Oh Inhuman Spectacle by Methyl Ethel

Oh Inhuman Spectacle, the debut album from Perth's Methyl Ethel, came out in June 2015 through Dot Dash and 4AD, and it plays like the soundtrack to a drive home at 3am. On record the band is really Jake Webb's solo project, with bassist Thom Stewart and drummer Chris Wright as the core of his live band; Webb had already put out two EPs, Guts and Teeth, in 2013.

Critics heard dream-pop with the jitters. Pitchfork's Stuart Berman pegged it as nocturnal music for insomniacs, restless under its shimmer, while The Guardian liked the strong opening run (the doomy disco of "Idée Fixe", the dusky "Shadowboxing", the Johnny Marr-style guitars of "Rogues") but felt the record lost steam later on. Drowned in Sound called it a promising first album. "Twilight Driving", the song that reached the countdowns, has a title that sums the whole mood up nicely.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.