Rocktrospectiva: The Grungy Dreamy "My Love Is Cool" Turns 10

Released on 23 June 2025, "My Love Is Cool" was the debut studio album by English alternative rock band Wolf Alice. The album spawned the singles "Bros" and "Fluffy" in re-recorded versions, and was preceded by the songs "Giant Peach" and "You're a Germ". The song "Moaning Lisa Smile", which originally appeared on the band's 2014 EP Creature Songs, peaked at number nine on the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart, and was also included on the US edition of the album.

Wolf Alice have come a long way sonically in a relatively short space of time. Initially touting a folky style with early material, the band have transitioned in the space of a mere few years into a feisty, off-kilter rock ensemble, with the solid live performance reputation to prove it. Debut album, showed that many of Wolf Alice’s main influences stretch back into the more distant past. Their sound is a thrilling fusion of 90s grunge and experimental indie rock, delivered in a seemingly effortless fashion. 

Lead singer, Ellie Rowsell, had a cool voice able to turn without warning from sweetness to snarl. The album drips with rock swagger. So Wolf Alice’s debut approached without cynicism the 90s/00s shoegaze and grunge. It also felt like an album that’s had been allowed time to gestate: despite being virtually veteran in buzzband terms, they have benefitted from beefing up their sound on tour – as evidenced on the heavy romance of Your Loves Whore, the dirty degenerate chug of You’re a Germ, or the cinematic Turn to Dust. The awkward introversion in the lyrics – which deal with relationship strife, creepy blokes, friendship, gender and the quest for eternal love – add a sense of emotional overload driven by late nights, blood pacts and wide-eyed wonder. It’s an invigorating debut with a gaunt, gallant identity of its own The album was nominated for the 2015 Mercury Music Prize.

My Love Is Cool received positive reviews from critics, called the album "familiar but invigorating indie-rock", further stating: "while the foundations of My Love Is Cool are 90s/00s shoegaze and grunge, the London quartet defibrillate their influences with the ambition of youth. It also feels like an album that's been allowed time to gestate despite being virtually veteran in buzzband terms, they have benefited from beefing up their sound on tour – as evidenced on the heavy romance of 'Your Loves Whore', the dirty degenerate chug of 'You're a Germ', or the cinematic 'Turn to Dust'. The awkward introversion in the lyrics – which deal with relationship strife, creepy blokes, friendship, gender and the quest for eternal love – add a sense of emotional overload driven by late nights, blood pacts and wide-eyed wonder. It's an invigorating debut with a gaunt, gallant identity of its own." A brilliant grungy dream-pop record. 

 

My Love Is Cool Track List: 

 

1. Turn To Dust

2. Bros

3. Your Loves Whore

4. Lisbon

5. Silk

6. Freazy

8. Giant Peach

9. Swallowtail

10. Soapy Water

11. Fluffy

12. The Wonderwhy