Keane ‘Strangeland’ – Review

Mums like Keane so critics don’t. Their music is inoffensive, they’re from a middle class background and they don’t have a guitarist. But the Fact is Keane are extremely good at what they do; when they are firing on all cylinders they are better than Coldplay or Snow Patrol for starters.  Unfortunately what they do is loathed by the influential music press despite being loved by the public. There is a correlation between these two facts as popular bands often make popular targets - notice how the press raved about Kings of Leon, Coldplay, Kaiser Chiefs, Snow Patrol, The Killers etc (the list could go on) until they started bothering the charts? But as Keane pointed out last week, they have never been popular in a trendy trendy way and, despite what you might hear, they’ve never stuck to one particular style or sound. Listening to their albums in a row again recently, I was surprised at the variety contained in their older albums.

So what exactly is it that Keane do well? Firstly, praise needs to be given for how BIG their records sound. A couple of years ago they released a deluxe edition of ‘Hopes and Fears’ which included some old demos; these demos featured the same instruments that were eventually used on the album but in comparison the songs sound sparse, flat and lacking. Somewhow, on all their albums, Keane manage to make Voice, drums and piano sound epic, and I’m not entirely sure how they do it. On ‘Strangeland’, despite minimal and unffussy arrangements, these songs sounds fully formed, anthemic and never undercooked. In particular, the Springstein-esque ‘Sovereign Light Cafe’ sounds dramatic and widescreen despite featuring only a handful of instruments.

Secondly, Keane manage to make your heart yearn with frankly rather soppy and cliched lyrics. On paper some of these lines read like bad sixth form poetry, but when Tom Chaplin wraps his vocal chords around them they are more than effective. Everyone knows what he means when he says ‘I Feel like I just don’t know you anymore’ or ‘I want to love the way we did back then’. When he’s not messing about with cheesy metaphors, Chaplin has a potent way of hitting the nail on the head.

The name of the album is ‘Strangeland’ but a more appropriate one, had they not already used it, would be ‘Hopes and Fears’. Whereas their debut was more pessimistic, focusing on the fears, ‘Strangeland’ concentrates on hope.’ We’re gonna rise again’ he sings on first single ‘Silenced by the Night’. Elsewhere he croons ‘Your whole life lies ahead, it’s just around the bend’ then ‘though it seems so far away, the day will come’. Critics will (and have) argued that these lyrics are trite or obvious, but they have positive qualities these critics are overlooking. These lyrics are uplifting, they are inclusive and they are ambiguous without being vague (take note Coldplay).

Keane pushed the boat out successfully on their 2008 album ‘Perfect Symmetry’, and then they pushed it out too far on their 2010 mini album ‘Night Train’. I remember thinking that they weren’t playing to their strengths, they were playing to the critics and I couldn’t see why they would want that. Thankfully on ‘Strangeland’ they are harking back to that classic debut album. It’s obvious before you even put the record on – the cover features the same typography as the debut, and the band’s logo is positioned squarely in the centre of the cover, as it was on the debut and there is a focus on melodies rather than experimentation. ‘Disconnected’ has a particularly catchy melody and it should have been chosen as first single over the slightly bland ‘Silenced by the Night’.

Whilst Keane have largely (and thankfully) stuck to what they’re good at, there have been subtle changes, and not necessarily for the better. Tom Chaplin’s voice is deeper and stronger but I rather liked his fragile falsetto, and it’s rarely used here (although ‘Sea Fog’ is a beautiful example of it in full action). Keane seem to have developed a tendency to want to crank everything up to the maximum, and not just vocally. There are none of the ambient interludes that were so compelling on ‘Hopes and Fears’ and ‘Under the Iron Sea’, and too often the band belt out songs that require a more delicate touch. I wonder if this is something the producer should have spotted and fixed – a little light and shade would take ‘Strangeland’ from a great album to their best one yet.

Mainstream pop in 2012 is a very different world to 2004, and Keane are more underdogs than ever. ‘Somewhere Only We Know’, ‘Everybody’s Changing’ and ‘Is It Any Wonder’ were big hits, but none of the songs on ‘Strangeland’ will bother the charts, which is a shame because this is filled with fantastic tunes. ‘Day Will Come’ sounds like a long lost classic and ‘On the Road’ proves that the band can do energetic songs just as well as ballads. Their fondness for cliches and uplifting lyrics will never endear them to critics but their fans are passionate and dedicated. It’s this audience that Keane are now playing for, and that is a wise decision. ‘Strangeland’ may not better ‘Hopes and Fears’ but it may be their best album since.

8/10

Mystery Jets ‘Radlands’ – Review

It’s easy to forget just how many costumes Mystery Jets have worn over the years. Remember how strange and psychadelic their debut was? And remember just how surprising it was when their second album, ’21′, turned out to be a synth pop banger without any signs of madness or eccentricity? And remember just how alarmingly intimate their third record, ‘Serotonin’, was? That their new album, ‘Radlands’, has seen them go country-rock is even more surprising without being at all surprising – we’ve come to expect the unexpected from the band. What’s remarkable is that throught their career, despite their constant attempts at reinvention, Mystery Jets have never sounded like anyone else except themselves – and that’s a compliment.

It seems ‘Radlands’ is the product of some kind of existential crisis for the band. Back in 2010 Mystery Jets got their hearts broken and made a pretty stunning album all about it. So what do you do once the tears have dried and you’re ready to move on? Well, most people would run away given half a chance, it’s just that they have commitments – jobs, family etc, not to mention a lack of money. Mystery Jets however are a rock n roll band, therefore they have no commitments or money problems! So what did they do? The first thing anyone would do of course – they got on a plane and flew as far into Texas as they could and proceeded to spend a couple of months getting drunk, writing songs about weirdos and pretending to be Johnny Cash!

On ‘Radlands’ the band sound more confident than they ever have before. On songs like ‘Flakes’, ‘Umbrellahead’ and ‘Alice Springs’, Blaine sounded fragile, cut up and vulruble, but on ‘Radlands’ his voice is strong, well trained and powerful. Bass player Kai Fish and guitarist William Rees have also developed into great singers, and the three part harmonies are delightful throughout. ‘You Had Me at Hello’ has particularly memorable vocals for a song about finding love in the arms of a prostitute. The theme of uncertainty runs throughout the album, as song titles like ‘The Nothing’ and ‘Lost In Austin’ suggest. Blaine isn’t the most sophisticated writer on the block but he is able to squeeze all possible meaning and emotion out of simple lyrics.

William Rees’ songs are the weaker ones on the album. His songs, including ‘The Ballad of Emerson Lonestar’ and ‘Sister Everett’ attempt to tell storys but fail to be interesting despite having some clever melodic hooks. ‘Where the Roses Go’ is a nice duet between William and his girlfriend Lucy Rose, but it’s a little too cliched and cheesy for my tastes. His best moment is the funky, almost Bee Gees sounding ‘Hale Bop’ which features some amazing falsetto vocals and sprightly guitar licks. Blaine’s songs are better because he can convey more with his voice and through his lyrics. Despite the newly found confidence I mentioned earlier, there is still a degree of sadness in his delivery, particularly on the soul searching first single ‘Someone Purer’ which is built around the genius refrain of ‘Give me rock n roll and a pure and innocent soul’, surely a contradiction in terms?

Like fellow eccentrics The Horrors, Mystery Jets always get compared to older bands. Reviews of their previous albums often spent more time name checking influences than talking about the music (a fact that led the infamous Pitchforkreviews-reviewer to write a blog complaining aout pitchfork’s dire review of ‘Serotonin’). This time the band have decided not to leave it to the reviews, and they actually list their favourite records on the jaw-droppingly brilliant ‘Greatest Hits’, which describes a couple dividing their record collection after a break up. I could print the entire lyrics to the song because they’re so fantastic but I think this line sums up its majesty: ‘your not having this nations saving grace, you only listen to it when you’re pissed / and when you sober up it’s always why the fuck are you still listening to Mark E Smith.’ Lyric of the year?

I’m a big fan of Mystery Jets first three albums and I guess ‘Radlands’ always had a lot to live up to in my eyes. I would be lying if I said it reached the dizzying heights of ‘Serotonin’ or ‘Twenty One’ (two of the most underated pop albums of recent years), but that said, it’s still amongst the very best records I’ve heard all year. Like that Kids cartoon adventurer Mr Ben, Mystery Jets like trying on new costumes, so what will they come out as next time? They’ve toyed with glam rock in the past or maybe they’ll go grunge? punk rock? I’ve always wondered what a dubstep Mystery Jets song would sound like… or not.

8/10

New Animal Collective and Passion Pit

Soooooooooo, Animal Collective are back. Check out the typically zany ‘Honeycomb’ and ‘Gotham’ HERE

Meanwhile, Passion Pit, the guys who made the brilliant ‘Manners’ in 2009, have also released their comeback single. You can listen to ‘Take a Walk’ HERE. Whilst your at it, remind yourself how brilliant both bands are capable of being by listening to ‘Little Secrets’ and ‘My Girls’ below.

The Men ‘Open Your Heart’ – Review

Just as the likes of NME and Radio 1 are panicking about guitar music being on life support, the blogosphere seems to be re-evealuating the genre of late. Perhaps they’ve realised that Rock music has had a pretty rough ride over the past decade. Afterall, The Rapture made disco cool, Abba and The Carpenters are credible for the first time in their careers, whilst even r&b is having an unexpected revival. Surely rock music can also have its day in the sun? Maybe it’s just that the cool kids like to be contrary but at last there seems to be a change in the tide. A few things have influenced this, namely some influential reviews and articles at places like Beats Per Minute, The New York Times, and Pitchfork, but it also helps that in the last few months some too good to be deniable, capital R, Rock albums have been released, including records by Cloud Nothings, Yuck, Milk Music and The Men.

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The Mens’ breakthrough album was ‘Leave Home’, and their music was as obviously pinched as the album’s title. But it really was a fantastic LP; grungy, noisy, seedy, distorted, confused, messy and intense. Most of all, it was a lot of fun. Like every good band should they’ve capitalised on that record’s success by putting out a follow-up really quickly – in under 8 months to be precise. ‘Open Your Heart’ is in many respects a better record, as it flows from song to song and sound to sound with more focus and direction.  It means that the appropriately titled ‘Country Song’ moves seamlessly into the other-worldly weirdness of ‘Oscillation’ which likewise morphs fittingly into the melodic ‘Please Don’t Go Away’. This is in contrast to the chaos of ‘Leave Home’, where songs were positioned in a seemingly random and unsettling order.

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The other great shift in gear comes with The Mens’ move towards a more polished, melodic sound. The title track is one of the most enjoyable guitar songs you’ll hear all year, whilst ‘Turn It Around’ goes so far as to musically reference Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, and dare I say, Bon Jovi. Meanwhile ‘Country Song’ is not the only track on the album that could use that title; ‘Candy’ is also a divine bit of straight up country-pop.

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They still do nasty of course, but they now do it a lot less convincingly than they did 12 months ago. ‘Cube’ and ‘Oscillation’ are loud, untamed and honestly far too long for their own good. ‘Animal’ better captures that punk spirit of the first two records, but it still can’t hold a candle to the more considered moments on the record. Lyrically they have a lot to still work on – sure, they’ve improved since the days when they would spit out one lyric over and over (‘If you leave…then I would die’) and bury their words under miles of distortion, but on ‘Turn It Around’ they’ve created something that resembles a good lyrical hook (‘I wanna see you go dooooowwwwn’) and ‘Please Don’t Go Away’ and ‘Candy’ manage to convey real emotion with simple, unfunny language.

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‘Open Your Heart’ is The Men’s best album yet, even if it doesn’t captivate and excite in the way that their first two records did. Here they demonstrate that not only could they lead a new wave of heavy rock bands to critical acclaim but they’re also perfectly capable of making stellar pop music as well. Not that we’d particularly want them to fully convert when their own brand of eccentric, genre crushing music is so potent right now.

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7/10

Scuba ‘Personality’ – Review

I was introduced to Scuba through the mix that he made for the influential DJ Kicks series. I was impressed by the journey Scuba took me on; Not only does he knows the art of sequencing a mix to perfection, but he also managed to turn me onto sounds and styles I’m not really familiar with. It’s therefore interesting that I should like ‘Personality’, an album produced from scratch by Scuba, for the same reasons that I liked his DJ Kicks Mix, as it takes you on an equally fascinating  journey. This is techno via dubstep via house that is in turns melodic, dark, retro, futuristic, fun and classy.

After a shaky start (opener ‘Ignition Key’ is all over the place, second track ‘Underbelly’ stalls the record’s momentum) the album settles into a routine of being predictably unpredictable. By that I mean you don’t know where Scuba is going to take you next, but you know it will be interesting, and different to where you’ve just been. You also know that any given song is likely to feature cut up vocal samples (that work particularly well on ‘Dsy Chn’ and ‘If U Want’ but can be distracting and occasionally cliched at other points) and that at some point most of these tunes are going to descend into big beat, bright synth bangers (check out the euphoric synth that sounds like a sunrise halfway through ‘Cognitive Dissonance’).

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Scuba (apart from making me listen to dub-step again, a genre that I lost patience with a while ago) is that he manages to sound futuristic whilst sounding retro. On a song like ‘Tulips’ he uses a classic 808 beat, cheesy 1980′s keyboards, an old school rave vocal sample, and some atmospheric digital tom follery that’s been borrowed from dubstep. Like Rustie’s fantastic album ‘Gold Swords’, ‘Personality’ is a success because it can’t be kept in any generic or periodic box; it’s everything that has come before it as well as everything that’s still to come.

Whilst it lives up to its title by exuding personality, what the album lacks is something deeper – it lacks real emotional depth. It puts you in a mood, but it never makes you feel anything complex. Of course the argument would be that Dance music isn’t meant to connect on a deeper level; this is music for the feet rather than the heart, music to help you forget, not music to help you remember. But the fact is that ‘Personality’ comes so close to meaning something significant, that I can’t help but regret the lack of soul. The likes of James Blake, Mount Kimble, Burial and Seplacure have made great waves for Bass music in this department, and Scuba comes close to joining their ranks. He remains one of the most exciting prospects in dance though, and ‘Personality’ is his biggest success to date.

7.5/10

Sleigh Bells ‘Reign of Terror’ – Review

Did anyone expect Sleigh Bells to still be popular in 2012? Maybe it was just me, but they seemed to be too of the moment, too current and too tied to their image; I didn’t hold much hope for them in the long-term. Not that I wasn’t a fan; they are one of the few bands to emerge in recent years who have done something genuinely fresh and exciting with guitars. Their combination of Hip Hop Beats, pop melodies and glam-metal axe heroics makes them a unique proposition. And despite the distinctively un-commercial sounds the group produce, their debut was a hit, and not just critically; their work has been sampled by the likes of Beyonce and M.I.A and their music has been used in adverts on TV, and in trailers at the cinema.

There’s no doubt that much of the thrill of their debut was the thrill of the unknown. Now that we are used to their unique sound, have they lost some of the magic? The answer is probably. Which isn’t to say that album number two, ‘Reign of Terror’ is a bad album, far from it, it’s just that now we’re no longer gushing over the sound we can focus more on the songwriting, which is not their strongest selling point. I was hoping that maybe they would have some fresh tricks up their sleeves, more wizardry to dazzle us with, but that doesn’t really seem to be the case; instead there is an emphasis on more of the same, turned up to 11. The guitars are grittier and increasingly Van Halen-esque, whilst the vocals are stickier and sweeter, which means their sonic clash of cultures is even more intense on ‘Born to Reign’ than It was on ‘Treats.’

So on to the songs themselves. Simply, they aren’t as good as the collection of tunes on album number one. ‘Comeback Kid’ was a decent first single, but it was no ‘Tell Em’. ‘End of the Line’ is a fantastic ballad, but it’s no ‘Rill Rill’. The record is let down by too much filler; album opener ‘True Shred Guitar’ is an embarrassingly bad opening statement, whilst the final trilogy of songs are all instantly forgettable. Somewhere in the middle there are songs that fight a good fight. ‘Demons’ is frantic and furious, and utterly brilliant, whilst ‘Leader of the Pack’ is as heavy as any metal song I’ve heard recently.

This time the vocals are more exposed in the mix, which allows the listener to zoom in on the lyrical content. Their debut never drew attention to itself in this respect, focusing on simple and direct messages that were often chanted on repeat. ‘Reign of Terror’ begins in the same way with the simple  mantra of ‘Push it, push it, push it/ true shred guitar.’ Things break down when the lyrics get more complicated than this. Kraus seems to think she is some kind of agony aunt, offering opinions to hopeless friends, ex-boyfriends and even her fans. My alternative theory is that she’s actually psychotic and self-loathing, and these lyrics are about herself. On ‘Born to lose’ it sounds like she’s taken on the role of her shoulder demon when she sings ‘Heard you say suicide in your sleep/ Just get on with it, you were born to lose’. Then later on she says ‘No one loves you, up above you, no one hears you.’

Ultimately these negative feelings are repressed, and the overwhelming final message is one of support and consolation. The main theme is about finding out who you really are inside, and forgetting the person you have somehow become. The final line of the album is ‘Remember who you are’, and the first single is called ‘Comeback Kid’, a song about taking with the punches and starting again. ‘Reign of Terror’, against the odds, is a triumphant album. However, It’s not a classic album – their debut is better in almost every respect. But whilst there are no musical surprises, the real surprise might actually be that Sleigh Bells are in this for the long haul. There is enough evidence here to say that this band have staying power.

6.5/10

The Maccabees ‘Given to the Wild’ – Review

I feel a bit sorry for bands that release albums in January. At the time they get critically lauded and often sell a reasonable amount, but this is often only because so very few artists release records in January. This simple fact explains how groups like White Lies and Delphic have had top five albums that are forgotten by December, list season, and rarely sell more than a few thousand in the long-term. There are odd exceptions though; some acts use the lack of big releases to great effect, and the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend and Adele have had massive hit albums in January that benefited hugely from lack of competition. This is why Fiction have released The Maccabees third album this month, in the absence of any competition from other bands.

And fairplay to them, it’s worked; ‘Given to the Wild’ reached number 5 in the chart. Ok, that’s a bit misleading, fewer albums were sold this January than in any other month on record, so it can’t have been hard for a moderately established group to break the top ten. That said it’s still a well deserved reward for a group that have been steadily touring and making music for half a decade now. They’ve followed a similar path to another modern indie band, The Horrors. Both groups went from underrated and misunderstood debutants to critically acclaimed but commercially troubled second album contenders. With album number three both groups have gone even further down unusual avenues with much greater success commercially but with albums that are more difficult to love. Overall ‘Given to the Wild’ is ambitious, hit and miss, and slightly underwhelming.

The Maccabees sound as if they’re playing in the middle of a desert or field on a hot summer’s day, perhaps like the one on the cover. The sound is soaked in reverb, the mix is spacious, allowing every instrument room to breath, and nothing sounds rushed or busy. Because of this production, ‘Given to the Wild’ is an atmospheric record that does a fantastic job of showing off Orlando’s increasingly stunning vocals (check out his angelic tones on ‘Went Away’). However, before you get too excited, you should be warned that he doesn’t have a lot of note to say with that wonderful voice.

Or rather, he doesn’t quite know how to express exactly what he wants to say. I know from interviews that, to Orlando at least, this is an album about growing up; all his friends have been getting married and having babies, which has made him reflect on the past, as well as the present and his future. These themes are occasionally evident  in songs like ‘Grew up at Midnight’ and ‘Feel to Follow’, but too often the lyrics are vague and oddly cryptic. I heard that they wanted to make the British version of ‘The Suburbs’, an album by a band (Arcade Fire) concerned with almost identical ideas, but a band that is able to articulate them in a much more emotive and detailed way.

But it’s a shame to be quite so negative from the off. This is a lush album that is rich in musical detail and brimming with well-meaning ideas. The harmonies are consistently impressive, particularly on album stand out, and first single, ‘Pelican.’ I was a huge fan of the group’s furious and fun debut, as well as their slightly awkward but interesting second album ‘Wall of Arms’, but the progression from those records to this one, in certain respects at least, is quite astonishing. They’ve really matured from post-Arctic Monkeys wannabees to genuinely innovative and thoughtful musicians.

All of this comes at  a price though. Despite being a beautifully produced album, with stunning vocals and intricate arrangements, ‘Given to the Wild’ suffers from a simple but devastating flaw – it’s just a bit boring. The Maccabees are a great band and they display all the signs of having a great album in them, but ‘Given to the Wild’ isn’t it; it just takes itself far too seriously. Where is anything as catchy as ‘Toothpaste Kisses’? Anything as infectious as ‘Latchmere’? Anything as anthemic as ‘Kiss You Better’? Far too often these songs melt into the background or drift into the realm of ambience, which is surprising as one thing The Maccabees have never been is yawn inducing. Still, overall, ‘Given to the Wild’ is filled with promise, and it does nothing to change my mind in one respect;the best s yet to come from this band.

6.5/10

Howler ‘America Give Up’ / Tribes ‘Baby’ – Reviews

America Give Up by Howler

Howler are nearly as desperate to be the new Strokes as Rough Trade (who flew half way around the globe to sign them after hearing a demo) and NME are for them to be the new Strokes. As The Flaming Lips once sang ‘It’s a good time for superman’ and right now, according to some, Howler are the best fit for that costume. Except they aren’t. ‘America Give Up’ is a fun album but it isn’t going to change anyone’s life – it simply isn’t good enough. Singer, Jordan Gatesmith, has a grating, nasal voice and it’s given far too much room in the mix. The songs are almost all decent but rarely anything more than that (although rarely anything less either). The production is shambolic but in a controlled way – organized chaos, etc. Still, ‘Back of Your Neck’, ‘Beach Sluts’ and ‘This One’s Different’ make this a worthy listen. In these moments the group’s buzzsaw energy makes for an infectious and likeable debut. Is this it? no it isn’t. America Give Up? Not quite yet. However – Howler will keep you happily distracted for half an hour, and that’s enough for the time being.

6.5/10

Baby by Tribes

Tribes first came to my attention nearly two years ago, when some seriously lo-fi, mostly acoustic, demos appeared online. I was very excited. These were emotive, powerful and dangerously catchy tunes. Last January, in the band’s first interview with the NME, they said they were desperate to sign to a major label. They craved success. They wanted to be stadium sized. Therefore, the first two tracks on this album are the very same songs that first grabbed me by the neck eighteen months ago, only they’ve been given a big budget, widescreen makeover. Sure, they aren’t as good as the original versions, but ambition is not something to be ridiculed, and the versions that appear on ‘Baby’ still sound brilliant, and now, spectacularly epic.

‘Whenever’ and ‘We Were Children’ are the songs in question, both odes to growing up, that hit the nail on the head in more than a few instances (‘If you forgave me I could sleep at night, knowing I’d lived a good life’ or ‘these things happen, we were children in the mid 90′s’), and here they introduce a remarkably solid run of songs that are as self-assured, hard rocking and anthemic as anything released over the past twelve months. This is how they made debuts in the decade referenced above.

The album can be divided into two halves; slow songs and fast songs, and there really isn’t much else in between. This means that ‘Baby’ is a slightly two-dimensional album – but then some of the greatest pleasures in life are two dimensional, so there is nothing wrong with that. Of the faster songs, the two recent singles ‘Sappho’ and ‘When My Day Comes’ shine brightest thanks to their hummable choruses and guitar hero theatrics. Of the slower songs, ‘Nightdriving’ (an emotional ode to a childhood friend who committed suicide) hits hardest, whilst ‘Corner of an English Field’ is a smile inducing homage to britpop. Best of all perhaps is ‘Himalaya’, a song that takes a fine stab at being a power ballad and just about pulls it off.

Things tail off slightly towards the end; ‘Alone or With Friends’ is a bit of a non-event, and ‘Bad Apple’, the weakest song on the album, makes for a bit of an anticlimactic ending. But front loaded or not, ‘Baby’ is a very impressive debut that by rights should (but almost certainly won’t – not your fault guys) send Tribes crashing into the big time. Ok, this is an old-fashioned record that occasionally plays it a bit too safe, and maybe it is as cliched as its title, but we need this band; see how they strut about on stage in ripped jeans and make up, see how the guitarist dates supermodels and Scarlet Johanson, see how they live every cliche and love it – they are traditional rock stars, and in 2011 there are very few of those about.

8/10

M83 ‘Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming’ – Review

I’ve never been a fan of double albums, they’re a victim of the trait I dislike most in pop music – indulgence. They only ever came to exist in the first place because drugged up rock stars of the 1960′s were too high and too arrogant to edit their albums. They stuck about because those rock stars became prog rockers, and the songs became too long to fill two sides of vinyl. Then Punk rockers saw it as a form of rebellion against record labels, and grunge rockers saw it as the ultimate form of artistic expression. In the age of downloads and unlimited space, the idea of sticking to a 45 minute rule that was created through need rather than want, may seem ridiculous (Flaming lips have just put out a 24 hour song) but personally I think the old LPs were the perfect length, and I get bored if an album is much longer.

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

Surfer Blood ‘Tarot Classics’ E.P – Review

Nearly two years on from the release of their acclaimed debut, ‘Astro Coast’, Surfer Blood are back on a bigger label and with a bigger sound. Signing to Warner Brothers was a gutsy move and this ambition is reflected on this new four track e.p. It’s hard a hard record to judge - we don’t really know if these songs are a farewell letter from the past (before they take us down a completely different path) or a sign of what we can expect from the full length. One thing we can say with certainty is that they’ve cleaned up their sound considerably; they’ve stripped away the fuzz that muddied the debut and replaced it with glitzy, expensive production. It really compliments the group’s songs, which have always been built around bright melodies and poppy harmonies, just as much as distorted riffs. The tunes are still riff heavy, but now they wouldn’t sound out-of-place on a radio playlist.

‘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