Pip Blom - Welcome Break (LP)

Flip through a bin of new releases and it’s hard to miss the bright, punchy sleeve of Welcome Break, the second album from Amsterdam’s Pip Blom. It landed on 12 November 2021 via Heavenly Recordings, a tidy date for a record that sounds like it has been road tested in crowded clubs. The title shares its name with those British motorway service stops, which fits the vibe: quick refuels, short bursts of energy, hooks stacked for the next stretch.

Pip and her brother Tender handle guitars and vocals like a tag team, tossing lines back and forth while the rhythm section locks in with a lean, springy pulse. The band’s chemistry is the secret sauce. Nothing feels fussy. Riffs come in clean and crunchy, choruses arrive on time, and there’s always a little melodic turn that sticks in your ear long after the song slides out.

If you’re new to Pip Blom, start with You Don’t Want This. It’s a bristling earworm that rides a clipped guitar figure into a chorus that opens like a window. The way the vocal snags on the phrase feels both cutting and playful. Keep It Together follows another path to the same rush. It’s got that chug you can feel in your calves, and a guitar hook that jangles just enough to keep things light. The record knows when to breathe, too. It Should Have Been Fun pulls back the tempo for a bittersweet sway, letting the lyric hit harder with each repeat. Then there’s I Know I’m Not Easy to Like, which turns self-awareness into a bright, shout-along release, the kind of song that makes strangers grin at each other in the front row.

What makes Welcome Break sing is how direct it is. The production leaves air around the edges, so guitars have room to cut, bass can bounce, and drums snap in a way that feels live. The band’s 90s-leaning indie instincts are there, sure, but they avoid pastiche by keeping everything tight and modern. Pip’s voice sits right at the center, cool and clear, carrying just enough bite to sell the tension in the lyrics.

Sequencing matters, and this one flows. Peaks and valleys feel deliberate, which is why the album plays so well straight through. On vinyl that arc really clicks, with side breaks giving the songs natural chapters. If you see Welcome Break vinyl out in the wild, grab it. It’s the kind of record that turns a casual browse into an afternoon lost at a listening station. I’ve spotted copies tucked into the staff picks at more than one Melbourne record store, and it always makes sense. The sound suits small rooms and big afternoons, and the cover pops on a shelf.

Heavenly Recordings had a good run around this time, and this release sits neatly in that lineage of smart, melodic guitar music with teeth. The band’s debut, Boat, set the stage in 2019. Welcome Break sharpens the hooks and adds more snap to the rhythm work without sanding off the edges that made them fun in the first place. It’s also the album that turned a lot of curious listeners into fans who now hunt for Pip Blom vinyl at fairs and online shops.

If you’re looking to buy Pip Blom records online, this is an easy recommendation, and a gateway to exploring other Pip Blom albums on vinyl. The songs don’t just hold up, they invite repeat plays. Flip side one again and You Don’t Want This hits even harder. Turn it up and that chorus lifts like a caffeine shot. For folks digging through crates of vinyl records Australia wide, Welcome Break has become a dependable feel-good pull.

There’s craft here, but also a spark that’s harder to pin down. You can hear a band that trusts its instincts and keeps things just ragged enough to feel human. That’s the charm. Welcome Break isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. It’s trying to keep you moving. On that front it’s a winner, and the kind of album that makes you want to see the songs in a room, sweat in the air, guitars a notch too loud, everybody singing the words.