English Teacher, a 4-piece indie rock band from Leeds, England, was one of my favorite discoveries of 2024. (more on them on my 2024 Top-20 page). I remember discovering this band quite by chance as I was going down yet another YouTube rabbit hole. I found myself watching a few bands on Later… with Jools Holland when this performance of English Teacher’s latest single, “The World’s Biggest Paving Slab”, started playing. That was it; that day’s search for new sounds was over as I had found what I didn’t even know I was looking for…

Of course when the video ended I clicked on another link for English Teacher and was taken to a live in the studio version of “Mastermind Specialism” off of the same album. While the first song was full of energy and momentum, this next number was much more of a slow burn that builds intensity as it goes along. Both songs are fantastic and display English Teacher’s musical agility and singer Lily Fontaine’s wide ranging vocals and clever, evocative lyrics.

I won’t recreate the entire 90 minute English Teacher binge I then went on but I will share this imaginative video created for “The World’s Biggest Paving Slab”