MY UGLY CLEMENTINE

THE GOOD LIFE

A sensation hailing from Vienna, My Ugly Clementine is an irresistible phenomenon currently reigning supreme in the German-speaking world. On the group’s second album, The Good Life, they demonstrate their amazing songcraft and musical abilities.

The My Ugly Clementine band is Sophie Lindinger, Mira Lu Kovacs, and Nastasja Ronck, three truly hard-working musicians from Vienna. Lindinger is one-half of the pop duo Leyya, Mira Lu Kovacs is a successful solo artist, and Ronck collaborates with Sharktank, an Austrian indie group. Together, the three have created an incredibly original sound that blended together the influences of bands they’re happy to namecheck: HAIM, Avril Lavigne, Radiohead, Ani DiFranco, Julia Jacklin, and Courtney Barnett. Having released their debut album Vitamin C in 2020, the band has toured festivals across Europe and won an Impala Award for Album of the Year.

During the recording of their second album, The Good Life, the band escaped the hustle and bustle of tours and outside distractions, allowing them to focus on bringing a cohesive 12-track album full of influences straight out of the 90s to life. The Good Life is about the group as a collective, providing community, about making dreams come true, about beginnings and endings, about things that have changed for the better – moving forward.

A bouncing bassline and Breeders-style harmonies make “Are You In” a catchy first single. There’s a crescendo of soaring guitars that propels it all the way into indie anthem territory.

There are some serious Patty Schemel-level primal drumming and Liz Phair-like vocals in “Let Me Go”.

A call-and-response vocal style used by Tiger Trap in the early 90s may have been an influence on “No”. Just update it with some solid atonal basslines and it sounds like something brand new.

The band’s next single, “Feet Up”, flips the FOMO concept on its head into the “Joy of Missing Out” – JOMO! Despite the highly contagious energy that will definitely make you want to dance, the lyrics are all about keeping your feet up.

“Boredom doesn’t necessarily have to be a negative thing; sometimes it’s better to slow down and enjoy the moment. After our shows, for example, we love to just hang out in the backstage area, sipping Gin and Tonics and playing board games.”

Summertime music at its best! “Feet Up” is a perfect blend of playful and serious.

This is a genuinely great album – one of my favourites of the summer.

My Ugly Clementine will hit the road again this autumn, playing The Old Blue Last in London on 8 October. You won’t want to miss them!