Flynndie Reviews: #41 - Top 10 Albums of 2013

Written 4th December 2013:

So as another year draws to a close, I’ve decided to compile my personal favourite Indie and Alternative albums from the past 12 months and list my selections here, highlighting the albums I found myself listening to the most over the course of the year.  For me 2013 has generally been a steady year for fans of Indie music, which in particular has seen many ‘big hitters’ return with either their 3rd, 4th or 5th album furthering their sounds but also in a few cases there have been some great new bands arrive on the scene with some debut albums to look out for in case you may have missed them earlier this year.

So put on your dancing shoes and pack your air guitars as we head out on tour and check out 10 of the top albums from 2013!

#10. Parlour Flames – Parlour Flames (Released 20th May - Reviewed in Flynndie Reviews #38 – 7/10)

May saw the release of Parlour Flames debut album of the same name, featuring former-Oasis guitarist Bonehead teaming up with singer, song-writer, poet, Vinny Peculiar.  As I previously said when I reviewed this record, those expecting guitar-rock in the style of Oasis because of the Bonehead-connection would be way off the mark.  What we had here, was a jolly, charming record with light-hearted, chilled melodies laced with witty, tongue-in-cheek lyrics from Vinny (‘Sunday Afternoon’, ‘Pop Music, Football and Girls’) to more guitar-scuzzy tracks (‘Get in the Van’) brilliantly swaggering Indie-pop (‘Manchester Rain’) and a couple of psychedelic numbers (‘Jump the Brook Ruth’, ‘Broken Hearted Existentialist’) in all making this a nice, chilled and witty debut record from the Manchester duo.

Recommended Tracks: ‘Manchester Rain’, ‘Get in the Van’, ‘Jump the Brook Ruth’

Personal Favourite Track: ‘Pop Music, Football and Girls’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdEkXqIsS3c  

#9. Editors – The Weight of Your Love (Released 1st July – Reviewed in Flynndie Reviews #39 – 7/10)

2013 saw Editors return with their much-anticipated 4th studio album ‘The Weight of Your Love’.  Returning with excellent comeback single ‘A Ton of Love’, this track was pure guitar-pop and hinted at the band’s return to a large guitar-based sound as opposed to the more electronic sound of their 3rd record ‘In This Light and On This Evening’.  And while the new album did feature some more traditional Editors guitar-based tracks (‘The Weight’, ‘Formaldehyde’) the album featured much more thoughtful, deeper ballads by the band backed with string sections (‘Honesty’, ‘What is this thing called love?’) to piano-driven tracks (‘Two Hearted Spider’) with passionate and high-pitched vocals from lead-singer Tom Smith being a feature throughout the record.  This is probably the most soft, caring and tender album by Editors to-date.

Recommended Tracks: ‘The Weight’, ‘Honesty’, ‘Formaldehyde’

Personal Favourite Track: ‘A Ton of Love’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQQ2gTkV-GM  

#8. Nick Mulvey – Fever to the Form EP (Released 17th June)

Over the summer I managed to catch an X-FM Xposure night at the Camden Barfly.  3rd act on the bill that night was a guy called Nick Mulvey and what followed over the next 20-25 minutes was one of the most amazing acoustics sets I've seen!  With well-written and beautifully structured acoustic melodies influenced by Latin finger-picking and African rhythms, Nick has quite a unique, chilled, flowing sound that I’ve not heard too often and this EP really captures his style and sound well.  In particular if you like Ben Howard, I would certainly recommend to check out some of Nick’s material and really think this guy could become quite a success over the next 12 months; I can’t recommend the opportunity to try and catch him live enough though!

Recommended Tracks: ‘Juramidam’ 

Personal Favourite Track: ‘Fever to the Form’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds0jtuyslbI

#7. Miles Kane – Don’t Forget Who You Are (Released 31st May)

The end of May saw Miles Kane release his 2nd-solo album ‘Don’t Forget Who You Are’.  Featuring a great collection of tight Indie-rock tracks, with big sing-along choruses (‘Taking Over’, Better Than That’, ‘Give Up’), to some retro Indie-pop (‘Don’t Forget Who You Are’) to dreamy, acoustic tracks (‘Fire in my Heart’)  this is another fine effort from the young Scouse Mod.  A more full-on and rocky album than Miles debut effort ‘Colour of the Trap’, for me this record builds a lot on his song-writing style and in my opinion tops his fine debut album as well, with a catchy, up-beat Indie record.  If you can I’d recommend picking up the special edition version of the album as it features 3 excellent bonus tracks ‘Start of Something Big’, ‘Caught in the Act’ and ‘First of my Kind’ which help build on an already fine record.

Recommended Songs: ‘Don’t Forget Who You Are’, ‘Better Than That’, ‘Give Up’

Personal Favourite Track: ‘Taking Over’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saPSlDlVmnk

#6. Red Kite – Songs for Crow (Released 5th November)

A great new band I came across in 2013 was London-based 6-piece Red Kite, fronted by former-Cooper Temple Clause guitarist Dan Fisher and also being notable for featuring two-drummers in the band.  ‘Songs for Crow’ was originally released back in May for those that pre-ordered the album via Pledge Music while November saw a general release for the album, which was a fine blend of Alt-Rock.  Featuring some great alternative guitar-pop with fantastic guitar-hooks (‘The Gathering Storm’, ‘Montreal’) to dark, brooding, Indie-rock (‘Red Blooded Males’) to the more stripped-down, poignant acoustic numbers (‘Songs for Crow’, ‘No Painter of Note’) this a dark, thoughtful record with a lot of heart and care poured into it, particularly in the lyrics, creating a unique Alt-Rock sound for the band Red Kite and a band I’m looking forward to hearing more from in the future.

Recommended Tracks: ‘The Gathering Storm’, ‘Poltergeist’, ‘Red Blooded Males’

Personal Favourite Track: ‘Montreal’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24x5KzmZeiQ  

#5. Johnny Marr – The Messenger (Released 22nd February)

2013 was also the year that former-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr surprised many by releasing his debut solo-album ‘The Messenger’ after previously playing guitar full-time with many other bands including The Cribs and Modest Mouse.  And in my opinion the long wait for a solo album from Mr Marr was well worth it as ‘The Messenger’ was a fine guitar record.  With a fine blend of cool, swaggering Indie (‘The Right Thing Right’, ‘Upstarts’) catchy, upbeat and urgent tracks (‘I Want the Heartbeat, ‘Generate! Generate!)’, to the baggy album title-track (‘The Messenger’) and the excellent, jangly and very Smiths-esque (‘New Town Velocity’) overall made this a very cool, understated and enjoyable record from the Manchester guitar legend.

Recommended Songs: ‘Upstarts’, ‘The Messenger’, ‘Generate! Generate!’

Personal Favourite Track: ‘New Town Velocity’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXEc9WZ1bkY 

#4. Franz Ferdinand – Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action (Released 26th August)

Late summer saw the return of Scottish art-popsters Franz Ferdinand with their 4th album ‘Right Thoughts’.  Returning with the jazzy, upbeat and incredibly catchy comeback single ‘Love Illumination’, it was an early indication that Franz were set to release an upbeat, pop record and in my opinion this album was a fine return to form for them.  Packed with some funky and danceable tracks (‘Love Illumination’, ‘Stand on the Horizon’), to some pure Indie-pop (‘Right Action’, ’Fresh Strawberries’), some more familiar, fast and urgent Franz Ferdinand (‘Bullet’), while recent “spooky” single ‘Evil Eye’ was the perfect sound-track for Halloween parties everywhere, ‘Right Thoughts’ was one of 2013’s most pleasant surprises for me.

Recommended Tracks: ‘Right Action’, ‘Love Illumination’, ‘Evil Eye’

Personal Favourite Track: ‘Stand on the Horizon’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45zwH8uwvRU

#3. The Strokes – Comedown Machine (Released 25th March - Reviewed in Flynndie Reviews #36 – 7/10)

March saw the return of one of New York’s finest, The Strokes, with their 5th studio album ‘Comedown Machine’.  The last couple of Strokes albums had been a bit more experimental with their sound and so was the case with ‘Comedown Machine’.  Packing in a range of different styles from opening track ‘Tap Out’ flirting with retro guitar-sounds, to dabbling with 70’s disco (‘Welcome to Japan’), to guitars sounding like synths backed with falsetto vocals (‘One Way Trigger’), garage-rock (‘50/50’) to more familiar sounding Indie-pop Strokes tracks (‘All the Time’, ‘Partners in Crime’), and finally closing with ‘Call It Fate, Call It Karma’, probably the most bizarre Strokes track to-date yet strangely compelling at the same time; overall this lead to a great sounding and interesting record in my opinion which has certainly been a grower for me more with each listen over the past 12 months.

Recommended Tracks: ‘All the Time’, ‘One Way Trigger’, ‘Welcome to Japan’

Personal Favourite Track: ‘Partners in Crime’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajqKSzihNJw  

#2. Arctic Monkeys – AM (Released 9th September – Reviewed in Flynndie Reviews #40 – 8/10)

Possibly the most anticipated album of 2013 was Arctic Monkey’s 5th album ‘AM’ and in fairness the Arctic’s delivered another solid record to build on their ever-expanding hits-list.  We had already had an early preview of ‘AM’ with the excellent riff-heavy single ‘R U Mine’ and this was followed by ‘Do I Wanna Know’ driven by another ballsy guitar-riff at the heart of it.  ‘AM’ also featured some 70’s glam-rock (‘I Want It All’), stripped-down, dreamy ballads (‘No 1 Party Anthem’, ‘Mad Sounds’) to the semi-acoustic (‘Fireside’) and even a couple of hip-hop and prog-rock influenced tracks (‘Arabella’, ‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?’).  Finishing the year with an Arena tour, 2013 was yet another successful year for the boys from the Steel City.

Recommended Tracks: ‘Do I Wanna Know?’, ‘Arabella’, ‘Fireside, ‘Snap Out of It’

Personal Favourite Track: ‘R U Mine’ -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQH8ZTgna3Q

Arctic Monkeys played a triumphant set at Earls Court back in October

 

#1. Primal Scream – More Light (Released 13th May)

So maybe a little bit of a surprise at the #1 spot but for me ‘More Light’ by Primal Scream has to be my most listened to record of the year.  I was lucky enough to catch the band at this year’s iTunes Festival and before the gig I decided to check out their latest record and I’m sure glad I did.  Featuring a great collection, of 13 distinct and differing tracks, there is a real variety of sounds on this album in particular but crucially what we have here are some brilliantly-written tracks throughout.  From psychedelic and trippy (‘River of Pain’, ‘Hello Johnny’), to some deliciously dirty and vicious guitar-rock (‘Hit Void’, ‘Sideman’) to the understated and beautifully-calm (‘Tenement Kid’) and also thrown in are some big sounding, distinctly Primal Scream-style singles (‘2013’, ‘Invisible City’, It’s Alright, It’s Ok’) and overall this all adds up to a great, alternative-rock album and for me this is Primal Scream’s best record since 2000’s classic ‘XTRMNTR’ and well worth checking out.

Recommended Songs: ‘Hit Void’, ‘Tenement Kid’, ‘Sideman’, ‘It’s Alright, It’s OK’

Personal Favourite Track: ‘Invisible City’ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1-EhPniUAM  

Bobbie Gillespie 'rocks' a pink-suit as Primal Scream played the iTunes Festival at The Roundhouse in September 

So that covers my favourite albums of 2013, many thanks for taking the time to read and if you have any recommendations of records for me to check out as well, feel free to leave suggestions in the comments section below or send them across on Twitter.

Here’s to more Alternative, Indie and Rock music in 2014!

‘Flynny’

Flynndie Reviews: #36 The Strokes - Comedown Machine

Written 21st March 2013:

The Strokes – Comedown Machine

The Band: Julian Casablancas (lead vocals), Albert Hammond Jr. (guitar), Nikolai Fraiture (bass), Fabrizio Moretti (drums), Nick Valensi (guitar)

So today’s review sees the return of The Strokes and following a 5-year break between their third and fourth albums, ‘First Impressions of Earth’ and ‘Angles’ respectively, this month sees the band release their latest album ‘Comedown Machine’ just a mere two years after ‘Angles’ release (previously reviewed here including a more in-depth profile of the band).  So much like the band’s latest quick and efficient return, let’s dive straight into this review of the new record from one of New York City’s finest.

Comedown Machine

1.     Tap Out

2.     All the Time
3.     One Way Trigger
4.     Welcome to Japan
5.     80’s Comedown Machine
6.     50/50
7.     Slow Animals
8.     Partners in Crime
9.     Chances
10.   Happy Endings
11.   Call It Fate, Call It Karma

So officially released next Monday, I recently discovered the band had made ‘Comedown Machine’ available to listen early via stream on Pitch Forks website this week http://pitchfork.com/advance/48-comedown-machine/ and have now given it a few listens myself, so feel free to check it out online before the album’s release next week. 

Launching with an initially rocky-squeal of guitar, before settling into a more calm but funky rhythm opening track ‘Tap Out’ gets the album underway.  As like with many tracks by The Strokes, the guitars on the track have quite a light synth-feel to them, very much with an 80’s vibe here, while Julian’s vocals find him more high-pitched and falsetto-like as opposed to his raw and gravelly-style vocals found on the earlier Strokes records.  The track features a funky, maverick guitar solo two-thirds of the way through it and overall it’s a fair opening track for the album and I think the rhythm of the track holds it together quite well. 

Next up we have the first official Single of the album ‘All the Time’ and this is much more traditional Strokes territory, with Julian’s familiar crooning vocals in full swing, backed by electric-guitar strums before an altogether more rocky, fast-paced chorus “You’re livin’ it up, you’re livin’ it up, you’re livin’ too fast, you gotta pray for the best” that sees the band build to their full-on Indie-rock sound.  I can basically see why the band chose to return with this as their first Single as it’s easy-listening and familiar to the fans.  However, it was third track ‘One Way Trigger’ that was previously the first glimpse fans got of ‘Comedown Machine’ as the track was previously made available to download online from the band’s website before the Single ‘All the Time’.  At the time this was made available I initially really liked the up-tempo, carefree, jangly rhythm the track carries while Julian’s vocals were also initially a bit of a shock to the system, again disguising his voice here in a high-pitched falsetto particularly for the lines over the chorus “Find a job, Find a friend; Find a Home, Find a dog”.  The track features a really nice guitar-solo from Nick midway through it and a lovely bridge, “You asked me to stay”, before returning back to its own unique jangly rhythm and Julian’s vocals.  While I noticed this track seemed to divide fans opinion of it (particularly as this was the first track we had heard from the record), I personally really liked it and still think it stands up well on the record at this point.

Next we have ‘Welcome to Japan’, a bit more of a slowed-down affair for the record so far but with another funky melody at the heart of it, re-creating all the glam of an 80’s disco.  Yes!  Julian’s vocals are back in much more familiar territory here and this track sees somewhat of a duel of guitars between Albert and Nick throughout.  It’s a carefully structured, well-built track with another really nice guitar solo midway through it and the catchy chorus “Come on and go get with me, I wanna see you Wednesday, Come on, come on, come over, Take it off your shoulder”, while Albert’s guitar really picks away and adds layers to the track through the verses.  It’s a good catchy, disco track and one I’d imagine that sounds even better while on roller-skates!  ‘80’s Comedown Machine’, almost the title-track of the album, is a surprising ballad for the band here.  Initially opening with slow percussion from Fab and featuring a guitar effect almost sounding like an accordion running through it, it’s a slow burner of a track, featuring really softly-spoken vocals this time around.  A very surreal type of track, it’s almost like listening to an old-school Strokes track in slow-motion, particularly midway through it.  Again this is another type of modern Strokes track that I think will really polarise opinion among listeners.

‘50/50’ sees the band back in proper ‘let’s hit the road at 100mph’ mode, with dirty, jaggered guitar-riffs demanding the listeners attention, with Julian really snarling through an echo effect and Nick and Albert’s earlier guitar duel taken on to another level here.   The track is a short, sharp burst of guitar angst and really all the better for it in my opinion, with a great punk-rock drum solo from Fab in closing.  ‘Slow Animals’ is up next and is another track that uses the cunning trick of slowly-building itself up using a damn funky rhythm and bass-line from Nikolai, with understated guitars cleverly backing and layering the track before another full-on rocking chorus.  The track pauses slightly in its second-half, with synths used to create a spaced-out feeling on the track, as if we’re being invaded by UFOs, before we resume our earlier funky rhythm but the kicker is how the track as whole builds throughout that really makes it.

‘Partners in Crime’ is another, up-lifting, upbeat track, this time with guitars working hand-in-hand to create a quirky yet charming and delightful rhythm, as each guitar riff ends with the note being held, and bent, before possibly the most instant and catchy chorus of the album so far, again featuring a fantastic rhythm diced with quirky guitar notes.  This is a very instant type of track and immediately put a smile on my face the first time I heard it.  I really hope this ends up as a potential future single from the band!  Up next we have ‘Chances’ and this is probably the most ‘stripped-down’ track on the record so far, with shimmering guitars, understated synths, distant vocals and chip-tune percussion.  This is a very experimental track by The Strokes and creates a sound that I would probably expect from a closing-track on a Muse album in my opinion, a comparison I never thought I would ever make to be honest!

Penultimate track ‘Happy Endings’ is another track on the album, with a very retro-sounding guitar feel to, it’s another instant, catchy type of track as Julian croons “Baby, show me where to go, Somethings I don’t want to know, Baby, tell me if you’re sure, Out all the time” through the tracks chorus.  Closing track ‘Call It Fate, Call It Karma’ is the most subtle track on the album, with a gentle guitar riff and piano playfully nudging it along, and those now familiar, softly-sung, dulcet tones from Julian on this record, this is probably the most surprising track on the album overall but there just seemed to be something underlying in the track itself that kept my attention to it throughout, I certainly never heard the band record such a track like this but it’s a hauntingly, beautiful way to close the album, almost a ‘Comedown’ as such.

So overall I’ve enjoyed what I’ve heard from ‘Comedown Machine’ so far.  I won’t pull no punches in this conclusion of the review; if you were hoping for a record by The Strokes that really recaptures their edgy, raw, rock sound from early albums, the brilliant ‘Is This It’ or ‘Room on Fire’, then I feel you may come away a little disappointed here, as while there are patches of that traditional Strokes sound on here, as a whole I feel this record goes much down the same path as ‘Angles’, another record that sees the band experimenting much more with different guitar sounds and rhythms than that of earlier Strokes records.  I would probably have to say this is arguably the most experimental Strokes album to-date and the band will always risk splitting opinions with this approach but as I have said in the past that has always been a fascination about the band for me; I really like the fact that the record challenges and dares the listener into more listens before some of the tracks actually ‘click’ and fall into place on repeated listens.  The album as whole doesn’t blow me away but I certainly have enjoyed listening to it so therefore I’m going award the album 7 ‘One Way Triggers’ out of 10, as there is plenty going on with this album for the listener to get into and definitely feels like more of ‘a grower’ than the previously more instant ‘Is This It’.  I’m just now keeping my fingers crossed that the band will hopefully do a much long-awaited UK headline tour, as it’s been a long time coming!

On a Comedown

Flynny

Track 2 ‘All the Time’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJC8zeu3MHk  

Track 3 ‘One Way Trigger’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itY62ToB5SE 

Band website:

http://www.thestrokes.com/  

Flynndie Reviews - Blog #21: Top 8 Albums of 2011 - Part 2

Written 8th December 2011:

Top 8 Albums of 2011 – Part 2

So following on from my last Blog today sees me countdown my favourite Indie albums of 2011 for the inaugural and undisputed crown of ‘Flynndie Album of the Year!’ If you missed the first part of this Blog containing my album choices from #8 to #5, simply scroll down this page a bit further and you can read about these choices in Part 1. So let’s move on to today’s Top 4 albums, starting with the return of The Chief and his much-anticipated debut solo album:

#4. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds (Previously Un-reviewed)

So some 18 months after the fall-out of leaving Oasis and keeping a low-profile while Beady-Eye released their debut album, the main song-writer behind Oasis finally got round to releasing his own solo debut effort. Now I mainly previously didn’t review this album as I suspected most people would go out and buy this anyway and I like to try and highlight and promote some lesser known Indie bands on this Blog, but if the truth be told even during the days of Oasis, I secretly much-longed for a Noel solo album and now that it finally arrived, it didn’t disappoint in my opinion and in fact exceeded my high expectations. Even upon first few listens to this record, Noel’s songs have that re-assuring familiar sound about them, as if they were songs that you knew and loved already but refreshingly in my opinion not just sounding like another Oasis album. Take ‘AKA… What a Life’ as a prime example of this, having a much more dance-vibe to it than anything Oasis would have released in recent years.

This for me is another reason why I much prefer this album to recent Oasis releases, as by going solo Noel is allowed to express his songs in a more creative manner as is shown in tracks ‘Everybody’s on the Run’ with its backing violins and (I wanna live a Dream in my) Record Machine featuring a full-choir backing, allowing these tracks to have somewhat more added depth to them. Then there are tracks such as ‘If I had a Gun’ and ‘AKA…Broken Arrow’ which are familiar sounding Noel tracks, but tracks written when he is at his song-writing best and, dare I say it, even on a par with some early Oasis B-sides which is high praise indeed. So if you’ve avoided the album so far due to a somewhat ‘loss of faith’ in recent Oasis albums, then I’d recommend you give this debut-solo effort a listen and see what one of the generations top song-writers is capable of without the responsibility of ‘being Oasis’!

Recommended Songs: ‘Everybody’s on the Run’, ‘If I had a Gun’, ‘AKA…What a Life’
Personal Favourite Track(s): ‘Soldier Boys and Jesus Freaks’ and ‘AKA…Broken Arrow’

#3. Arctic Monkeys – Suck It and See (Reviewed in Flynndie Reviews Blog #13 – 8/10)

Back with their 4th album this year were, arguably one of the most followed bands in the Country right now, Sheffield’s own Arctic Monkey’s with their latest offering ‘Suck It and See’. A bit like the forthcoming 4th album by Kasabian this year, after the Monkey’s 3rd album 'Humbug', I was a little bit unsure what to expect from their latest offering. What we got was another well-written, self-assured record with familiar big sing-a-long tracks and another batch of great Indie-rock tracks the Arctics can add to their ever-expanding hits-list! The band have effortlessly created swooning-Indie tracks such as ‘She’s Thunderstorms’ and ‘The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala’, to catchy guitar-pop on ‘Brick by Brick’ and ‘Don’t sit down cause I’ve moved your chair’, to the old-school, more fast-and-furious Arctic Monkey’s track such as ‘Library Pictures’.

I very much enjoyed this record upon its release and am still very much enjoying it upon regular listens, although I’m still slightly of the opinion that the clearly laid back approach the band took to this album, gets a little bit too laid back for my liking on one or two tracks towards the end of the album, therefore not quite putting it on as high a par as the first two Arctic Monkey’s records. However, this is still certainly another great album by these young Sheffield lads and certainly one I’m still enjoying very much hence it’s high-position on this end of year list, but then I’m guessing most of you already reading this know this.

Recommended Songs: ‘Brick by Brick’, ‘The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala’, ‘Don’t sit down cause I’ve moved your chair’
Personal Favourite Track: ‘Library Pictures’

#2. Bombay Bicycle Club – A Different Kind of Fix (reviewed in Flynndie Reviews Blog #17 – 9/10)

Back with their 3rd album in as many years, Bombay Bicycle Club returned with their latest offering ‘A Different Kind of Fix’. As I’ve previously said with a couple of other albums on this list, I really wasn’t sure what to expect from the band’s latest record, as was such a contrast between their 1st electric-rock Indie album ‘I had the blues and shook them loose’ and their follow-up, the stripped-down, lo-fi acoustic ‘Flaws’ I genuinely was not sure what type of sound the band would come back with next. What we got this year with ‘A Different Kind of Fix’ was a great blend of the sounds on Bombay Bicycle Club’s 1st two albums in my opinion and arguably their best to date! The first we heard from this new record was early single ‘Shuffle’ which, if truth be told, was actually different still to anything the band had done previously on their first 2 albums, featuring, as what I described in my review at the time, a hip-hop based piano loop throughout it and having a very distinct, yet brilliant, sound for the band to it indeed.

Throw into the mix, the rocky and slightly more edgy guitar tracks the band featured more on their debut album on tracks here such as ‘Bad Timing’ and ‘What you Want’, to the simply, brilliant flowing acoustic tracks ‘How can you swallow so much sleep’, ‘Lights Out, Words Gone’ and my personal favourite track, the epic ‘Beggars’, the band on this record really define their own sound here more so than their first two albums in my opinion. As a whole, this is a very well written record, full of rhythm and some brilliantly written tracks, that flow effortlessly and surely now is the time for the band to take a well-earned break?!

Recommended Songs: ‘Bad Timing’, ‘Your Eyes’, ‘Shuffle’, ‘What you want’
Personal Favourite Track: ‘Beggars’

#1. The Strokes – Angles (reviewed in Flynndie Reviews Blog #12 – 9/10)

So here it is, my #1 favourite Indie album of 2011, ‘Angles’, the 4th album from New York’s own The Strokes. If you believe some music reviews about The Strokes, you may be under the impression that they have only released one record, their exceptionally brilliant debut album ‘Is This It?’ but for me their 2nd and 3rd albums ‘Room on Fire’ and ‘First Impressions of Earth’ respectively were both fine guitar records and although I would be the first to admit that it will always be difficult for the band to make a better album than their excellent debut record, this 4th effort ‘Angles’ is the closest they have come so far to anywhere near matching it. One of the criticisms the band so unfairly receive in my opinion is that people want to hear similar tracks on a par with those such as ‘Last Nite’ or ‘New York City Cops’ from ‘Is This It?’ but this is one of my fascinations about The Strokes is that they are prepared to try something a bit different on a guitar record and this album is an excellent example of the band trying to capture ‘new’ guitar sounds.

Possibly their most experimental album to date, I feel the band really try and push the boundaries of what a modern-Indie guitar record can sound like, from the opening and simply brilliant track ‘Machu Picchu’ (possibly my favourite opening track on an album for a few years!), to early single ‘Under Cover of Darkness’, another brilliant track in my opinion, right up to closing track ‘Life is Simple in the Moonlight’ which actually does sound like a typical, old-school Strokes track that some fan’s still crave for. For me though, this album is full of stand-out tracks such as the menacingly, dark ‘You’re so Right’ to the incredibly catchy ’Taken for a Fool’ every track on this album is very distinct but seem to have so much depth to them. Upon my first few listens of this album, I admit I struggled with it a little initially, yet it’s testament to how well written and how much depth this album has, that it continued to grow on me and get better and better with each listen. As I said in the 2nd paragraph of Part 1 of this list, I’ve tried to rate albums on this list based on how much I found myself listening to them throughout the course of the year and for me ‘Angles’ has to be my most listened to album in this case and hence my favourite Indie album of 2011!

Recommended Songs: ‘Under Cover of Darkness’, ‘You’re So Right’, ‘Taken for a Fool’, ‘Life is Simple in the Moonlight’
Personal Favourite Track: ‘Machu Picchu’

So that concludes my Top 8 albums of 2011 list. Other worthy mentions on records that narrowly fell short of this list include The Vaccines ‘What did you expect from The Vaccines?’, Miles Kane ‘Colour of the Trap’, The Rifles ‘Freedom Run’, Chapel Club 'Palace', Roddy Woomble’s ‘The Impossible Song + Other Songs’ and Dutch Uncles 'Cadenza' all albums I would recommend to check out at some point.

Looking forward to 2012 I’m already looking forward to new album releases from some of the following bands, Howler, The Twilight Sad, Maxïmo Park and Muse, keeping my fingers cross to hear some new material from hopefully Bloc Party and Idlewild and of course looking forward to any new up-and-coming bands that 2012 brings with it.

Rocking into 2012
‘Flynny’

Flynndie Reviews - Blog #12: The Strokes - Angles

Written 18th March 2011:

The Strokes - Angles

This week sees the much anticpated return of The Strokes after a long 5 year absence.  Despite their most-recent previous two albums, ‘Room on Fire’ and ‘First Impressions of Earth’ both receiving mixed reviews from the world of music press, I still really enjoyed them and whenever I catch ‘live’ performances of the band I always think to myself they still look effortlessly cool, which is the best kind of ‘coolness’ in my opinion.  I also don’t think it is an understatement to say that when their 2001 debut album ‘Is This It?’ arrived it totally breathed new-life back into the indie music scene bringing with it such a refreshing change of style for garage-rock music at the time.

Now despite the band have leaked a few ‘Making of Angles’ mini-clips via their website (http://new.thestrokes.com/, also see the bottom of this blog for links to the clips), in terms of the music for the album, it’s been kept under pretty tight wraps for the past few months. I had eagerly been counting down the days until it’s UK release on the 22nd March via Rough Trade records, however I discovered yesterday (15th March) that the band have decided to stream the album early via their website so I’ve had the album on loop from the site since then and thought now somewhat earlier than expected is a great opportunity to give my ‘First Impressions’ of ‘Angles’.

The album gets underway with the fantastically titled ‘Machu Picchu’ and its funky 80’s-style synth and bass opening cruising through the verses with Casablanca’s familiar gravelly voice, crooning over the top, before a fast-paced chorus comes in with even some bongos thrown-in in the background if you listen very carefully.  It’s quite a different sound for the Strokes in my opinion, and the first indication that the band are prepared to push the boundaries musically on this album.  Next up follows the 1st single lifted from the album ‘Under Cover of Darkness’, and with its opening guitar riffs followed by a flowing bouncing-rhythm this is much more familiar territory for long-term Strokes fans and as such one of the more instant tracks on the album for the listener.

Third track ‘Two Kinds of Happiness’ is different to any track I’ve previously heard by the band. The verses start and initially remind me of one of those tracks from an ‘80’s Driving Compilation’, whether that is a good or bad thing for you I’ll let you be the judge upon hearing it, although I personally don’t mind it. Again it’s new territory for a Strokes sound, but the chorus goes back to the familiar big crescendo of garage-guitar rock the band are rightly famed for. ‘You’re so Right’ again finds the band pushing out on a new wave of guitar sounds for them, with dark brooding guitars between Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr. racing against each other through its verses and a distant-like effect used on Julian’s voice throughout with Nick later throwing in a nice little guitar solo to break-up the two verses. ‘Taken for a Fool’ is another instant-type of Strokes tune with another fast-flowing verse, before a loud sing-along chorus has Julian elaborating on an individual constantly being take advantage off and this track stands well in its place on the album with some really funky bass lines pulsing through it from Nikolai (Fraiture).

Over halfway through the record and ‘Games’ continues with another experimental sound for the record and it’s again Nikolai on fine form with an engrossing bass line carrying the verses of this track before an up-tempo chorus comes in with a super-fast drum-beat courtesy of Fab (Moretti) breaking-up the previous two verses and choruses and the track ends with a somewhat more slower, spaced-out feeling rhythm built from the two verses. ‘Call me back’ is the slowed down track of the album, with a gentle guitar loop being the backing to Julian’s softly sung vocals, before a creepy, jangling guitar bridges the middle of the song and despite being a slowed down number this is arguably the most experimental track on the album with a lot of sounds going on in it for the listener to register.

‘Gratisfaction’ reverts back to a more similar Strokes sound from their second album ‘Room on Fire’, and is again another track which I feel doffs it’s cap towards another retro 80’s like guitar sound, while 9th track ‘Metabolism’ goes back to duelling guitars between Nick and Albert, gradually building in intensity as the verse progresses before a crashing bridge and then dropping-down a pitch and then finally gradually starting to re-build again, making this possibly the most intense track on the album. Final track ‘Life is Simple in the Moonlight’ is just simply classic Strokes.  Initially building with a softly played and sung verse before Julian belts out a catchy chorus backed with guitars and synths all the stops are pulled out for the finale of this album with Julian ending on the lyrics “Don’t try to stop us/Don’t try to stop us/Move out of the way”, but I’d say that with this 4th album, overall being a great return to form for the band, it would be hard to see anyone stopping the Strokes building upon much more fame and success if that’s already possible.

This album sees the New York band really pushing the boundaries of what a guitar record can and arguably should sound like ‘In This Modern Age’ and sometimes this can be a downfall for some bands when attempting to make a somewhat more ambitious record like this.  However I feel that the tracks the band have clearly tried something different on (‘You’re so right’ and ‘Games’ are two prime examples of this) the band pull-off successful well, as initially I seemed to struggle with them but they seem to grow on me more with each listen, a mark of a good record. Throw into the mix some old-fashioned easily accessible Strokes songs and it all adds up to a real return to form for the band, which in my opinion is arguably their best material since the almighty ‘Is This It?’ and with this new record I am going to award it 9 ‘Angles’ out 10 and a definite album recommendation from me to get hold off for early part of 2011.

The Strokes - ‘Making of Angles’ – Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk_w-YyJbfY
The Strokes - ‘Making of Angles’ – Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYiQUPR5N1w
The Strokes - ‘Making of Angles’ – Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZsirqdYAHU

An Acute Angle 
‘Flynny’