A few months ago, if someone had said that an album on the state of the world from former Brit Poppers was going to be one of the best releases of the year thus far, I would have been skeptical at best… but here we are. From the ashes of the Lush reunion comes the new project from Miki Berenyi. Joining forces with her partner KJ McKillop, Elastica’s Justin Welch and Modern English’s Mick Conroy, the band released first single “Everlastingly Yours” last November and the debut album followed in February. Berenyi’s voice is as distinctive as ever and while there are clearly shoegaze elements on this release, it is not rooted in nostalgia.
In the 90s, the emotional lyrics were about drinking and relationships but here Piroshka come out firing with political lyrics that claim “I take what’s yours and I’m not going to stop” and declare that “nobody here ever escapes with no blood on their hands”. One of the best songs here, “Hated By The Powers That Be”, turns the simple “I am love” lyric into “and you should feel as proud as me because we are love and we’re hated by the powers that be”.
“Village of The Damned” about school yard shootings is somehow breezy in the weight of its subject matter and in “Everlastingly Yours” features a nice bit of Welch working the hi-hat. The ballads “Blameless” and “Heartbeats” are the two that most sound like Lush at their quieter moments. Brickbat is a timely release that has its full eyes and hearts on the here and now.
8.5/10
The Light Appears 