The Cindys by The Cindys
If you’ve ever found yourself thinking, “I like music, but I wish it sounded more like it was recorded inside a wet cardboard box in Cornwall,” then The Cindys is the 21-minute salvation you didn’t know you needed. This self-titled debut on Breakfast Records is what happens when a group of Bristol musicians (including Jack Ogborne of the band Bingo Fury and Naima Bock of the band Belishas) decides that professional studio polish is a bourgeois concept they simply cannot be bothered with. Recorded to an eight-track cassette in a damp basement, the album boasts a lo-fi grit so authentic you can practically hear the mold growing on the magnetic tape. It’s the perfect soundtrack for looking wistfully out of a rainy window while pretending you’re the protagonist of a gritty 1980s indie film that nobody actually watched.
The music itself is a masterclass in “accidental” brilliance, blending the jangly, nervous energy of the C86 scene with the kind of melodies that Alex Chilton might have written if he’d spent less time in Memphis and more time shivering in the South West of England. Tracks like “Eternal Pharmacy” and “Dry TV” manage to be genuinely catchy power-pop gems, even if they seem slightly embarrassed about it. The vocal chemistry between Ogborne and Bock is lovely, though they often sound like they’re sharing a single microphone because the other three were broken. It’s a record that isn’t afraid to fall apart halfway through a song—as seen in the glorious, stuttering mess of “Marble Lobby”—proving that The Cindys are far too cool to commit to anything as predictable as a consistent tempo.
Ultimately, The Cindys is a short, sharp, and delightfully shambolic collection that manages to be better than it has any right to be. It is the musical equivalent of a thrifted sweater that is slightly itchy and smells faintly of someone else’s grandmother, yet somehow becomes your favorite thing to wear. At just over twenty minutes, it’s over before you can even finish your artisanal sourdough toast, leaving you with just enough time to wonder if you should start a band in your own basement (you shouldn’t). It’s a beautifully unrefined slice of DIY pop that reminds us that sometimes, the best way to make a great record is to simply stop trying so hard.
This album made my top 25 albums list of 2025. Listen to this album, and you will hear why.
Links to check out:
https://thecindys.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/thecindystheband/
https://breakfastrecords.co.uk/
