Was It Just a Dream? Is a compilation of all the songs from Talulah Gosh’s lifetime, it is a re-release of their previous compilation, Backwash, but also includes demos not released before. The compilation has 29 songs all revolving around British twee pop. It came out in 2013 being published by Damaged Goods Records, the producer isn’t really listed but I did see the name John Rivers mentioned. It’s the fourth and final compilation released by them, basically just combining all of their singles and EPs.
Just like the producer, band member credits don’t seem to be done very well but I was able to piece together a few things, some members have also left the band before it disbanded. Amelia Fletcher sang vocals, Mathew Fletcher (Amelia’s brother) did drums, Peter Momtchiloff played guitar, and Chris Scott played bass. The Fletcher siblings and Peter Momtchiloff later went on to play for Heavenly, which is much bigger than Talulah Gosh. Other members of the band created bands and worked on like The Carousel, Tender Trap and Marine Research. Talulah Gosh is definitely great at keeping their music very upbeat and never slowing down, almost sounding like an energetic little girl.
One track I like is Testcard Girl, I can’t seem to tell what it really is about but it is very loud with quick guitar noises, crashing drums and vocals that seem to be yelling, the song also seems to lose control for the last 30 seconds with screaming, sporadic drums and I think a screeching violin. This song does a great job of keeping every moment full of energy, only slowing down to stop the track. The Girl With the Strawberry Hair has a lot of similarities to Heavenly (one of the previously mentioned bands created by some of the members) while also showing why this band is so different from it, it has very similar guitar and vocal sounds but the drums is what really separates the two because of how loud Talulah Gosh’s drums are. I’d also like to give a small mention to Talulah Gosh (song) for having more ethereal vocals and a tambourine which sounds very nice.
This compilation is the perfect example of twee pop with it checking every box. It has jangly guitar, British female vocals, fast pacing and an energetic atmosphere. Even down to the cover being this drawing of a girl, which perfectly portrays the music behind it. This compilation is perfect for anyone who would like to have a first look into the twee pop genre, it is very childish and typically has bright lyrics. I would definitely give Was It Just a Dream? a 3.8/5, my only problem is that it is hard for me to tell some songs apart from each other. It makes sense that it would have these problems as this is Amelia Fletcher’s first band, when looking at Heavenly, Marine Research, and Temper Trap you can see a bigger difference between individual songs.
