Bacchanalia Magazine

Words by Nate Shlosberg

Photo credit: Rosie Carne

Self proclaimed “gentrified pop” outfit Welly have returned with “Soak Up The Culture”, a song that sees them continue their own trend of writing bitingly cynical and satirical tunes backed by upbeat and energetic instrumentation. The combination of the song’s subject matter with the way in which the music video is shot leaves one wondering: could this be “Girls and Boys” for the internet age?

“Soak Up The Culture” comes off the back of their previous single “Shopping”, released in March. “Shopping” found reasonable success on social media due to the song’s intriguing call and response and quintessentially British style. The matching outfits worn by the members in the music video were likened by commenters to Tally Hall and frontman Elliott Hall to figures such as James Acaster.

“Soak Up The Culture” picks up just where the former left off, with the music video depicting the band in front of a green screen dressed in matching T-shirts reading “Welly on Tour ‘24 / Bognor or Bust!” as holiday footage plays behind them. Hall is handcuffed to the microphone stand and as the song progresses, ends up letting himself free to dance wildly and abuse the microphone as he sings. This, combined with his rather idiosyncratic singing style (rolling the r in “abroad”, for example) and occasional intense stares towards the camera makes me think that he may owe much of his aesthetic to Mark E. Smith of The Fall. 

The lyrics discuss the nature of British people on holiday, seemingly apt as most of the UK has experienced their first taste of summer this week, with Hall starting the song with “All over the world go English girls on their gap years”. Immediately the listener is told that this is going to be another self-aware critique of the British middle class which seems to be a key component of Welly’s image, with their Instagram bio reading “Suburban Smart-Arse” and “Shopping” being a satirical take on consumer culture. 

The concept of the middle classes abroad is furthered with the members trading lyrics of “Je voudrais good time! / D’ya know the way to Berghain?”, bringing to light the usual attempts by Brits to assimilate into a foreign culture while often simultaneously being absolutely clueless. The song then progresses into a chorus in which the band, once again using gang vocals as was also done in “Shopping”, urges the listener to “soak up the culture”. This is then followed by a post-chorus guitar lick that brings to mind contemporaries such as Sports Team or Courting, with the genre popularised by bands of this ilk (sometimes referred to as Post-Brexitcore) having quite a clear influence on Welly. 

The second verse shifts focus from “English girls” to “British Boys”, reiterating the part-English part-French phrases of the first verse, this time with Italian: “ciao Bella, I’m such a nice fella!”. Alongside this, Hall states “unpack your morals for Jack Kerouac’s novels”, cleverly poking fun at those who go travelling and perhaps wrongly conflate themselves with the freewheeling and uninhibited writers of the Beat Generation. 

After another chorus the song drops into a breakdown where hall reiterates the previous lyrics. This is subsequently followed by the sort of muffled chatter one might hear on a street at night on one of the many “party islands” Brits tend to frequent as the green screen in the video displays the members on various nights out. The listener is then led into a section of various solos on guitar and synthesiser before eventually reaching the final verse. 

The final line of said verse is particularly intriguing, “Posing for exposure on Holiday in Cambodia”. Here, Hall brings to mind social media influencers who view foreign countries as merely holiday destinations while also giving a nod to the 1980 Dead Kennedys song “Holiday in Cambodia”. 

In conclusion “Soak Up The Culture” is a catchy and fun to listen to song that further presents Welly as a band with a unique sound and great promise. Furthermore, upon inspecting Hall’s lyricism, the listener will find it to be dense with cultural references and sardonic wit that, in some ways, juxtaposes the instrumentation.