Antony Szmierek Service Station At The End Of The Universe
Antony Szmierek's Service Station At The End Of The Universe arrives as a small-world epic that turns the everyday into euphoric pop poetry, earning clear praise from music critics. Across three professional reviews the record accumulates a strong consensus score of 86.67/100, with reviewers repeatedly pointing to its blend of club-ready production and heartfelt, place-based lyricism as its defining achievement.
Critics consistently single out the title track “Service Station at the End of the Universe” along with “Rafters”, “Yoga Teacher”, “Take Me There” and “Restless Leg Syndrome” as the album's standout tracks. Reviewers note how “Rafters” and “Take Me There” bring an Underworld-sized, house-leaning momentum, while “Yoga Teacher” provides a woozy, calming counterpoint and “Restless Leg Syndrome” anchors the record with a stunning stream-of-consciousness spoken-word heart. Across the reviews, the record's club and rave influences—acid house, garage and pulsing synth textures—are praised for elevating intimate, often humorous narratives about local life into something universal.
While tones vary from wry and affectionate to outright celebratory, the critical consensus frames Szmierek's debut as both emotionally direct and musically ambitious. Reviewers agree the album balances the physical rush of the dancefloor with emotive, poetic detail, making Service Station At The End Of The Universe a distinctly British record with broad appeal. For readers asking whether the album is worth listening to, the combined professional reviews suggest it is a standout debut whose best songs reward repeated plays and close attention.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Rafters
2 mentions
"the "patron saint of Withington" chatting up "a pound shop Geri Horner" in ‘Rafters’"— New Musical Express (NME)
Yoga Teacher
2 mentions
"‘Yoga Teacher’ makes for a woozy, calming highlight"— New Musical Express (NME)
Service Station at the End of the Universe
3 mentions
"interlude's respite found in the service station, a transient place that provides much needed consistency"— DIY Magazine
the "patron saint of Withington" chatting up "a pound shop Geri Horner" in ‘Rafters’
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
That Face You Make When It's Raining
Girlypops
Service Station at the End of the Universe
Rafters
The Great Pyramid of Stockport
Big Light
Yoga Teacher
Crumb
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Fallacy
passingthru
Take Me There
Restless Leg Syndrome
Crashing Up
Angie’s Wedding
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 3 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Antony Szmierek's Service Station At The End Of The Universe is a debut that connects in ways few do, funny and heartbreaking in equal measure. The title track sets the tone with undulating, tech-edged synths, while “Rafters” captures the fluttering truths of the rave and “Big Light” grapples with the heart, gospel backing and all. Verbose without taking itself too seriously, the album moves from the local - the odd pyramid in Stockport - to universal rave revelation, making the best tracks genuinely feel revelatory. This is plainly one of the most straight-forwardly enjoyable debut albums you’ll hear in 2025, songs like “Crumb” and “Take Me There” adding disco and Underworld-sized heft to the set.
Key Points
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The title track is best for setting the album's tone with tech-edged synths and immediate connection.
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The album’s core strengths are its fusion of rave energy, witty local detail, and heartfelt spoken-word delivery.
Themes
Critic's Take
Antony Szmierek frames Service Station At The End Of The Universe as a small-world epic, and the best songs - notably “Yoga Teacher” and “Rafters” - crystallise that blend of mundane detail and euphoric club energy. The reviewer's voice delights in picture-painting, calling out how “Yoga Teacher” is a woozy, calming highlight while “Rafters” and “Take Me There” unlock the record’s house-leaning dimension. Those tracks, plus the title piece and the vivid conceit of “The Great Pyramid of Stockport”, are presented as the clearest examples of Szmierek’s confident, fully realised debut. Taken together, they answer the question of the best tracks on Service Station At The End Of The Universe by demonstrating where his pop-poetry and club instincts meet most potently.
Key Points
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The best song, notably "Yoga Teacher", is praised as a woozy, calming highlight that distills Szmierek’s pop-poetry into emotional clarity.
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The album's core strengths are its vivid character-driven storytelling and its marriage of mundane detail with club-ready, chameleonic production.
Themes
Critic's Take
In a voice that moves between wry specificity and affectionate excavation, Antony Szmierek's Service Station At The End Of The Universe stakes its claim through intimate place-based detail and punchy spoken-word songwriting. Best songs on Service Station At The End Of The Universe coalesce around the record's emotional cores - notably “Restless Leg Syndrome”, whose "stunning stream of consciousness" anchors the album, and the title-linked “Service Station at the End of the Universe”, which furnishes the record's interlude of respite. The review singles out these tracks as exemplars of Szmierek's blend of poetry and dancefloor-ready production, making them the essential listens for those asking what the best tracks on the album are. The record's highlights remain fundamentally British yet quietly universal, marrying acid house and garage textures to confessional lyrical flourishes.
Key Points
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The best song is "Restless Leg Syndrome" because it provides a "stunning stream of consciousness" that anchors the album's emotional core.
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The album's core strengths are its fusion of rhythmic spoken-word poetry with dancefloor-ready production and vivid, place-based storytelling.