Originating from the delightful and famous city of Bangor in Northern Ireland, Two Door Cinema Club have emerged as one of the brightest new bands in 2011 in only the past six months. Not known for it's vast musical talent, including the often forgotten Snow Patrol, Northern Ireland have stumbled across a gem of a band in Two Door Cinema Club. Being praised by the like of Kanye West, their awkward electropop was an almost instant hit with teenagers. The album is simply amazing. It's not epic and it's not unbelievable but it's definitely a short, sharp shock to the system of any indie fan.
The album is tight, and each song consistently hits around the three minute mark. This band do not mess about with "anthems". They simply make you smile, and want to dance. With optimistic tracks such as 'What You Know' and 'I Can Talk' and 'This is the Life' (which was been hijacked by a major retailer), you could easily take on the world, cure cancer and then come back and do it all a second time just for the crack.
Forgetting the trumpet led 'Cigarettes In The Theatre', which is the only time on the album that the economical three minutes, tight guitar riffs and major key synth sounds are abandoned, no song fails to impress. But even 'Cigarettes In The Theatre' stands up by itself and is an awesome album opener.
By mixing a guitar sound from the new romantic era with synthesized drumbeats and hushed vocals, they have created their own sound. These boys from Bangor have gone about this successful new sound and album through hard work and keeping their heads down, but there is no doubt that their number has come up. They deserve it.
Many bands get criticised for creating songs which are catchy and happy but have no depth and are frankly boring (namely Coldplay) but this new style has a positivity that is as catchy as chlamydia. After listening to 'Undercover Martyn' or album closer 'You're Not Stubborn', I wanted to run up Mount Everest, singing every single word from the album. Their songs are like a drug, you have to listen to them again and again just to keep the smile going on your face.
Who ever said Rock N' Roll was dead? Thank god for Miles Kane. The music industry has been screaming out for an artist like this. Someone who keeps it simple, plays top quality gigs, and records straight down the line rock n' roll records. Miles hasn't had the best luck in the world in a career that boasts three bands (The Little Flames, The Rascals, and The Last Shadow Puppets), all of which have ceased to exist for one reason or another. Although Kane has never ruled out a return for the Puppets, his attention has been firmly placed on his debut album.
On the brilliant opener 'Come Closer', you immediately understand what has been missing in the charts since the turn of the century. Filled with catchy riffs and a simple song structure, 'Come Closer' leaks filth and dry "wooooah"'s and "ahhhhh"'s. This is definitely rock n' roll in it's finest, purest form.
The theme runs continuously through the record which features many guests. We hear backing vocals from Fleur Delacour from Harry Potter in 'Happenstance' and some indulgent harmonies from Mr Noel Gallagher in 'My Fantasy'. Although Miles is now a solo act, he cannot claim he did it all by himself. He has support with backing vocals from Gruff Rhys all the way through the record, most notably on "Rearrange". This song again is a simple, heart-skip rock n' roll tune that just makes you want to dance.
Alex Turner is introduced on 'Telepathy', one of the best tracks on the record in my opinion. Only appearing in the liner notes as a co-writer, he doesn't actually feature in the song but his influence is truly heard. The song highlights, (if it needs to be) the '50's, '60's rock n' roll genre that has been missed like a baby misses their mum.
This is certainly one of the most exciting albums of the year. Being full of wit, charisma and charm, 'Colour Of The Trap' has delivered something spectacular. There was no hype surrounding the release of this album, and maybe that's why it has been so successful. With rid of any pressure, Kane has been able to express his musical genius in a way he hasn't been able to do in the past. The record has revived Rock N' Roll and Miles has emerged from the shadows. Finally, we can appreciate the man's talent and provide him with the recognition he deserves.
The positive comments that have come from the general public about Ed Sheeran after his number one single "The A Team", are astounding. The man can do no wrong in the eyes of music fans. Or can he?
His slight urban style is mixed together with a weak hip-hop rhythm and a vocal pattern that varies from half arsed rapping to depressing love ballads. Mr Sheeran has been accused of being too cynical about the music industry yet he does carry a strong message. In his song "You Need Me, I Don't Need You", a beat-boxing manifesto, he arguably tries too hard to convince us about where he's coming from. However, being my personal favourite track on the album, the song does highlight long lasting issues that lie deep within the music industry. What a relief that someone like Ed has emerged into the charts at number one and gets regular radio play. Thank God he isn't mainstream.
If you haven't seen him in concert, you wouldn't have anything against his debut album. But this record is miles apart from his own voice, one guitar and loop pedal that made him different in the first place. The album features weird, off beat drum patterns, violins, pianos and a bass guitar. This is not what Sheeran fans would've expected. This is shown through the lame and horribly corny "Kiss Me". It sounds dated which is such a shame coming from someone who has an obvious drive to succeed.
However, it is an album that grows on you. If you forget about all the little things that annoy you about the album, good tracks start to emerge. For example, on first listen to "Grade 8" you wonder if Ed had smoked something before recording the track but it grows on you. You notice this as you find yourself bobbing along to it, singing virtually every word.
It is not a great debut album. And fans that have followed Ed since he first started making a name for himself, notably in the "Nando's Skank" are felt to be let down by what can be interpreted as "selling out". But there are tracks on that album that emerge. From no where. They grasp their acoustic strings, beautiful voice, and melodramatic lyrics and entice you. Ed Sheeran is not a corperal sell out and who are we to judge him on the music he makes. Every song has a message behind it and he tells poetic stories. Not everyone in the charts can do this. Yet, after seeing him live, I feel let down by the record as I expected much more from the ginger singer/songwriter.
After making their debut record breaking record at just 19, following it up with arguably competitive records "Favourite Worst Nightmare" (2007) and "Humbug" (2009), changing their sound every time and challanging their creative limitations each time, the time has come for Alex and the boys to release their fourth record, "Suck It And See".
Unlike "Humbug", which saw Arctic Monkeys taken out of their comfort zone in the dessert by Josh Homme, "Suck It And See" is a record which suprisingly has promised nothing and expectation has been kept minimal. But fourth albums are the trickiest of them all, with many accomplished bands such as Franz Ferdinand, The Killers and The Kaiser Chiefs failing to attempt theirs. We had to ask the question if Turner had anything else to say, or was this just a record to fill a void left by the band after their difficult third album "Humbug". I feel guilty for this even crossing my mind. What an insult.
"Suck It And See" can be seen as competitive as any, and challanging Monkeys' first album "What Ever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not" to be their best work thus far.
They've done it. They've well and truly aced it. This album does not sound like "Humbug", to confirm what you've read, but it also does not sound like anything they've done before. It's strong, it's immediate, it's tightly structured and it's start-to-finish fantastic. Humour also gets a part to play within the record, with tracks such as "Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair" and "Brick By Brick" quoted by Turner as "just being a fucking laugh". This is not a return to a more fast paced, robust Arctic Monkeys we were all so famaliar with. Yes they have had hair cuts, and they don't seem to be as depressed but this record breaths maturity and creative prowess.
Let's start at the start. Jamie Cook's jangling cloudburst announces "She's Thunderstorms" which sets the tone for the rest of the album perfectly. Direct guitar playing and beautiful melodies cast no doubt over the boys from High Green's capabilities. Lyrically complex and delusional , "Black Treacle" follows suit from the opening track, as Turner's humourous ambiguity highlights a love of language through sound and meaning that has been present in every single article of work he has ever produced.
As a theme, love is clearly apparent in Turner's lyrics. "The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala" begins with one of Cook's now infamous cloudbursts but we see glimpses of past Arctic work as Alex's rhythm and O'Malley's bass line remind of "Fluorescent Adolescent". It is not an overcomplicated song, like many on the album, yet works incredibly well. This track is one of the best on the album but does not stand out. This is only because the simplicity of the album means every single track has it's place on the record that never dips in quality. "Love Is A Laserquest", "Suck It and See" (with it's melodies and candy striped title) and "That's Were You're Wrong" maintain a level of quality that many artists mind hard to continue throughout the duration of an album.
Just as on "Favourite Worst Nightmare", a two chord track is once again published as the album closes. Reminisant of "5O5", "That's Were You're Wrong" has just two chords, a spiralling guitar riff and ingenius lyrics that leave you speechless and highly emotional. It isn't often you finish listening to an album and forget what you were going to do next. "Suck It And See" leave you dumbstruck. It is just simply genius.
They are four albums in and do not look like wavering under rusty creative juices. Instead Arctic Monkeys have raised the bar even higher. Not a return to the teenage boy in polo-shirts band we all fell in love with, but more of an emergence of a band who can not only provide us with hard hitting pacey numbers such as "Library Pictures" but also more cultured thoughtful tracks like "Reckless Serenade" and not lose momentum or quality in lyrics or sound.
Arctic Monkeys fourth album, "Suck It And See", is genius. There is not one bad song, they have done it again.
As the lights dim, leaving only one single white light reaching out to the audience, surrounded by smoke, the silhouettes of frontman James Allan, Swedish drummer Jonna Lofgren, guitarist Rab Allan and bassist Paul Donoghue emerge from backstage to the sound of "Pain Pain Never Again", played over the PA. The expected screams and beer throwing are present as Lofgren whacks her sticks and they fire into their opening song "The World Is Yours".
Tonight, James is wearing his now infamous white number and sunglasses and dominates the stage as the whole band is back-lit. The new song pounds out with a magnificent chorus, "If I'm your world, then the world is yours", and the sound of a hearty, blood-pumping thunder that defines the recently changed Glasvegas.
Being a fairly new tune, the reception from the crowd is a mixed bag. I get the impression that the audience (which suprisingly is made up of mostly middle-aged men) don't know whether to jump up and down like a pogo or just stand and appreciate the enormous sound the four Glaswegians are making as the song crescendoes into a glorious climax of glass-shattering noise. It is followed by another new tune, "You", which receives very much the same reaction. Heads bobbing, some movement in the front row, and a big noise that is well received from the generally well-seasoned music fan crowd.
I am here with my dad and his mate so I wasn't expecting to be enlightened by the night's happenings. However, my attitude quickly changed after the fourth song, the first from their debut album, "It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry". Had it not been for a pint of beer in my hand, I would've easily deserted my old man and joined the front row. This feeling grows throughout the gig as James strolls around the stage, pummelling his microphone. However, I can't help feeling that this gig is missing something. A younger crowd. I'm looking around, and I can't see anyone that is remotely near to me in terms of age and a great sense of disappointment descends on me as Glasvegas break into "Palmont On My Mind". Not because I am disappointed with the gig, or the new material. Quite the opposite. I'm disappointed because this atmosphere, this night, this setlist, this band, deserve a much younger, more energetic crowd (one which has been present at previous gigs and a constant element in concerts of "White Lies", a band to which Glasvegas are very similar).
It takes the Scottish band about half way through their setlist until we hear some of the crowd-pleasingtunes. New tune "Euphoria" is aired and treated as an old favourite by the fans as we see more beer throwing. The place goes wild when the contagious riff is driven home by Rab Allan and his spiralling guitar. "Geraldine" peeks through after five songs from their new album, which were generally well received. But none had the power and presence of "Geraldine" as it induces a word-perfect crowd singalong, with the line "My name is Geraldine and I'm your social worker" being broadcast so loud it could probably have been heard on the 42 Didsbury bus.
After about an hour, we come to "Go Square Go" and the end of Glasvegas' set. The song is reminiscent of a football chant heard on the terraces of a lower league football team, with the repeated line "Here we, here we, here we fucking go". Somehow, the crowd's voice becomes stronger and louder than James Allan's Scottish vocal power and the line everyone knows the words to is repeated consistently until the band reappear after literally ten seconds off stage. The first song of their encore is "Flowers and Football Tops", stripped down to it's bare bones as we are treated to a much darker and more haunting version of the song with James' vocals only being backed by Rab on an organ. Can Glasvegas still pull off tender heartbreaking melodies in the middle of thrilling, epic pop-rock and make a sound that is immense? Of course they can. They pulled it off with ease.
This is shown in the final song. The most anticipated five minutes of the night arrives with a mix of joy and heartbreak. As James approaches the microphone and calls out the first verse of "Daddy's Gone", more beer is thrown and the crowd find their voices once again. The chorus of "Forget your Da he's gone, he's gone, he's gone, he's gone, he's gone" rings out, which Glasvegas fail to milk. Think they missed a trick there.
Overall, Glasvegas were far better than I had ever anticipated. Forget the backlighting, the smoke machine, the strobe machine, the fact remains that the Scots can still make a massive noise that appeals to a much wider audience than I first thought. The gig was fairly mellow in terms of crowd action but this is almost bypassed as you accept that yes, Glasvegas deserved a much more energetic crowd than tonight's, but their music was recreated almost perfectly live.
A top night. A top, top band.
SETLIST
1. Pain Pain, Never Again(Recorded track, played over PA)
2. The World Is Yours
3. You
4. It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry
5. Shine Like Stars
6. Dream Dream Dreaming
7. Whatever Hurts You Through the Night
8. Polmont on My Mind
9.Euphoria, Take My Hand
10. Geraldine
11. Ice Cream Van (with snippet of Inspiral Carpets)
Finally. After five years of waiting, the world of music had much anticipated "Angles" to savour. After numerous broken promises of release dates and teasing clues to the layout of the album by Julian Casablancas, the record was now laboured with a level of expectation that had never been previously attached to the New York band.
The amount of time it has taken for The Strokes to release the album (five whole years), a lot has changed in the external world of music therefore raising questions to whether the new record could hold its own and live up the suprisingly high expectations of music fans across the globe. In the five years that have passed since the release of "First Impressions Of Earth", Arctic Monkeys have come, gone and come back with new hair styles and new genius music and the charts have been engulfed in predictable, electronic noises that can just be about passed as music in some people's eyes. So, is this the time where Julian Casablancas talks a good talk, but the reality of "Angles" is even better and just what the music world has so desperately needed. I'm afraid not.
The phrase "Hit and Miss" comes to mind after at least seven or eight listens to the entire album over a period of about a week. We wanted brilliance, we wanted genius and maybe, in due course, the album will unveil itself in ways we never anticipated at first listens. This is not an album of first listens. Much like "Humbug" by "Arctic Monkeys", it reveals more than jut three minute pop songs over a period of time. The New York band cannot be criticised when it comes to testing their fans patience.
The opening of the record could not be any better. Hard-hitting, catchy, curtain raising guitar riffs explode through the speakers as "Machu Picchu" and "Under Cover Of Darkness" basks in the glory of old Strokes success. These two tracks make me immediately giddy with excitement as it sets the album up to be one of the best works by "The Strokes". This continues in a hit and miss fashion throughout the album, with frantic drumming and muffed vocals sound to many, what the perfect Strokes reunion would sound like. "Taken For A Fool" illustrates this as along with it's catchy chorus, the simplicty of the layout of the song is what we would traditionally expect from the New York band and we are not disappointed.
However, the cleverly named album attacks the listener in more harsh, different "Angles" that we would not expect. This comes apparant, when "Two Kinds Of Happiness" sounds like it should belong in the 1980's with obvious electronic slurs and a more hollow, stadium-like drumming pattern, something in which many Strokes fans would never expect from them. The new sound the New York band seem to be heading towards is further illustrated with "You're So Right" as Julian Casablancas seems to have discovered a digital vocal manipulator for the first time. Yet, this is overlooked with the frantic guitar patterns are still present embedding the Stroke-esc authenticity. The 80's new wave feel to the album takes yet another "Angle" with a sci-fi element to "Phrazes For The Young" and stonewashed synths in "Games" are two of the outlaying highlights in the album in terms of a new sound and a new direction the band are taking.
It can be argued that the album has not been put together well. The first two, if not three tracks set the album up nicely to maintain a rhythmn that would mark this album above the rest yet the fact it was recorded over a period of more than a year, with the 5 different members recording parts of the songs seperately and often individually, this was always going to be very difficult to pull off. Tracks such as "Gatisfaction" and "Metabolism" lend themselves to these tangents. Each track threatens to break into a classic Strokes three minute tune which made them famous such as "Take It Or Leave It" or "New York City Cops" but still mixes in the sound of twinned complex guitar riffs which can be trademarked as "The Strokes"'s way of playing yet a lighter, chaotic underlying noise of synths and guitar effects lend themselves to a new sound and yet another "Angle" within the album.
We now come to "Call Me Back", a drumless, slower song that finds itself slap bam in the middle of the chaotic and energetic guitar and drum mix. We get the impression as listeners, this song came about as ideas ran dry as momentum that had gradually built, is totally lost and we find ourselves listening to around 2 minutes of this song, and getting an real urge to skip to the next track.
So, what do I think of The Strokes attempt at a new sound, to break away from their infamous New York underlying bass lines, chaotic guitar riffs and frantic drumming? Well put it this way, in Julian Casablancas' words, I could easily "Take It Or Leave It". By the time you've finished listening to the album, an unusual, dis-jointed feeling is present within you as you don't know whether to like "Angles" or whether to bin in and forget you ever listened to it. This is the frustrating thing: the album is set up perfectly with "Machu Picchu" and "Undercover Of Darkness" and excitement is built even further. These two tracks are works of genius and could not have been written any better - if only the rest of the album was like this.
That is the thing you have to get over when listening to "Angles". It is NOT an album for first listens. Remember that. "Angles" is not perfect, and like most albums nowadays, it has it's weak links. But there is no question that The Strokes still write fantastic music and marks a new phase of creativity within the band. But let's hope that we don't have to wait another five years to receive a 12 track album that reaches an anti-climax within the first five tracks. The album isn't a bad album, infact, in many ways, it's a brilliant album, it just needs patience.
