Lets go back twelve months; 2010 saw a distinct lack of big releases – by that I mean albums that were universally anticipated and/or universally applauded, either critically or commercially. It meant the end of year lists were of interest, mainly because nobody could decide on the best album released that year. According to NME it was ‘Hidden’ by These New Puritans. Pitchfork gave the honour to ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ by Kanye West, as did Rolling Stone. There were some left-field choices from Mojo (‘Queen of Denmark by John Grant’), Uncut (‘Have One on Me’ by Joanna Newsom’)and Drownedinsound (‘Does It Look Like I’m Here’ by Emeralds). I gave the title to the debut album by Avi Buffalo, a nicely restrained, humble and unspectacular record that perhaps summed up the lack of ’event’ music that year. Commercially, the biggest release of 2010 was ‘The Fame Monster’ by Lady Gaga, an album that wasn’t even an album, but a bonus disc to an already massive selling record (‘The Fame’).

2011 has been the opposite in many respects – we’ve had a whole year of ‘event music’, and highly anticipated releases. When an album becomes an event, it also becomes a big floating target for naysayers. Whilst highly anticipated albums by Tyler the Creator, Radiohead, Fleet Foxes, The Horrors, The Strokes and The Vaccines have revealed their charms over time, they received a mixed reception on release, initially disappointing some fans. But  these are the albums that have dominated this year’s lists. One above all others has been acclaimed like no other record in recent memory – ‘Let England Shake’ by P.J Harvey. It is number one on three of the above publications lists (NME, MOJO, UNCUT), and top 5 in the others.

It’s an album that doesn’t appeal to me in the slightest, and it’s not even in my top 60. Let me explain; War, death, suffering, identity, nationality, politics – it’s all very weighty stuff, and Harvey deals with it quite admirably in her work, but I don’t listen to pop music to hear about all that. Obviously PJ Harvey has the right to sing about these subjects if she wishes, and people have the right to say she’s amazing (I personally don’t agree – her lyrics are heavy handed and often cliched; the music is like a death march, although perhaps that‘s the point) but I also have the right to completely ignore her. That’s also why you won’t find acclaimed albums by St Vincent, Tune-yards, Destroyer or Tim Hecker on here either; these albums are difficult, and music shouldn’t be difficult – music should be natural, and honest, and direct, and catchy.

If I want to be challenged on an intellectual level, I’ll read a book, or poetry, watch a documentary, go to a gallery or maybe even a cinema – I won’t put on an album. Those other things, mostly, appeal to my head, and music appeals to my heart, or maybe my feet. Music makes me happy or it makes me sad. It makes me angry or it makes me depressed. The best music does make me think, but the second I start over-thinking is the second I turn off, both physically and metaphorically.

The number one album on my list this year is ‘Suck It and See’ by Arctic Monkeys’, an album that, in its own way, is more perfectly scripted and nuanced than ‘Let England Shake’ could ever hope to be. And yet it never draws attention to its wordiness; if you wanted to you could get lost in the syllables, the rhythms and rhymes, Alex’s punctured delivery and the breathy harmonies; you could forget about something as arguably meaningless as meaning. However, if you’re so inclined you could allow yourself to be bowled over by the finer details – the delicious adjectives (‘thunder suckle fuzz canyon’), the proper nouns that distinguish time and place (‘Rarer than a can of dandelion and burdock’ – and by the way, drink in the way Turner slurs ‘ACANADAN-ddilion and burdoch’), the surrealist metaphors (‘Topless Models doing semaphore, wave their flags as she walks by and get ignored’) and the canny observations about ageing (pretty much every song on the album, but ‘Love is a Lazorquest’ in particular.)

Turner has grown as a SONGWRITER – it was first in evidence on the wonderful ‘Submarine’ released earlier this year, an e.p that shares the top spot with ‘Suck It and See’ on my list, as it‘s equally important in its own way. Here we have six songs that deal with growing up slowly, sadly and innocently. These stories were set to music as far removed from the brash urgency of the Arctic’s famous debut as it is possible to get. This is a quiet, delicate and old-fashioned e.p that shows off Alex’s newly found confidence in his own voice.

The subject that links the two records, or rather the person that links the two records, is an unnamed femme-fettle, perhaps the same woman who left her footprints all over The Last Shadow Puppets ‘Age of the Understatement‘, and perhaps the same woman who just broke Alex’s poor heart. A woman so captivating that she actually IS thunderstorms, a woman so dangerous that her hands may well have done the Devil’s manicure, and a woman so spellbinding that topless models can’t draw your eyes away from her.

On ‘Black Treacle’ the stars hide away because she won’t come outside, whilst over on ‘Stuck on the Puzzle’, from the Submarine e.p, she’s pulling the same trick again – as Alex observes, ‘something in your magnetism must have pissed them off, forcing them to get an early night.’ Alex tells these stories with a wit and humour we’ve not seen from him since the early days of the band, and it’s a pleasure to listen to his observations. Romance, lust, longing, heartbreak – here we have the arena In which the best pop music excels – forget about politics!

Musically, ‘Suck It and See’ was a move away from the heavy experimentation of ‘Humbug’, towards a jingly-jangly, indie-pop sound. Their influences haven’t been this easy to name since the debut; Echo and the Bunnymen, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, The Beatles, Beach Boys etc – bands that were popular before the boys were even born. It’s all very traditional and not at all innovative, but it works, because nobody can play better than Alex, Jamie, Matt and Nick. They’ve never sounded as tight or as confident (and it takes a really confident band to release the semi-joke song ‘Don’t Sit Down Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair’ as the first single).

‘Suck It and See’ is my favourite album of the year because it ticks ever box. Great song-writing, great lyrics, great melodies, great harmonies great variety – and it’s by a great band with buckets of personality. Nobody’s saying Suck It and See is innovative, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t inspirational. Nobody’s saying it talks about weighty subjects like war and politics, but that doesn’t mean it’s not clever. And, nobody’s saying that this is going to be the album 2011 will be remembered for by most people, but it’s certainly the record I will remember 2011 for.

+

Moving away from the Monkeys; what else has impressed me this year? At number two on my list is ‘What Did You Expect from The Vaccines’, an album that is perfect in its simplicity and directness – three chords and your out. Perhaps the quote of the year comes from Noel Gallagher, who brilliantly observed that ‘rock’n’roll is merely the re-telling of a great story for a new generation’, and in my opinion, The Vaccines re-told it better than any young British band has in years; this is a debut album to ignite and inspire a generation of guitar groups. There were also amazing rock records this year from Girls, The Drums, Miles Kane, Grouplove, Yuck, Noah and the Whale, and that’s just for starters – if last year had a distinct LACK of rock n roll, then 2011 has more than made up for it.

Hip Hop in 2011 was very much dominated by Odd Future. The general conscencious is that Tyler’s singles were much better than the album turned out to be. I’m not denying that ‘Goblin’ was hit and miss, it’s just that when it hit (‘Yonkers’, ‘Sandwitches’, ‘She’, ‘Analogue’, ‘Her’) it hit harder than arguably anything released all year. However, It now transpires that the real star of Odd Future may actually be Frank Ocean, who, among other things, released the marvellous ‘Nostalgia Ultra’, wrote the best song on Jay Z and Kanye’s lame duck of an album, and contributed a fine number to Beyonce’s ‘4’.

Elsewhere, I enjoyed Shabazz Palaces’ debut, (surprisingly the first ever hip hop album released on Sub Pop), Mellow hype also really impressed, as did Death Grips’ mix tape. On the other hand I was supremely let down by  Theophilus London’s first full length, and the aforementioned Jay Z/ Kanye West collaboration.

In Dance there was a great deal of stuff going on, but in my opinion a lot less of real interest than in years gone by. Rustie made the most ENJOYABLE dub-step record I’ve ever heard, Katy B and Jamie Woon crossed over in a very interesting way, as did James Blake. Washed Out, Toddla T, Kisses and The Rapture all made excellent stuff at the more indie end of the dance spectrum, and at the more ‘dancey’ end there was good new music from old favourites Joy Orbison, Burial and fresh faces like seplacure, Joe Goddard and the excellent SBTRKT.

The mainstream pop world was, as expected, dominated by vast amounts of guff and nonsense. JLS, One Direction and Katy Perry all had big years, as did all the awful x factor hopefuls. In retrospect the ambitious Lady Gaga album was not as good as I originally  thought It was (or probably wanted it to be), but the Beyonce album was really good, as was Rihanna’s latest run of singles. And I know he’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I really enjoyed the Ed Sheeran album, in particular the brilliant ‘A-Team’ song. By all accounts Girls Aloud’s Nicola Roberts made a strong debut (not got around to hearing It yet) and Foster the People had a massive (and massively deserved) crossover hit single and album to boast about. Of course the real star of 2011, and justifiably so, was Adele, who had the biggest selling album of the millennium with the excellent ‘21’. Most pleasing of all was the fact that the album was massive because it had classic songs sung by a stunning voice, not because of hype, over promotion or dirty videos.

As per usual there was a lot of overly hyped indie coming from America, some of it good and some of it bad. I really didn’t get the fuss around Real Estate, Cults, Kurt Vile, St Vincent, Tune-yards, and especially the awful, just awful, Dirty Beaches. However, Smith Westerns released an amazing album after battling much blog attention, and I’m really looking forward to hearing more from EMA, and Surf Connection, who released justifiably praised debuts this year.

Of course, a large part of the list is made up of old favourites. Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, The Strokes, The Horrors, British Sea Power and Bombay Bicycle Club have all made some of my favourite albums of the past few years, and whilst none of the albums they released this year can honestly compare with their older stuff, they still really impressed me. Even more established bands returned this year, and some surprised with just how good they still are. Foo Fighters released their best album yet, and I was pleased to see the return of the Chili Peppers and Blink 182. Of course some acts proved they were stuck in a bit of a middle-aged rut (The Gallagher brothers, U2, and Metallica spring to mind.)

I don’t think 2011 has been a knock out year for music, in the long run it will probably be remembered for Adele, and not a lot else if we’re being honest. Of course a whole book could be written about how the way we consume music is rapidly developing, so I won’t even begin to dwell on that, but needless to say – everything’s changing and we can take nothing for granted. Who knows what next year will bring, but with already conformed release from The Shins, The Killers, Vampire Weekend, Animal Collective and Specter on the way, 2012 is already looking pretty promising…

19. Last Night on Earth by Noah and the Whale

18. Colour of the Trap by Miles Kane

17. Never Trust a Happy Song by Grouplove

16. King of Limbs by Radiohead

15. Goblin / Nostalgia Ultra  / Blackened by Odd Future (Tyler the Creator, Frank Ocean and Mellow Hype, respectively)

14. 21 by Adele

13. Skying by The Horrors

12. Dye It Blonde by Smith Westerns

11. Lights Out by Big Deal

10. Cats Eyes by Cats Eyes

9. Yuck by Yuck

8. James Blake by James Blake

7. Angles by The Strokes

6. Portamento by The Drums

5. Bon Iver, Bon Iver by Bon Iver

4. Father, Son, Holy Ghost by Girls

3. Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes

2. What Did You Expect From The Vaccines by The Vaccines

1. Suck It and See by Arctic Monkeys / Submarine by Alex Turner

]]> http://thomasmj99.wordpress.com/2011/12/31/albums-of-2011-part-three-20-1/feed/ 1 thomasmj99 http://thomasmj99.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/albums-of-2011-part-two-40-20/ http://thomasmj99.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/albums-of-2011-part-two-40-20/#comments Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:54:11 +0000 thomasmj99 http://thomasmj99.wordpress.com/?p=2729 ]]>

PART ONE (#60-40) IS HERE

40. Cape Dory by Tennis

39. Past Life Martyred Saints by EMA

38. Hunger by Frankie and the Heartstrings

37. Velociraptor by Kasabian

36. Pala by Friendly Fires

35. I’m With You by Red Hit Chili Peppers

34. Bread and Circuses by The View

33. Hurry Up We’re Dreaming by M83

32. Wounded Rhymes by Lykii Lii

31. Hello Sadness by Los Camposinos

30. A Different Kind of Fix by Bombay Bicycle Club

29. Torches by Foster the People

28. Too Young to be In Love by Hunx and his Punx

27. On a Mission by Katy B

26. Go Tell Fire on the Mountain by Wu Lyf

25. Sbtkt by Sbtrkt

24. Only in Dreams by Dum Dum Girls

23. Wasting Light by Foo Fighters

22. Lupercalia by Patrick Wolf

21. House of Balloons by The Weeknd

60. Leave Home by The Men

59. Bad Penny by Spectrals

58. GB City by Bass Drum of Death

57. Dead to Me by Girls Names

56. Sepakcure by Sepalcure

55. Tomboy by Panda Bear

54. The Year of Hibernation by Youth Lagoon

53. Tarot Classics by Surfer Blood

52.Glass Swords by Rustie

51. 4 by Beyonce

50. Neighbourhoods by Blink 182

49. Last Summer by Eleanor Friedberger

48. Surf Noir by Beat Connection

47. Arabia Mountain by Black Lips

46.Forget by Oupa

45. Last of the Country Gentlemen by Josh T Pearson

44. Smother by Wild Beasts

43. Within and Without by Washed Out

42. The Heart of the Nightlife by Kisses

41. Chasing After Ghosts by The Crookes

Let’s hope their fashion sense has improved since they last released a record…

9.  What You Wanted – Spector

8. Chair – Big Deal

7. Get Away – Yuck

6. Sadness is a Blessing – Lykee Li

5. Video Games – Lana Del Ray

4. Yonkers – Tyler the Creator

3. Someone Like You – Adele

2. If You Wanna – The Vaccines

1. Undercover of Darkness – The Strokes

19. The A Team – Ed Sheeran

18. Wildfire – Sbtrkt

17. The Wilhelm’s Scream – James Blake

16. Helplessness Blues – Fleet Foxes

15. Pumped up Kicks – Foster the People

14. L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N – Noah and the Whale

13. The City – Patrick Wolf

12. Taken For a Fool – The Strokes

11. Norgarrd – The Vaccines

40. Vomit – Girls

39. Gabrielle – Joe Goddard

38. You and I – Lady Gaga

37. Broken Record – Katy B

36. Heart Skips a Beat – Olly Murrs

35. Grace – The View

34. Young Blood – The Naked and Famous

33. Garden – totally Extinct Dinosaurs

32. Young Pros – Bass Drum of Death

31. Never Fade Away – Spector

30. The Best thing I Never Had – Beyonce

29. Still Life – The Horrors

28. What You Need – The Weeknd -

27. Colours – Grouplove

26. We Found Love – Rihanna

25. Don’t Sit Down Cos I Moved Your Chair – Arctic Monkeys

24. Post Break Up Sex – The Vaccines

23. How It Ended – The Drums

22. Calgary – Bon Iver

21. Arlandria – Foo Fighters

51. How Come – Avi Buffalo

50. Coming Down – Dum Dum Girls

49. Sophia – Laura Marling

48. Take It Back – Todla T

47. How Deep is your Love – The Rapture

46. Amor Fati – Washed Out

45. You Know What I Mean – Cults

44. Man Down – Rihanna

43. Give Me Everything – Pitbull

42. In the Water – Beat Connection

41. Cutting Class – Cerebal Ballzy

I look forward to the album’s release in the new year.

“Winter has bestowed itself upon us and once again the weatherman warns us that we will soon be brushing snow flakes from our faces. We have returned from texas with dirty boots, a family member heavier (a beautiful young lady by the name of odessa) and a quiver of new songs. Admittedly less than we went out with (such are the worlds’ ways) but damn me if they aren’t some of our favorite yet.”

Early reports suggest the album will have a radically different sound to the group’s excellent 2010 album ‘Serotonin’ and there are even suggestions that the band have ditched pop in favour of country (this wouldn’t be too surprising a twist, they have tried prog and disco in the past afterall).

For now, remind yourself why you love them

More to the point, I’ve yet to hear a double album that hasn’t been overlong, overwrought, over ambitious and completely hit and miss; come to think about it, that’s actually what I like about the double albums I am a fan of. At their best (The White album obviously, also ‘Sign o the times’, ‘The Wall’, and ‘Blonde on Blonde’)  they are worlds to get lost in, landscapes to explore, and things you can dip into here and there. It’s about taking the good with the bad and enjoying the quirks and ambition. So whilst double albums aren’t may favourite in any particular act’s back catalogue, they’re often the ones I listen to most (just not from start to finish). Still, they fail more than they succeed.

M83′s stab at this rock staple is all of the above. It contains some of their best songs, it contains some of their worst. It’s strange and captivating, it’s strange and bewildering. It’s poppy but experimental. It’s got a small world point of view with a cinematic vision. Songs of youth told from the perspective of an adult. In a nutshell ‘Hurry Up We’re Dreaming’, is M83′s best album yet and their worst. I loved the singular vision they had for ‘Saturdays =Youth’ and that record was the perfectly nostalgic take on synth/dream pop. The difference here is that, whilst they explore the same themes and styles, they do so by putting them in a larger context, by zooming out, and by surrounding the direct pop songs with ambient seas of synth. At its heart are M83′s boldest attacks on the mainstream to date, absolute tunes like ‘Midnight City’ and ‘Steve Mqueen’, but intriguingly (and slightly frustratingly) they do everything to make this a difficult album to digest in one sitting, even for a fan.

Still, lets concentrate on the positives for now. As I say, there are some belting tunes; everyone’s probably heard the brilliant ‘Midnight City’ already, but it’s not even the catchiest song on here. ‘Reunion’ is pure drivetime rock gold, featuring an epic chanting chorus and the now traditional M83 spoken word bridge. ‘Wait’ is an authentic power ballad that builds and builds like a tidal wave before washing over, and somewhat flattening, the next two tracks (the downright bizarre ‘Racone-moi Une Historie’ and the atmospheric but forgettable ‘Trains to Pluton’). Maybe best of all is ‘Ok Pal’, which sounds like another golden oldie from the decade time forget (the 80′s obvs); it’s bursting with dodgy synths and colourful harmonies.

Vocally, this is a very different record to its predecessor. That album relied on girl/boy trade offs and half whispered melodies, but on ‘Hurry Up We’re Dreaming’ Gonzales tackles lead vocal duties on his own, and his voice is more powerful, and higher in the mix. It makes for a less dreamy listen, and it means you can now actually hear some, although not all, of what he’s saying. That’s the main difference here, otherwise this actually feels like a very slight development from what they were doing on ‘Saturdays = Youth’. It’s more ambitious obviously, but musically the core tracks are very much on the same page. The instrumental interludes have their purpose in tieing the album together but honestly there are far too many of them, and none are essential listens. A part of me thinks it would have been better if they’d gotten rid of the interludes altogether and selected the best 12 songs, but then it would be an entirely different record altogether, and it wouldn’t be half as interesting.

M83′s goal was apparently to create something ‘very, very, very epic’ and, fair play to them, they’ve succeeded. At what cost, is the question – could this have been a better album if it was shorter and more carefully selected? Whatever the case, this is a worthy addition to M83′s catalogue, and if every great band needs a double album to their name then at least they can cross this off their list. I’m not convinced on its merits just yet, but like all double albums this will be one to come back to in years to come; I’m sure there are songs I’ve overlooked, or sparks of lightning buried somewhere in the middle of this monster. It’s one of the most breathtakingly ambitious albums that has been made in years, and the fact they manage to channel this ambition into something that is relatively cohesive, radio friendly and odd is something to be applauded.

7.5/10

‘Classics’ begins with the song most closely related to the ‘Astro Coast’ numbers and ends with the one that sounds most like a change in direction. Track one is a sludgy rocker called I’m Not Ready’, a song notable for sounding  like it was  influenced just as much by The Smiths as it was by prominent early influences, Weezer and The Beach Boys. The fact that they still sound like they’ve been sitting on a Californian beach for the past six months, working on their tan, betrays the fact that, yes, we’re still listening to Surfer Blood. ‘Miranda’ comes next (It’s a song that’s been floating around for a while) and it really ups the ante. The catchy hook might be their best yet and the production really lets you hear the perfectly arranged instrumentation. 

‘Voyager Return’ is denser than anything they’ve released before but it’s layered in a really interesting way – You don’t feel like they’re plodding along during these slower moments, an impression I got on their debut. Pitts voice (once a delicate and quivery thing) is now deeper and more steady, he is able to hit the right notes more capably and there is ambition in where he takes the melodies. ‘Drinking Problem’ closes things, and it might be the best song on here. Just as ‘Astro Coast’ closed with ‘Catholic Pagan’, a tender ode to sobering up for the girl you love, ‘Drinking Problem’ also deals with putting past indulgences and past mistakes to one side. It’s as if Surfer Blood are cleaning out their closets, preparing us for their inevitable charge on the mainstream.

I hate the word mature, and what it implies; Yes, Surfer Blood have made a more sophisticated, complicated, diverse and…grown up record, but they certainly haven’t lost their sense of fun. They made their name with the blog friendly anthem ‘Swim to Reach the End’, in which they combined distorted, reverb heavy verses with a stadium sized chorus and a bridge breakdown that was frankly ridiculous, but amazing, in this context. ‘Tarot Classics’ retains that mixture of indie cool, ambition and sheer laughs. At four tracks long, and clocking in under 15 minutes, this is hardly a substantial statement of intent, but its a nice reminder that one of last year’s best new bands are more than capable of outliving the hype machine.

8/10

And I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it won’t catch the public’s imagination. Through no fault of his own, Gallagher is a relic from a bygone age – the type of classic rock he writes, just isn’t popular right now. Of course, songs like ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Don’t look back in anger’ are never exactly out of fashion, and if ‘High Flying Birds’ had songs of that calibre then i’m sure he would still get played by radio 1 and he would shift units by the bucket load, but frankly, Gallagher hasn’t written a TUNE in over half a decade.

I was hoping that a solo album would allow Noel the chance to be a bit more introspective, to write songs with personal lyrics – stuff more like ‘Talk Tonight’ or ‘Half the World Away’ – that would be a great album. Actually, he’s just gone and made another Oasis album, without the frontman and without the attitude. admittedly, this is the most ambitious and creative record he’s put out since the mid 90′s, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best since that golden age, cos it isn’t. However, it would be churlish to deny that he still knows his way to a stadium crowd’s heart, and with an opening chorus like ‘you’ve got to hold on, you’ve got to be strong’, this album is practically begging to be chanted along to by tipsy lad rock fans.

My favourite Oasis songs were always the big ballads, the more overblown and soppy the better (‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ and ‘Champagine Supernova’ obviously, but also the overlooked ones like ‘Whatever’, ‘Little By Little’ and ‘Stop Crying Your Heart Out’.) Here there isn’t anything of that quality but ‘If I Had a Gun’ is the one that comes closest. Apparently it was going to be the lead single but Noel thought it sounded too similar to his Oasis material (as if the other 9 songs don’t?) – it was a mistake as it’s far better than first single proper, the dreary ‘Death of You and Me’.

Noel is at his best when his music can safely be described as ‘uplifting’ or ‘majestic’ – ‘Stop the Clocks’ is one such song. It’s been on the Oasis back-burner for the best part of a decade, and it even lent it’s name to the title of a 2006 greatest hits collection, but this is the first time it’s had an official airing. It was never going to live up to expectations I know Oasis fans had for it, but it’s really quite a fitting closer with a soaring chorus and a stirring string section. The album opens with an even louder bang, in the form of the completely overblown but still enjoyable ‘Everybody’s on the run’. Thankfully Noel has shown signs of restraint elsewhere; at ten tracks long and with no song over 5 minutes this is probably the most concise and cohesive Gallagher record to date, and that really is something to applaud. Occasionally though the tacks drag on for a minute or two too long and it’s usually on the more melancholic numbers. I’ve never liked Moody Noel, and songs like ‘stranded on the Wrong Beach’ and ‘Soilder Boys and Jesus Freaks’ remind me why; they’re way too minor and downbeat to work to Gallagher’s strengths.

So as for that inevitable question – is it his best since ‘Morning Glory? Well, no, but to be honest, the real question on fans lips will be whether this is better than Beady Eye’s surprisingly enjoyable debut. Again the answer would be, surprisingly, no, but truth is, if you took the best bits from both albums you really WOULD have the best Oasis album since ‘Morning Glory’ – combine the grittier rock n roll songs of Beady Eye with the stadium ballads of this album and you would have a very fine record indeed.  As it is ‘High Flying Birds’ feels like it’s missing an important limb; It’s a good album that sounds a bit lost in the woods. The shocking revelation in all this is that Noel needs Liam more than Liam needs Noel.

5/10

Last month I reviewed Blink 182′s new album and praised their influence on a generation of young bands. What I declined to mention was that their influence, whilst far-reaching, hasn’t always been positive. Pop-punk is a genre more than capable of producing repulsive bands and repulsive music, and of all the strands of rock, Pop Punk is perhaps the most distinctly and grossly American – the type of ‘American’ that gave us hamburgers, cheerleaders, skateboarding and Hollywood. Therefore I’ve always been annoyed by British punk-pop bands that just copy our oversees cousins in a straight-faced way without adding any British charm. You Me At Six are a perfect example of what I don’t like; a group of fairly posh English lads who put on horrible west coast accents and sing about stuff stolen from every terrible high school rom-com you’ve ever tried to avoid.

This album, like most contemporary pop-punk (or emo, as the genre’s now melted into) is compressed and processed to within and inch of its life. All the instruments blur into one heavily polished mess that lacks any personality, attitude or originality; Layers upon layers of horrible, poppy noise. On top of the music you have the cringe worthy vocals I described earlier; their faux American accents can’t disguise the lack of anything meaningful or interesting to say. Sure, Blink 182 were rarely deep or meaningful but they were always interesting, or at the very least funny – You me at six take themselves way to seriously and they follow the rule book far too closely. One of the reasons Blink-182 worked is that you believed them, they were sincere and therefore we liked them. Youmeatsix are as fake and shallow as groups come.

In spite of all that is horrible about this band, this isn’t a bad album. There are twelve songs and only three of those are dire, the others are really quite catchy and somewhat irresistible – irresistible in the same way that a macdonalds is irresistible maybe; you know it’s not really that tasty and you know it’s bad for you, but it fills a hole all the same and you find yourself eating till you want to be sick. YMAS are better when they calm down (their attempts at hardcore and screamo are embarrassing to behold) cos the power ballads here, like ‘Crash’ and ‘The Dilemma’ are really very good. Some of the more upbeat numbers work as well; ‘Jaws on the Floor’ being a particularly enjoyable track.

I found myself humming along to some of these songs hours after I had finished listening to ‘Sinners Never Sleep’, so I had to take a long cold shower and remind myself just how much I hate YMAS. But still… on the surface they might be terrible, and they don’t have any kind of heart, but somewhere in between their skin and internal organs there is something quite likeable about this group of wannabees. There I said it.

4.5/10

Life in Monochrome by Kai Fish

Mystery Jets have made some of the best (and most overlooked) break up songs of recent years, so when I heard that bass player Kai Fish was going solo to create a whole album dedicated to his broken heart, I was pretty excited. unfortunately ‘Life In Monochrome’ is a bit of a disappointment; rather than vent his heartbreak through the simple, direct pop songs we’ve come to expect from Mystery Jets, he has created an album of  meandering, melodramatic prog-pop. It means that ‘Life in Monochrome’ has some interesting ideas (a clever guitar line here, some odd instrumentation there, that kind of thing) but doesn’t really impress as a whole.

The lyrics were written on a single train journey from North to South England, and it shows in the lack of refinement; he writes the kind of stream of consciousness lyrics that sees him occasionally stumble upon a worthy line or two but more often than not feels like sixth form poetry. However that isn’t the problem musically, in that respect these songs don’t feel underdeveloped at all, it’s just that they really aren’t all that captivating. The album has a bit in common with the Mystery Jets 2006 debut, but it’s darker and a lot less quirky – basically I’m trying t say it’s a bit boring. As I said earlier, there are some interesting ideas, and some actually work really well, but overall it’s a tad too dreary and middle of the road. When he brings the hooks, as on singles ‘Cobalt Cheeks’ and ‘My Anima’, Fish presents himself as a promising solo musician, but for the most part he comes across as just another frustrated bass player from an excellent group.

5/10

Forget by Oupa

Oupa is Daniel Blumburg’s (of Yuck fame) side project; it’s where he flexes the melancholic, insular muscles that weren’t given much room to move on his day job’s excellent debut. There Bloomsburg’s lyrics were of secondary concern, in fact he regularly told interviewers that he didn’t even think about the words until the last minute and even then he didn’t give them much thought. Here the lyrics are pushed more into focus as the fuzz and grime are stripped away. The title of the ‘album’ (there are only seven tracks and it hasn’t been physically released yet as far as I’m aware) is ‘Forget’ and that is the theme  – it’s about the art of forgetting, or not forgetting as the case may be. On the title track he sings ‘I can’t go back a year/ I’ll be natural/ you can’t forget me now’ and most of the tracks reference past events in this sadly nostalgic tone.

The songs are all performed with minimal instrumentation, usually just voice and piano, occasionally alongside an organ or drum machine. It makes for a slightly repetitive, slightly monotomous sounding album but for the most part the intensity of emotion keeps you hooked. Ok, so ‘Physical’ really doesn’t sound all that different from ‘Driving’ which sounds a lot like Windows,but at least it’s cohesive. The melodies are logical, the piano playing is basic and the lyrics verge on clichéd, but the songs are performed with such brutal intensity that you can’t help but be effected by them. As a listening experience this is as miserable and pessimistic as anything I’ve heard all year but it’s rarely as depressing as it logically should be and that’s entirely down to the honesty of Blumsberg’s writing and performance. ‘Forget’ is a moving debut that tops off an already impressive year for the 21 year old.

6.5/10

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/exclusive-stream-r-e-m-s-final-single-we-all-go-back-to-where-we-belong-20111018