Formed when Rachel Love (Dolly Mixture), Ian Button (Papernut Cambridge, The Penrose Web) and Peter Momtchiloff (Heavenly, Would-be-goods) realised they were all born within weeks of each other in 1962, Railcard are set to release their self-titled debut record via Skep Wax and Slumberland Records on 6 February, 2026. The group is completed by Allison Thomson (not born in 1962) on trumpet.

‘Narcissus’ opens with ‘London Calling’-style riffs and call-and-response vocals – ‘Look at me (look at me)’ – before going on to give a stark warning about how easy it is to find yourself ‘completely hooked’ on somebody with ‘narcissistic tendencies’. The self-aware ‘Born in ’62’ follows with an admission they were ‘too late for the Golden Age’ being delivered against jangle-pop hooks. ‘Cherry Plum’ is 106 seconds of chilled-out blissful and dreamy pop, while ‘Revolutionary Calendar’ offers almost philosophical musings about time against a Scott Walker soundtrack: ‘Every day is named after a tree, herb or flower’; ‘Sometimes a day feels like a second and a month feels like a year’.

‘Northern Soul Dancing’ does what it says on the tin, with a vintage Beatles-y guitar tones and lyrics about wanting to dance, clap and fall in love. There are Spaghetti Western vibes running through the slower ‘Slow Train’, while the band and album’s title track is a baroque blast of Bacharach-esque sweetness with a promise of a ‘ticket to a station that will set you free’. ‘Disco Load Out’ veers more into a Blockheads-style sound before ‘Think About That’ (a cover of the Dandy Livingstone track) closes the album with a Dylan-meets-early Charlatans mix of folk and psychedelia: ‘You can take a boy from the country, but you can’t take the country from me’.

Railcard take you on a joyous journey. This is one train you’ll want to catch.