Humour Learning Greek
Humour's Learning Greek arrives as a bruising, literate debut that stitches ancient motifs and domestic memory into jagged post-punk hooks and yearning melodies. Across seven professional reviews the consensus score sits at 77.14/100, and critics consistently point to a record that balances gnarly noise with unexpected tenderness, making a persuasive case for whether Learning Greek is worth listening to.
Reviewers repeatedly single out “Neighbours”, “Memorial” and “Plagiarist” as the best songs on Learning Greek, while the title track “Learning Greek” functions as a compact emotional fulcrum. Critics praise “Neighbours” for its opening wall of paranoid sound and anthemic thrust, applaud “Memorial” for turning classical grief into pop-punky momentum, and celebrate “Plagiarist” for a thrilling, singable chorus. Across professional reviews, writers note recurring themes of identity and heritage, memory and mortality, and a musical juxtaposition of harshness and melody that moves the collection between dive-bar fury and festival-sized catharsis.
Not all takes are uniformly ecstatic - some critics emphasise the record's panic and abrasiveness as challenging - but the prevailing critical consensus frames Learning Greek as a distinctive step in Humour's evolution, one that pairs intellectual lyricism with post-hardcore energy. For readers searching for a clear verdict on Learning Greek review coverage, the score and seven reviews suggest a largely positive, occasionally divisive debut that rewards repeated plays and spotlights the standout tracks above as entry points into the album's rich, sometimes unsettling world.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Learning Greek
5 mentions
"Take the title track which features a recording of Christodoulidis and his father"— Clash Music
Neighbours
7 mentions
"Album opener, the ferocious 'Neighbours,' tells of a solitary guy"— Clash Music
Memorial
7 mentions
"Or 'Memorial' which describes a scene from the Iliad"— Clash Music
Take the title track which features a recording of Christodoulidis and his father
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Neighbours
Memorial
Plagiarist
Learning Greek
Dirty Bread
Die Rich
I Knew We'd Talk About It One Day
Aphid
I Only Have Eyes
In the Paddies
It Happened In The Sun
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 7 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
In a sun-soaked, memory-leaning debut, Humour make Learning Greek feel like an act of reclaiming the past, where tracks such as “Memorial” and the title cut “Learning Greek” stitch mythology and domestic detail together. The reviewer revels in the band’s knack for marrying literary weight with post-punk bite, praising the album’s attention to structure and those jolting lines that move from the profound to the absurd. If you want the best songs on Learning Greek, start with “Memorial” for its Iliad-derived heft and “Learning Greek” for its thematic cohesion, both exemplifying why noise and nuance here collide so well.
Key Points
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“Memorial” is the best song for its literary reworking of Homer and Oswald, giving the album its most striking gravitas.
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The album’s core strength is balancing literary, mythic themes with post-punk energy and careful structural attention.
Themes
Critic's Take
In Humour’s Learning Greek the review finds its best songs in the collision of high emotion and propulsive noise, notably “Dirty Bread” and “Neighbours”, where feral post-hardcore swells meet anthemic hooks. The writer praises “Memorial” as a snottily anthemic, emotionally gutting centerpiece that reshapes classical grief into pop-punky momentum. Across the record the band thrills by pairing dissonant, horrible ideas with really nice bits, making these songs the clear best tracks on Learning Greek because they balance brutality and melody with intellectual heft.
Key Points
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The best song succeeds by marrying brutal, feral instrumentation with anthemic, melodic payoff.
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The album’s core strengths are its thematic focus on heritage and mortality and its dynamic contrasts between harshness and tunefulness.
Themes
Ke
Critic's Take
Humour’s Learning Greek feels like a beautiful panic attack in slow motion, and the best songs — notably “Plagiarist” and “Neighbours” — do the heavy lifting. The review revels in oddball imagery and strange humor, praising “Plagiarist” as the album’s anthem and noting “Neighbours” kicks the door in with noisy paranoia. There is also admiration for “Memorial” turning tragedy into a toe-tapper, which helps explain why these tracks stand out on Learning Greek.
Key Points
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Plagiarist is best because the reviewer calls it the album's anthem with soul-shaving guitars.
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The album's core strengths are its strange, ambitious storytelling and a blend of panic and catchy songwriting.
Themes
Critic's Take
Humour's Learning Greek feels like a bruising debut that still knows how to charm its way into the best tracks conversation. The reviewer's ear is drawn to the bruising opener “Neighbours” and the ecstatic centerpiece “I Only Have Eyes” as the album's defining moments, while latter-half cuts like “I Knew We Would Talk” and “Aphid” broaden the record's textures. Brad Sked's tone is grounded but excitable: he praises the band's dynamism and crossover appeal, pitching the record for both dive bars and festival fields. Overall, the best songs on Learning Greek are those that balance scuzz and melody, with “I Only Have Eyes” standing tallest.
Key Points
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“I Only Have Eyes” is best because it fuses jangly dream-pop with powerful vocal gnarl to showcase the band's dynamism.
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The album's core strengths are its abrasive post-hardcore energy and textured post-punk/grunge experimentation that suit both dive bars and festival fields.
Themes
Critic's Take
From the first bruising chords of Humour’s Learning Greek the record stakes its claim, and the best songs - notably “Neighbours” and “I Only Have Eyes” - show why. Adam Brady relishes the band’s move from weird post-punk into fuller emotional terrain, praising the muscular attack of “Neighbours” and the luminous chorus on “I Only Have Eyes”. The title piece is singled out as the album’s emotional centre with a heartwarming exchange between generations, while “Dirty Bread” deepens the theme of heritage. In short, the best tracks on Learning Greek are those that pair Humour’s sharpened musical bite with Christodoulidis’s personal lyricism.
Key Points
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The best song is "Neighbours" because its post-hardcore punch and matched musicianship exemplify the album’s power.
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The album’s core strengths are its emotional honesty, inter-generational themes, and evolved post-punk musicality.
Themes
Critic's Take
Humour's Learning Greek finds its best songs in jagged, character-driven vignettes such as “Neighbours” and “Plagiarist”, where thunderous drums and static-fuelled guitars push the band into urgent new territory. Julia Mason writes with a keen eye for the macabre and the intimate, praising how “Neighbours” announces the album with a wall of sound and how “Plagiarist” delivers an utterly thrilling chorus that marks the best tracks on Learning Greek. The title track and closing acoustic “It Happened In The Sun” show Humour widening their palette, mixing personal revelation with strange, dark tales. This is an album that blossoms melodically while keeping the band's vivid, unsettling view of the human condition at its core.
Key Points
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The best song is 'Plagiarist' for its static-fuelled guitars and an utterly thrilling chorus.
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The album's core strengths are vivid character vignettes, melodic growth, and a recurring theme of reflection approaching death.
Themes
Critic's Take
When I met Andreas Christodoulidis the warmth he radiates leapt off the page, and that same human energy charges Learning Greek. The review gravitates to the album's best songs - “Plagiarist” and “Memorial” - for their arresting lyricism and righteous anger, while the brief title track functions as a moving interlude. Williams writes in a conversational, observant tone that foregrounds identity and yearning, explaining why the best tracks feel both personal and furious. This is the sort of debut where the strongest moments make you listen again and want to dig into the stories behind the songs.
Key Points
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Memorial is the best song for its familial connection and 'righteous anger' that crystallises the album's emotional core.
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The album's core strengths are its themes of identity and yearning, delivered with energetic, punk-tinged intensity and strong lyrical moments.