#FeatureFriday – Counterintuition by The Photocopies

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“Sean Turner and The Photocopies’ fourth album, ‘Counterintuition’, is a fitting title for an artist who promotes his releases with a touch of the unexpected.” – Bandcamp

The thing that strikes you about Counterintuition by The Photocopies is the incessant melody. It drives the whole album. Hooks all the place, earworms aplenty. I have comparisons as well, Denim being a big one but ASH, Teenage Fanclub and Squeeze really jump out to me. Singer, Sean Turner(@thephotocopies.bsky.social) really has a voice designed for this, he carries the tunes. His voice is dexterous, perfectly wrangling the lyrics around the easy melodies. Even when he stretches into Charlatans vocal ranges it doesn’t feel strained. he pushes at the ceiling of his voice and it doesn’t break.

The thing with this album is that it moves. It’s slinky as fuck. It has a real drive to it. Synths and guitars intertwine over very neat drum machines. Nothing is doing anything especially flashy but it’s not basic either. Choices are made and they all work. These counterpoint melodies just flicker in and out and all the while the lead vocals shimmy and shake as it veers from one style of Indie Pop Rock to another.

The light touches on the guitars turn into fuzzy buzzsaws. The synth strings scattered here and there come in and out like the synths. And all the while it wears this lo-fi 4 track overcoat, collars up. Before you know it your 6 tracks in. It doesn’t stand on ceremony. Before you get bored it moves on and you’re going from an indie pop tear trinket to a driving alt rock eardrum basher. It’s delirious and a shit ton of fun.

Unpretentious. Unfettered. Unapologetic.

Song is king.

Totally recommended

Untidy Music

The first thing that came to my mind when I listened through “Counterintuition” by The Photocopies, was how cleverly done it was. The individual songs tackle some serious topics, but they still sound fun and lighthearted.

There are songs about climate change, about the reemergence of fascism, about anti-intellectualism and other unpleasant topics, yet unless you’re actually listening to the lyrics, you’d never know. And this approach, that aims to entertain and start conversations with its audience at the same time, is very much appreciated. The sound can be summed up as “indie pop”.

The synths are dominant, percussion that sets a brisk but pleasant tempo and a guitar for melodic accompaniment. The general sound is bright, warm and exceptionally easy to listen to and has a light fuzziness, that gives the whole album the feeling of a radio broadcast. Thinking about it in that way, this is probably a really good album for a road trip.

Overall, this is an album I very much enjoyed. The songs have their heart in the right place, they sound good and the entire album constantly moves forward, without overstaying its welcome. Yep, it’s a good one!

Florgoth

To be quite honest, I don’t have a lot to say about this one. Does that mean this wasn’t my cup of tea? No, just that this is gonna be a short ‘n’ sweet review. The Photocopies’ ‘Counterinituition’ is a fun and catchy Garagerock joint. It’s poppy and infectious yet just dirty enough to give it an edge. If there is one negative thing I can say about this is that its overabundance of bonus tracks weighs the album down. But… you can just not listen to those of course. Good album!

EveyWevyDevey

Updated: March 13, 2026 — 5:51 am

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