Flynndie Reviews: #40 Arctic Monkeys - AM

Written 5th September 2013:

Arctic Monkeys - AM

The Band: Alex Turner (lead vocals\guitar), Jamie Cook (lead guitar), Nick O’Malley (bass), Matt Helders (drums)

Next Monday sees the return of Arctic Monkeys with their much-anticipated 5th studio album ‘AM’, however the band have decided to stream the album early this week with iTunes (which you can find here http://po.st/iTunesAM) giving fans a chance to hear an early preview of the new record.   Arriving back on the scene in 2005 with a self-titled EP, it wasn’t long before the Arctic’s reached critical acclaim with their excellent and successful debut album ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That is What I’m Not’ featuring fast-paced guitar anthems laced with Alex Turner’s intelligent, witty lyrics that many found they could relate to, before the band returned in 2007 with 2nd album ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’ quickly establishing them as one of the hottest bands in the country.  2009’s ‘Humbug’ was a bit more of a trippy, darker affair, while the band’s 4th album ‘Suck It and See’ (previously reviewed here) saw a fine blend of Indie rock and somewhat more mellow pop tunes which again seemed to go down well with fans.  So how does the band’s latest album ‘AM’ hold up then? 

AM

1.     Do I Wanna Know?

2.     R U Mine?
3.     One for the Road
4.     Arabella
5.     I Want It All
6.     No. 1 Party Anthem
7.     Mad Sounds
8.     Fireside
9.     Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?
10.  Snap Out Of It
11.  Knee Socks
12.  I Wanna Be Yours

Opening with come-back single ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ we’re instantly in familiar Arctic Monkey’s territory here, with a slow-tempo yet ballsy, catchy guitar riff being the main sticking point to the track.  It’s a very instant and catchy track and saw a fine return for the band working as an excellent come-back single.  ‘R U Mine’ was previously a stand-alone single but again proving popular with fans has seen its inclusion on the new record as well.  More up-tempo than ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ the track has a scuzzy feel to it with guitar’s from Alex and Jamie battling along and thunderous drumming from Matt with the track’s featured lyric at its chorus “but what I really wanna know…is R U Mine?”  ‘One for the Road’ opens with the track-title repeated twice and features a more downbeat, spooky guitar rhythm to it, much more subtle in its approach, with a low-fi guitar riff picking away throughout.  It has quite a feel as the type of style of track the band used more on their third album ‘Humbug’ with a haunting feel to it.

‘Arabella’ is at first another soft and subtle track initially driven by percussion before a more rocky bridge “My days end best when the sunset gets behind itself/That little lady sitting on the passenger side” and has a prog-rock guitar riff midway through, while fifth track ‘I Want It All’ is pure glam-rock!  Featuring a guitar riff lifted directly from the 70’s that T-Rex themselves would be proud of at its heart; it’s a fun, foot-stomping romp of a track that fits nicely midway through the album and all the better for it.  On the contrast, despite the track-title ‘No. 1 Party Anthem’ is surprisingly a soft guitar/piano ballad making me think the track-title itself is somewhat tongue-in-cheek and part of the twisted humour the band have been known for in the past.  ‘Mad Sounds’ meanwhile is the most stripped down track on the record so far, whimsical and dreamy it captures the vibes of sailing down a river carefree on a sunny afternoon.  It’s very similar in style, to the mellower, stripped-down tracks found on the second half of ‘Suck It and See’.  Next we have ‘Fireside’ and this is an excellent semi-acoustic track, with a smoothly-flowing melody painted with poignant lyrics depicting thoughts on a relationship “I can’t explain but I wanna try/There’s this image of you/and it goes dancing by/In the morning and the night time”.  It’s a lovely track and one of the highlights of the album for me.

Recent single ‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?’, as the track-title suggests is a bit more of a psychedelic, trippy affair from the Monkeys.  It’s a much darker track with the track’s protagonist clearly pining for somebody else “Now it’s three in the morning and I’m trying to change your mind/Left you multiple missed calls and to my message you reply/Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?”, it’s another slow, subtle but effective track.  ‘Snap Out of It’ lifts the mood more, with a more upbeat swing melody, it’s a cool, calm, understated track and works well here.  Penultimate track ‘Knee Socks’ is another slower, darker number also graduating from the school of third album ‘Humbug’ while album closer ‘I Wanna Be Yours’ sees the band putting music to the poem written by punk-poet John Cooper Clarke.  Another slower ballad type of track it has subtle hints of ‘505’ from ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’ in its style of music and is a really effective album closer making nice use of the lyrics used in Clarke’s poetry.   

So in summary then I feel this record picks up nicely from ‘Suck It and See’ with a good blend and mixture from typical Arctic Monkey Indie rock tracks, particularly in the style found on ‘Humbug’ but also with some more serene and chilled out tracks midway through the album.  For me it’s the more rocky tracks such as ‘Do I Wanna Know?’, ‘R U Mine?’, ‘I Want It All’ and in particular ‘Fireside’ that are the highlights on the record for me but in my opinion they still just don’t quite match some of the heights of the first two Arctic’s records in particular which will always be a tough act for the band to top!  None-the-less there are still great tracks here all the same further cementing Arctic Monkey’s as one of the great bands of the past decade for sure and Alex Turner is certainly becoming a song-writer of a generation in my opinion.  Therefore I’m going to award this one a solid 8 Mad Sounds out of 10 as it’s another well written record by the band with a good range of tracks and seems to be a grower more with each listen.

One for the Road

Flynny

Track 1 ‘Do I Wanna Know’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpOSxM0rNPM

Track 9 ‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6366dxFf-Os  

Band website:

http://www.arcticmonkeys.com     

Flynndie Reviews: #39 Editors - The Weight of your Love

Written 4th July 2013:

Editors – The Weight of Your Love

The Band: Thom Smith (lead vocals\guitar), Justin Lockey (lead guitar), Elliott Williams (guitar), Russell Leetch (bass), Edward Lay (drums)

So today’s review sees the long-awaited return of Editors (@editorsofficial if you wish to follow them on Twitter) with this their much-anticipated 4th album ‘The Weight of Your Love’.  The band arrived on the scene with their excellent brooding, yet fast-flowing guitar-based debut album ‘The Back Room’ back in 2005, with strong singles ‘Bullets’, ‘Munich’, ‘Blood’ and ‘All Sparks’ quickly helping the band gain national airplay, recognition and an army of fans.  This was followed up by 2007’s effort ‘An End has a Start’ another strong follow-up for the band with more heavy-hitting singles further cementing the band’s reputation for no-nonsense, dark downbeat yet catchy guitar-rock.  2009’s ‘In This Light and On This Evening’ saw the band further themselves with a more synth-driven direction ambitiously blending their already familiar guitar sound which was met by a mixed-response but general consensus was another successful album for the band especially with standout single ‘Papillion’, which leads us on nicely to this week’s release. 

The Weight of Your Love

1.     The Weight

2.     Sugar
3.     A Ton of Love
4.     What is this thing called Love
5.     Honesty
6.     Nothing
7.     Formaldehyde
8.     Hyena
9.     Two Hearted Spider

10.  The Phone Book

11.  Bird of Prey

Launching with swirling guitars and piano notes before a marching percussion ‘The Weight’ gets the album under way featuring Tom’s trademark isolated vocals “For a moment/I felt the weight of your love/It was lightening/It was lightening”; it’s a moody, atmospheric, deliberate track with its continued percussion being layered with sharp, angular guitar riffs and piano notes throughout and sets the overall tone for the record early on.  ‘Sugar’ is again initially driven by distinct percussion with a tingling guitar riff at the heart of the track; it’s another very atmospheric track with a bittersweet vibe about it.  ‘A Ton of Love’ was the first we had previously heard from this record as it was the band’s comeback single.  It’s a distinctly big Editors guitar anthem fast-paced and up-beat with Tom belting out the repeated “De-sire” midway through the track with great passion and urgency and sounding great.

‘What is this thing called Love’ as the track title suggests is a soft-ballad, as Tom’s vocals, backed with gentle piano notes and later in the track violins, are pitched much higher on this track than previously heard so far on the album.  It’s a soft, sweet track and clearly emotional “What is this thing called love that you speak?/We’re out of it/We’re out of it”.  Fifth track ‘Honesty’ continues the gentle slow pace of the album at this point, with a steady rhythm of guitar and percussion and gentle touches of soothing synths adding layers to it while featuring another big chorus “Does the honesty deceive?/Trying to find a way to leave this party/Take it out on me/Cause all the honesty/Shut this place down”.  ‘Nothing’ is another ballad, this time much more minimal simply featuring Tom’s vocals with backing synths and string sections it’s another deeply emotional track and continues to build as the track progresses.

‘Formaldehyde’ picks up the pace again midway through the record, using the toxic gas chemical as an analogy to a relationship, backed with catchy tingling guitar riffs and a one-two chorus between Tom’s lead and backing vocals “Formaldehyde/Never let you go/Formaldehyde/’til the end of time”.  Meanwhile ‘Hyena’ features a nice opening guitar riff at its heart progressing the track along nicely, very much capturing the unmistakably familiar sound that Editors are well known for and overall it’s quite an instant type of track.  ‘Two Hearted Spider’ slows the pace of the record once more, nudged along with a gentle bass-line and guitar riff with real focus on Tom’s vocals “Every move you make/Breaks me/Breaks me/Every smile you fake/Breaks Me/Breaks Me”, it’s another deep, thought-provoking track, a common theme found throughout this record.

Featuring a driving acoustic rhythm, penultimate track ‘The Phone Book’ again shows a much more stripped-down side of Editors with some focus on slide-guitar and has a bit of a Western feeling at the heart of it with the main rhythm of the track, while closing track ‘Bird of Prey’ is a bit more up-tempo again being driven by percussion throughout and another picked guitar riff and featuring backing synths and violins; it’s another soft, gentle track with a focus on the atmosphere it creates rather than being a hard-hitting guitar anthem.

So overall this has been an interesting record to review from Editors.  This album has a steady blend of more familiar, fast-paced guitar tracks that we have come to expect from the band in the past particularly on the tracks ‘A Ton of Love’ and ‘Hyena’ but with this record there seems to be much more of a focus on the soft, emotional thought-provoking tracks the band have also sometimes hinted on with previous records; see ‘What is this thing called Love’, ‘Honesty’ and ‘Two Hearted Spider’ for examples of this.  Therefore, when it comes to listening to ‘The Weight of Your Love’ I think fans of Editors who are already quite familiar with their darker, deep sound may take to this album quite quickly, while to the more casual listener may find it may take a few more listens to fully appreciate it as it’s not as instant as earlier albums ‘The Back Room’ or ‘An End has a Start’.  So therefore I’m going to give this one 7 Two Hearted Spiders out of 10, as overall this record is somewhat of a mixed bag and for me personally it doesn’t quite reach the highs of ‘The Back Room’ or ‘An End has a Start’ but if you do prefer the emotional, softer-side of Editors then you may find quite a lot to like with this record.   

Editor

Flynny

Track 1 ‘The Weight’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBaGm4e2oao

Track 3 ‘A Ton of Love’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQQ2gTkV-GM

Band website:

http://www.editorsofficial.com    

Flynndie Reviews: #38 Parlour Flames - Parlour Flames

Written 21st May 2013:

Parlour Flames – Parlour Flames

The Band: Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs (guitars, keyboards, organs, e-bow, backing vocals), Alan ‘Vinny Peculiar’ Wilkes (lead & backing vocals, guitars, piano), Ollie Collins (bass), Che Beresford (drums)

So today’s review sees the release of the eponymous debut album from the Manchester-based 2-piece Parlour Flames (@ParlourFlames if you wish to follow the band on Twitter).   Formed primarily of Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs (Yes him who used to play guitar in Oasis!) and singer, song-writer, poet Alan Wilkes, who performs under the alias Vinny Peculiar, the band this week release their 10-track debut on Cherry Red records.  So let’s cut to the chase and find out what the band and record are all about. 

Parlour Flames

1.     Manchester Rain
2.     Sunday Afternoon
3.     Get in the Van
4.     Never Heard of You
5.     I’m in a Band
6.     Lonely Girls & Horses
7.     Jump the Brook Ruth
8.     Pop Music, Football & Girls
9.     Broken Hearted Existentialist
10.  Too Soon the Darkness

‘Manchester Rain’ opens the record and sets the album’s tone well with a distinctly psychedelic guitar solo, which runs through the heart of the track before we first hear Vinny’s gentle, softly-sung vocals on the album, with poetic-style lyrics which are a main feature throughout the record, the chorus featuring the line “All the fields are brown/And the buildings are grey/In the North of England/On a winters days”.  The track coasts along nicely and features spoken-word vocals from Bonehead towards the second half it.  ‘Sunday Afternoon’ follows and is a gentle, charming laid-back song for the listener, with acoustic guitars cleverly interspersed with soothing brass sections.  The track is quite subtle overall, with a steady blend of instruments throughout including a nice piece on the flute, to add to the calm, carefree nature of the track that Vinny’s tongue-in-cheek lyrics depict.  

Third track ‘Get in the Van’ initially sees a percussion-driven track backed with swirling acoustic and electric guitars.  This is again quite another psychedelic track with a subtle baggy Manchester feel to it, before Vinny’s repeated, trippy lines of “Get in the Van/Get in the Van” midway through it.  ‘Never Heard of You’ is a slow, downbeat piano ballad the main focus of which are the lyrics depicting the song’s individual’s tale of reflecting on former glories of once being in a successful band “Hey did I tell you I was on Top of the Pops/I met Ruby Flipper and Sam Fox” being just one of a few poignant, cheeky lines featured in a slow yet captivating track, melodically closing with backing e-bow.  ‘I’m in a Band’ continues the piano lead tracks on the album at this point and is almost a ‘part-two’ to the previous track, opening initially with slow individual piano notes played between Vinny’s lyrics, before the track gathers a little more momentum, with a gentle acoustic folk melody helping to build up the track accompanied with gentle electric guitar solos and flute, it’s a very serene track.

‘Lonely Girls & Horses’ is a bit more of an uplifting track and much like earlier track ‘Sunday Afternoon’ shares a cheeky jolly melody again backed with brass trumpets which really adds depth to it, while playfully closing with tinkering piano notes.  ‘Jump the Brook Ruth’ has much more of a scuzzy guitar edge to it.  It’s another track on the record with quite a baggy feel about it, with Vinny occasionally backing with the track’s title “Jump the Brook Ruth” before the repeated psychedelic line midway through the song “What an evil little boy”. Also listen out very carefully for rare vocals from Bonehead on this track!  Next up we have ‘Pop Music, Football and Girls’, which was actually the first track I heard by the band.  What we have here is quite literally a delightful Indie-pop track, again with gentle flowing guitars, understated piano notes and whimsical lines “Pop music, football and girls/Nothing else matters in this world/Decent tunes and the beautiful game/A night on the town with Jenny and Jane”.  It’s another track on the record that captures this cheeky yet charming side of what the band are about.

Penultimate track ‘Broken Hearted Existentialist’ (try saying that after a few beers!), opens with a low-key, gentle electric guitar riff.  The track has a real spaced-out, distant vibe to it and is arguably the most trippy track on the record with even the surreal line “Existentialist, what does that mean?” subtly thrown in there; this track reminds me very much of the sound of The Beatles on Revolver.  The album closes with ‘Too Soon the Darkness’ another calm, tranquil, understated track, lyrically poignant and quite bleak, it appears a very personal track and comes across as such and is somewhat of a ballad to close the album with.

So in closing, this is a very nice debut album from Parlour Flames.  If you are expecting a rocky, early-Oasis sounding album because of the connection with Bonehead, you will be way off the mark!  What we have here are a collection, of gentle, understated melodies with some nice Indie-pop tracks throughout capturing a gentlemanly Englishness to the record as a whole, especially with the cheeky tongue-in-cheek lyrics featured throughout.  This is clearly an album with a lot of thought and care poured into it and as such takes a few listens to fully appreciate.  I’m going to award this one 7 Sunday Afternoon’s out of 10, for what is essentially an easy-listening, chilled-out record from the Manchester duo.

Pop Music, Football and Reviews

Flynny

Track 1 ‘Manchester Rain’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE-z00w-v7M   

Track 8 ‘Pop Music, Football and Girls’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdEkXqIsS3c

Band website:

http://www.parlourflames.com/

 

Flynndie Reviews: #37 The Bedroom Hour - X Marks the Spot

Written 15th April 2013:

The Bedroom Hour – X Marks the Spot

The Band: Stu Drummond (lead vocals), Rob Payne (guitar), Dan Rider (bass), Mark Dudley (keyboards), Lewis Cosham (drums)

Right ok, so today’s review comes from an up-and-coming London-based band I’ve been following on Twitter for some time now @thebedroomhour and with the band soon to release their debut EP, I’ve decided now would be a good time to review some of the tracks made available on their website (www.thebedroomhour.com), as the band captures a nice, haunting, guitar sound of which I’m sure regular readers may well enjoy.  So today’s review covers ‘X Marks the Spot’ and a few other tracks from the website of The Bedroom Hour.

X Marks the Spot

1.     X Marks the Spot
2.     Nocturnal
3.     Submarine
4.     Shadow Boxer

Opening with a nice, gentle guitar riff and up-beat percussion ‘X Marks the Spot’ see the band open with the haunting guitar sound hinted at earlier, before we first catch lead-singer Stu Drummonds softly-sung but immediately distinct vocals for the first time.  The track is clearly loving crafted as it gently burns into the soul of the listener with an ever-building guitar melody and a strong chorus “Cross my heart and hope to die/I promise to love you more than my life/If X marks the spot/Then let’s cross the heart”, as Stu shows a real depth to his vocal range throughout the track.  It’s a nice debut track, featuring a nice rocky guitar solo midway through the track and overall this reminds me a bit in sound of U2 from their ‘Joshua Tree’ era and to a lesser extent the sound captured by The Editors on their debut album ‘The Back Room’. 

Up next we have ‘Nocturnal’, which also features a gentle yet distinct guitar-riff from Rob playfully accompanied by keys from Mark, forming the main basis of the rhythm for the track.  Again backed with up-beat percussion and Stu’s softly sung vocals, the track features a nice chorus “See the satellites/Lie awake at night/Now I’ve become nocturnal/Sleep through the day/Just to get away/From the thought of you with someone” and despite what seems a downbeat chorus, the track overall has much more of an upbeat tempo and melody to it as a whole and as such is quite an uplifting track.  ‘Submarine’ is a beautifully, slow ballad by the band.  With heart-felt, haunting keyboards at the heart of the track, it really creates a deep, captivated melancholy atmosphere of its own and really reminded me of the type of classic sound captured from early Coldplay album ‘Parachutes’.  It’s a beautiful track and really caught my attention upon first listen.

Closing track ‘Shadow Boxer’ opens with modest percussion and a moody, tingling guitar rhythm as the first part of the track is virtually an instrumental with the guitar rhythm building as a whole.  As the track picks up full pace we hear Stu’s powerful vocals again with the repeated line midway through “Tell me what you see/Tell me what you see/Tell me what you see when you look at yourself and see the enemy”.  It’s another track by the band that slowly builds and creates an atmosphere before building to a powerful crescendo, there is plenty here to like.

So in closing, I’ve been impressed with these four tracks made available on the band’s website.  At present I think early, fair comparisons to the sound of The Bedroom Hour could be made to early-era Coldplay and Elbow in particular but there is no mistake the band have their own, very defined unique sound, Stu’s voice needs to be heard to be believed, he has a very powerful range.  The band have a got a few upcoming gigs at 229 The Venue in London soon, the next of which is 17th May to support their forthcoming debut EP, so feel free to get along and check them out as I think this band have a lot of potential and have them marked down as one to watch out for in the future!

Shadow Boxer

Flynny

X Marks the Spot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf2D5JC-GmE   

Band website:

http://www.thebedroomhour.com   

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: #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’