love. Sarah Solemani is pretty much my hero and Russell Tovey is just great in everything. Yet although they are the eponymous main characters, the real drama comes from the relationships around them. Paul's suppression of his true self and resentment of the hateful Laura; Shelly and Dan's tentative romantic affair; and Laura's relentless bullying of Shelly. On further analysis, the programme reveals itself to be quite a dark, humanistic performance. And the most affecting thing is that these events and feelings are so commonplace. I am always a fan of art which celebrates the nuances of the everyday, and Him & Her embodies that sentiment.

Everything comes to a head in the final series, wherein Becky and Steve's relationship experiences vulnerability for the first time, physically reflected in the fact that this is the first time they are shown as having left their flat. Out in the real world they face challenges and my attachment to the characters made me feel genuinely and quite strongly protective towards them.

In conclusion, I want to be Becky, I want to murder Laura. If you have watched Him & Her, this will seem perfectly reasonable.