Flynndie Reviews: #35 - Top 10 Albums of 2012 - Part 2

Written 7th December 2012:

Top 10 Albums of 2012 – Part 2

Ok, so following on from my last Blog here is the second part of my favourite 10 albums from 2012.  If you missed Part 1, fear not dear reader as you can still find the Blog here or by simply scrolling down the page to after this post.  However, if you did read Part 1, well firstly many thanks for the support and secondly I hope you enjoy reading Part 2 which, with air-guitars still at the ready, we shall jump straight into with a great up-and-coming young band hailing from The US-of-A, Minneapolis.

#5. Howler – America Give Up (Reviewed in Flynndie Reviews Blog #22 – 8/10)

Arriving on the scene in early January this year, young up-starts Howler released their debut album ‘America Give Up’.  Now long time readers may know I’m quite a fan of this bright, young band’s slasher, surfer-rock Indie style and this debut album certainly didn’t disappoint when it arrived.  With a collection of fast, catchy garage-rock tracks the band very much remind me of a lite version of The Strokes from the beach-party styled opener ‘Beach Sluts’ to ‘This One’s Different’ reminding me very much of the juke box from the old TV series ‘Happy Days’ (ask your parents kids!).  ‘Told You Once’ continues the classic 60’s Diner theme, while uniquely titled ‘Pythagorean Fearem’ reminds me a lot of the dark, sinister sound the band ‘80’s Matchbox B-Line Disaster’ were famed for.  Throw in more fast, paced garage-rock with incredibly catchy tracks ‘Wailing (Making Out) and excellent closer ‘Black Lagoon’ and what we have here are a fun, exciting young band, which if you’re a fan on band’s like The Strokes, The Vaccines and to an extend The Libertines and missed this early album from 2012, then I would highly recommend it!

Recommended Tracks: ‘Beach Sluts’, ‘Wailing (Making Out)’, ‘Told You Once, ‘Black Lagoon’

Personal Favourite Track: ‘This One’s Different’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bWBdBMffoU

Howler brought their Surfer, Garage-Rock sound to The Garage back in January

 

#4. Maximo Park – The National Health (Reviewed in Flynndie Reviews Blog #26 – 9/10)

Our next stop on this journey through 2012 see’s us arrive in the North-East; Newcastle to be exact with the long-awaited return of Maximo Park and their 4th studio album ‘The National Health’.  And in my opinion it was well worth the wait as ‘The National Health’ saw the band on real top-form this year, really pushing at the boundaries of the fast, paced guitar sound the band are famed for.  From opening piano ballad ‘When I was Wild’, a surprising start to the record but sets it up nicely, we then had the more ‘traditional’ Maximo Park guitar sound on title-track ‘The National Health’ and the sound continued to be found on tracks ‘Until the Earth would Open’ and ‘Wolf Among Men’, which I always find I can’t help but dance to every time I hear it.  Also featuring more, ‘darker’ electro-pop on previous single ‘Hips and Lips’ and ‘Banlieue’; we also then had the sweeter, more romantic side of Maximo Park on tracks ‘The Undercurrents’, ‘Reluctant Love’ and ‘Unfamiliar Places’.  It’s fair to say the band really challenged themselves and packed quite an impressive range of tracks into a 40-minute record and again this has been another record I’ve found myself listening to a lot this year.

Recommended Tracks: ‘Hips and Lips’, ‘The Undercurrents’, ‘Reluctant Love’, ‘Wolf Among Men’

Personal Favourite Track: ‘The National Health’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiVxX3r5GhI

#3. The Twilight Sad – No One Can Ever Know (Reviewed in Flynndie Reviews Blog #24 – 9/10)

We next head further North still to Kilsyth, Scotland as The Twilight Sad released their 3rd album in February this year with ‘No One Can Ever Know’, the follow-up to their fantastic second album ‘Forget the Night Ahead’.  The distinctly Scottish band returned with another collection of dark, intense and cryptic songs with a generous dose of synths, electronics and even accordions applied to tracks throughout the record.  Each track acts very much as a ‘chapter’ through the record, ranging from opener ‘Alphabet’ setting the more synth-based direction of this album, to the more traditional guitar tracks by the band in the momentum building and fast paced guitar track ‘Dead City’ and then the excellently told tale by third track ‘Sick’.  More synth-heavy tracks appear on the album in the form of ‘Don’t Move’ and ‘Don’t Look at Me’, while we have two excellent Indie-dance tracks closing the album with Joy Division-esque track ‘Another Bed’ and the excellent, building closing track ‘Kill It in the Morning’.  The Twilight Sad seem to remain another very underground Indie band but their style of dark, cryptic and intense guitar and synth-based tracks have a real charm about them and ‘No One Can Ever Know’ is yet another brillant album by a band I would highly recommend to check out and especially go see live.

Recommended Tracks: ‘Alphabet’, ‘Sick’, ‘Don’t Move’, ‘Don’t Look at Me’

Personal Favourite Track(s):
‘Dead City’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wi5iyxGsIQ
‘Kill It in the Morning’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn8jcPXYc1g (Live)

The Twilight Sad stormed through an intense set at The Borderline earlier this year

#2. Two Door Cinema Club - Beacon (Reviewed in Flynndie Reviews Blog #30 – 9/10)

From Kilsyth, Scotland, we next travel to Bangor, Northern Ireland as September saw Two Door Cinema Club release their much anticipated second album ‘Beacon’ the follow-up to their successful debut album ‘Tourist History’.  ‘Beacon’ was released the same week as The Vaccines album ‘Come of Age’ and while the latter may have won that particular chart battle that week, I’ve found myself listening to this album slightly more of the two over the course of the year.  A record laced with the band’s now more familiar fast-paced, guitar and synth pop tracks this album really builds on the band’s debut record for me.  Each track tends to unfold a tale through lead singer Alex Tremble’s falsetto voice and lyrics; this is particularly evident on tracks such as opener ‘Next Year’ and previous single ‘He Sleeps Alone’.  Some of the tracks on the album are just brilliantly put together and build slowly then explode lavishly bold in their style of music and vocals see ‘Sun’, ‘Settle’ and particularly ‘The World is watching (with Valentina)’ for examples of this and overall this has been a highly enjoyable album.

Recommended Songs: ‘Sun’, ‘Sleep Alone’, The World is watching (with Valentina)

Personal Favourite Track(s):
‘Someday’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y08Y15ik5pg (Live at Reading Festival 2012)
‘Settle’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seQX4m2gYNE (Live at Brixton Academy)

#1. Bloc Party - Four (Reviewed in Flynndie Reviews Blog #29 – 8/10)

So the final date on our tour of 2012 sees us arrive in London as Bloc Party returned with their cunningly named fourth album ‘Four’ also ironically released four years after their previous album ‘Intimacy’.  There was a lot of speculation as to what direction the band would take with this album, after their very rocky, Indie-based debut ‘Silent Alarm, to the more ‘chilled-out’ ‘A Weekend in the City’ and the previously mentioned ‘Initmacy’ which showed more of a nod to the Indie Dance scene.  I think what we got with ‘Four’ from Bloc Party was actually a blend of all three of their previous albums to date, making for a unique, eclectic range of tracks from intense, guitar-heavy Indie rock on tracks ‘3x3’, recent single ‘Kettling’ and ‘V.A.L.I.S.’, to the more serene, softer tracks such as the banjo-featuring ‘Real Talk’ and the beautifully sublime ‘Day Four’, to the post-punk sound found on closing track ‘We’re Not Good People’.  Throw in some dance-vibes on comeback single ‘Octopus’ and the excellent and urgent ‘Team A’, plus a couple of old-school sounding Bloc Party bonus tracks in ‘Mean’ and ‘Leaf Skeleton’ on the deluxe version of the album and basically this album formed a great return from the band.  I said at the time I reviewed this, the album felt like ‘a grower’ and this has certainly proved to be the case for me during 2012.

Recommended Tracks: ‘Octopus’, ‘Day Four’, ‘Real Talk’, ‘We’re Not Good People’

Personal Favourite Track(s):
‘Kettling’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk-J1zT7TfQ   
‘Team-A’’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tRK1iAIMT8 (Live at Koko)

So that concludes my Top 10 albums of 2012, I hope you’ve enjoyed my selections and if you have any good recommendations of albums I may have missed this year and are not on my list, feel free to send me some recommendations across on Twitter or leave them in the comments section below.  Many thanks for taking the time to read the Blog and here’s looking forward to some great Indie and alternative music in 2013!
 
Rocking into 2013

‘Flynny’

Flynndie Reviews: Blog #29 Bloc Party - Four

Written 20th August 2012

Bloc Party - Four

The Band: Kele Okereke (vocals/guitar), Russell Lissack (lead guitar), Gordy Moakes (bass) Matt Tong (drums)

So today see’s the long awaited return of Bloc Party with their 4^th album the cunningly named ‘Four’, their first album release since 2008’s last record ‘Intimacy’, making it itself four years since the band last released an album.  The band really made a huge impact on the UK Indie music scene with the release of their excellent debut album ‘Silent Alarm’ back in 2005, with early singles ‘Helicopter’, ‘Banquet’ and ‘Two More Years’, really defining a unique “sonic-fused” guitar sound for not just the band but of any band at the time and rightly receiving a healthy amount of radio airplay, quickly help gaining the band a loyal army of followers.  This was followed up by 2007’s ‘A Weekend in the City’ another great guitar record but this time the album felt a bit more mellow and chilled out compared to its predecessor however this certainly didn’t stop the band achieving further hits with another batch of great singles ‘The Prayer’, ‘Hunting for Witches’ and ‘Flux’ all being released.  They then went on to release 3rd album ‘Intimacy’ and again showed another slight change in direction, with an album which had a much more dance vibe to it and more ‘electro’ influenced tracks than the band had previously done to date but for my money it was still a great record and I have been patiently looking forward to the release of a follow-up album and to paraphrase an early track from the band “So Here We Are” now:

Four

1.               So He Begins To Lie
2.               3x3
3.               Octopus
4.               Real Talk
5.               Kettling
6.               Day Four
7.               Coliseum
8.               V.A.L.I.S.
9.               Team A
10.            Truth
11.            The Healing
12.            We’re Not Good People

Bonus tracks

13.       Mean
14.       Leaf Skeleton

So as you can see from the track-listing above, we’re going hardcore today and reviewing the deluxe-version of the new album featuring two additional bonus tracks which I’ll also cover as part of this review but in the meantime the album gets us underway with opening track “So He Begins To Lie”.  Ok, so throughout this record the album features odd little sound-bites of the band in the studio, as is the case here, before the opening-track picks up with Russell laying down a funky, rocking guitar riff setting the foundations for the track and providing an early indication of the guitar-heavy sound that features much more throughout this record, particularly on the rock-out towards the end of the track.  ‘3x3’ follows up next, and features a frantic, menacing guitar riff from the start, with initially softer vocals from Kele, giving the track a dark yet moody sense of urgency about it and this is emphasized further with Kele’s repeated line “No Means No” in the 2nd half of the track.  Despite its dark tones, it’s an excellent, fast-paced track and progresses the album nicely.  Previous single ‘Octopus’ lightens the mood a little more and features a quirky guitar pedal effect throughout by Russell, giving the track an overall retro and unique feel to it.  With gently backing “Woooo Woooo’s” through its chorus, and a catchy melody throughout, it’s quite an Indie-pop track and I can see why the band ultimately used this as a come-back single.

With a slow, repeating guitar strum throughout it ‘Real Talk’ follows next and sees Kele again softly-sung here, as his vocals slowly reveals a protagonists true feelings for a close friend or partner as the track progresses and the track has a very calm, laidback approach to it with gentle percussion, bass and guitar nudging it along gently.  After, another brief in-studio sound-bite, we go from the gentle flow of ‘Real Talk’ to the full on guitar-rock of ‘Kettling’.  Opening with a heavy, monster of a guitar riff the track then sees a high-pitched guitar riff speeding through its verses with Kele’s vocals over the top of it, before seeing a guitar solo midway through it.  I like this track and it’s one for the guitar enthusiasts in particular.  Again, entering at a more sedate pace is 6th track ‘Day Four’, with slight jangling guitar through it, it’s a nice track and for me personally captures some of the sound the band were previously creating on ‘A Weekend in the City’.  I particularly like the hazy, jangly repeating sounds the band capture and fade-out towards with at the end of the track, providing the listener was an isolated but relaxing backdrop to close with.  ‘Coliseum’ makes an appearance next and is another slow-burner, with a distant effect used on Kele’s vocals during its opening.  This is before midway through the track when the band suddenly assaults the listener’s ears with a brutal, full-on guitar riff bringing back memories of the style of sound used on ‘Silent Alarm’, particularly the track ‘Luno’ (a personal favourite of mine). Great stuff indeed!   ‘V.A.L.I.S.’ slows the tempo of the album again, with low-fi guitars, bass and percussion giving the track a catchy tempo.  It’s a pleasant track and again captures the laidback sounds from ‘A Weekend in the City’. 

‘Team A’ is up next and for me it’s one of the standout tracks of the album.  Featuring, an alarm-sounding electronic riff pulsing through it, layered nicely with Russell’s guitar, the track again has another real sense of urgency about it, defining the eschewed, sonic guitar sounds that Bloc Party are so well known for.  I was lucky enough to catch the band play an early comeback gig at Koko before this album’s release and ‘Team A’ was a real standout track for me on the night, played even faster live and to more effect, than as featured here on the album, it’s a great track.  After the high off the last track, a comedown is expected, but with the track ‘Truth’, this actually quite a pleasant experience we get here, as it coasts along with an assured confidence about itself.   ‘The Healing’ is probably the softest track overall on the album, featuring a mellow guitar riff and an altogether floaty melody to it. It’s a real nice track that I really quite like but it’s almost like the calm before the storm as closing track ‘We’re Not Good People’ is a classic full-on rock track.  We’re talking fast, frenetic no-nonsense rock here that even the Foo Fighters would be proud of!  But hold on, we’re not quite done here just yet, because as I said earlier, this review is covering the deluxe-version of the album, featuring two bonus tracks and they are certainly worth covering in my opinion.

Up first we have ‘Mean’ and this is classic, old-school Bloc Party in my opinion.  Featuring a fast, catchy guitar riff at its heart much like older tracks ‘Helicopter’ or ‘Flux’, it’s therefore a very instant type of track and found myself enjoying it upon first few listens.  Secondly we have the track ‘Leaf Skeleton’ and again this is very much in the mould of old-school Bloc Party, with another catchy guitar riff pulsing through it at 100mph, this is just simply another excellent track.  I must admit I’m somewhat bemused as to why the band didn’t decide to include these two fantastic bonus tracks on the standard version of the album so I would recommend picking up this version of the album if you can just to hear these two excellent tracks alone.

So in concluding, it’s been a long 4-year wait for the return of Bloc Party but has it been worth the wait?  What we have here is an album that has been carefully crafted together by four excellent musicians, whom certainly have high standards in the music and unique sound that they create when they are together.  There was a lot of expectation and second-guessing as to what direction the band may take with this fourth album and in my opinion they have returned with a strong guitar influenced album, while still retaining the fast, sonic melodies that are distinctly Bloc Party.  Also featuring hard and heavy rock tracks, to the more melodic and chilled out tunes this is arguably the most diverse Bloc Party album to date and I’m finding I’m appreciating the tracks more on this album with each subsequent listen.  I was initially considering awarding this album 7/10 but with more listens it’s a definite grower in my opinion so I’m actually going to give this album 2 lots of Four out of 10 (see what I did there!)       

Real Talk

Flynny

Track 3 ‘Octopus’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkeUFRK4i7w

Track 4 ‘Real Talk’ (live from Terminal 5, New York)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhBbVitI0Tk

Track 9 ‘Team A’ (live from Koko, London)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tRK1iAIMT8