Robert Christgau: Dean of American Rock Critics

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Billy Nomates

  • Billy Nomates [Invada, 2020] A
  • Emergency Telephone [Invada EP, 2021] *
  • Cacti [Invada, 2023] ***

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Billy Nomates [Invada, 2020]
"In a world of yes men I'll be a no woman," brags this Leicester thirtysomething, who defeated depression by deciding that if Sleaford Mods could bitch about the class system for a living so could she. In fact, I say she's better at it. Her voice high and clear without a hint of gentility, she's wittier, hookier, meaner, kinder, sassier--unbowed in spite of it all. Delivered over spare production from her label owner, Portishead genie Geoff Barrow, her tales of the shit life sound so lived I'm bettng they are: "Supermarket Sweep" and its "cleanup in aisle seven," "FTP" and its floor she can't afford to sleep on, the "Fat White Man" propositioning the hottie at the filling station, the Covid-or-not excuse-a-thon "Call in Sick." Inspirational Verse: "If I could only quit my job and join the hippy elite." A

Emergency Telephone [Invada EP, 2021]
With some well-earned money in her pocket, she has a bead on the normal life every person deserves--which, unsurprisingly, is rather less fascinating than her pissed-off life ("Petrol Fumes," "Heels") *

Cacti [Invada, 2023]
Death doesn't turn her on like it used to, a change of heart she announces up front and converts into spirited yet also acerbic music as she gets madder ("Spite," "Vertigo") ***