Reviewed By Mark Gomersall
“Keep Slipping Away” is the new single taken from A Place To Bury Strangers fantastic sophomore album, “Exploding Head”. The fact this song wasn’t the first to be released from the album has always surprised me as it’s easily the catchiest thing the band has ever written. Despite this it still keeps the bands familiar style and is actually a very tense listen. It’s not a song that makes you feel comfortable, but in a good way. It’s a song that gets blood pumping through you, it feels like it could just explode into sheer anarchy at any moment and the fact it doesn’t (especially when put next to other APTBS material) really adds to eeriness of the song. The recurring guitar riff is a thing of absolute beauty, making the song feel like a classic from the get-go. I will admit, it’s not all perfect, the song does sound maybe a bit too familiar, in part to the fact that without the riff it’d actually be suspiciously similar to previous APTBS single “I Know I’ll See You” from their debut album.
The b-side, “Hit The Ground” is also a poor point. Despite another massive riff to open things, the band seems more content on providing their notorious ‘wall of sound’ as apposed to writing a good tune. It’s still perfectly listenable, but there’s a very clear reason it’s a b-side. On top of this there’s a selection of remixes of “Keep Slipping” away, the two standouts being the “South Central remix”, which takes a more dance-y approach with robotic twinged vocals and a pounding synth bassline; and the “Maps remix”, which feels like those old New Order b-sides where they’d take a song and remix it into something totally different.
4/5
Showing posts with label Mark Gomersall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark Gomersall. Show all posts
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Oonagh Cassidy – Then And Again
Reviewed by Mark Gomersall
For the most part ‘middle of the road’ music is about as pointless as a tantric wank. It’s generally vacuous, bland and all together boring. Oonagh Cassidy is a new name to tackle the ‘genre’ with her debut EP, “Then And Again” and like those who’ve gone before her does nothing to reinvent the wheel. Spearheaded by a down tempo cover of Cindy Lauper’s cheese-fest “Time After Time”, I was pleasantly surprised until Cassidy decided to launch into some sort of Alanis Morissette parody, warbling away like she’s have some sort of stroke. Seriously, is it physically possible for vibrato to start before you actually sing a note? The worst part of this is the fact she decides to do this at seemingly random times throughout the songs, albeit not as regularly or as strongly as she does on “Time After Time”. Putting that aside, it’s actually quite nice. The songs are dainty and each have a little bit of character to call their own, but at the end of the day the tracks never get beyond the “That’s quite nice” phase, meaning it’s somewhat of a chore to sit through a song from start to finish, let alone the entire EP.
1.5/5
For the most part ‘middle of the road’ music is about as pointless as a tantric wank. It’s generally vacuous, bland and all together boring. Oonagh Cassidy is a new name to tackle the ‘genre’ with her debut EP, “Then And Again” and like those who’ve gone before her does nothing to reinvent the wheel. Spearheaded by a down tempo cover of Cindy Lauper’s cheese-fest “Time After Time”, I was pleasantly surprised until Cassidy decided to launch into some sort of Alanis Morissette parody, warbling away like she’s have some sort of stroke. Seriously, is it physically possible for vibrato to start before you actually sing a note? The worst part of this is the fact she decides to do this at seemingly random times throughout the songs, albeit not as regularly or as strongly as she does on “Time After Time”. Putting that aside, it’s actually quite nice. The songs are dainty and each have a little bit of character to call their own, but at the end of the day the tracks never get beyond the “That’s quite nice” phase, meaning it’s somewhat of a chore to sit through a song from start to finish, let alone the entire EP.
1.5/5
Monday, 2 November 2009
Violet Violet – The City Is Full Of Beasts
Reviewed by Mark Gomersall
There is a longstanding joke of inbreeding in the Norfolk area, and while Norwich based Violet Violet may not have any additional fingers you wouldn’t be knocked for thinking that the band were blessed with more limbs than your average human being. Originally beginning life as a trio, the band released their debut album “Bitchbox” back in 2007, since then they’ve gone through a line-up change, ditching the bass player and becoming a 2-person entity. The 2-‘man’ band is a set up that’s seemingly becoming more and more popular, with the likes of The Ting Tings and Blood Red Shoes making a breakout last year. In fact, Violet Violet do share a lot in common with the aforementioned Blood Red Shoes, besides lacking a Y chromosome and a drummer that looks like a failed experiment that’s escaped from a laboratory petri dish. Stylistically though the bands are very similar, mixing razor sharp female vocals and garage rock influenced guitar riffs in songs that are easy on the ear and exciting enough to get your feet tapping in an instant.
The first thing that jumps out at you about the songs is just how frantic it sounds. Even though the instrumentation is stripped to the core, it still sounds so exciting and big. The riffs are so catchy you’ll find yourself humming along to tracks like “One Little Problem” and “Twin On Twin” in no time. Then the vocal work begins the hit home. The harmonies, the interweaving vocal lines, the shouts, the screams, it all just fits together so perfectly, and no more so than in “C-C-C-Cat”. It is absolutely phenomenal, sounding as though it’s lifted straight from the early days of the Arctic Monkeys, with its snappy chorus and a verse that’s right out of the Alex Turner playbook, right down to the delivery and pronunciation of the lyrics. If you don’t have the urge to yell out “You stole my C-C-C-C-C-Cat” at random intervals you’re a stronger person than me (or probably not as drunk).
In indie-rock at the minute there seems to be two main trends. Either you’re so overtly quirky and twee that you could realistically borrow your nans cardigan and be heralded as a fashion trendsetter, playing songs that are so sugary that they could wipe out a family of diabetics. Or you’re a massively over the top prick, who once listened to “Out Of The Blue” by Electric Light Orchestra so have decided to layer everything with ridiculous synthesized strings because you think it makes your songs sound ‘epic’. So it’s honestly refreshing to hear an album like “The City Is Full Of Beasts”, where things have been stripped to the bare bones and Violet Violet explode with 10-songs full of indie-punk hooks.
Oh yeah, there’s also a really rather pointless remix at the end too. People still do hidden tracks? Seriously? They’re never worth it and just bring the mood down. They’re the musical equivalent of an Easter egg hunt where when the kids eventually find the eggs they’ve all melted into the grass and the dog has already been at them, who when they get back to the house is dead in the porch from chocolate poisoning.
4/5
There is a longstanding joke of inbreeding in the Norfolk area, and while Norwich based Violet Violet may not have any additional fingers you wouldn’t be knocked for thinking that the band were blessed with more limbs than your average human being. Originally beginning life as a trio, the band released their debut album “Bitchbox” back in 2007, since then they’ve gone through a line-up change, ditching the bass player and becoming a 2-person entity. The 2-‘man’ band is a set up that’s seemingly becoming more and more popular, with the likes of The Ting Tings and Blood Red Shoes making a breakout last year. In fact, Violet Violet do share a lot in common with the aforementioned Blood Red Shoes, besides lacking a Y chromosome and a drummer that looks like a failed experiment that’s escaped from a laboratory petri dish. Stylistically though the bands are very similar, mixing razor sharp female vocals and garage rock influenced guitar riffs in songs that are easy on the ear and exciting enough to get your feet tapping in an instant.
The first thing that jumps out at you about the songs is just how frantic it sounds. Even though the instrumentation is stripped to the core, it still sounds so exciting and big. The riffs are so catchy you’ll find yourself humming along to tracks like “One Little Problem” and “Twin On Twin” in no time. Then the vocal work begins the hit home. The harmonies, the interweaving vocal lines, the shouts, the screams, it all just fits together so perfectly, and no more so than in “C-C-C-Cat”. It is absolutely phenomenal, sounding as though it’s lifted straight from the early days of the Arctic Monkeys, with its snappy chorus and a verse that’s right out of the Alex Turner playbook, right down to the delivery and pronunciation of the lyrics. If you don’t have the urge to yell out “You stole my C-C-C-C-C-Cat” at random intervals you’re a stronger person than me (or probably not as drunk).
In indie-rock at the minute there seems to be two main trends. Either you’re so overtly quirky and twee that you could realistically borrow your nans cardigan and be heralded as a fashion trendsetter, playing songs that are so sugary that they could wipe out a family of diabetics. Or you’re a massively over the top prick, who once listened to “Out Of The Blue” by Electric Light Orchestra so have decided to layer everything with ridiculous synthesized strings because you think it makes your songs sound ‘epic’. So it’s honestly refreshing to hear an album like “The City Is Full Of Beasts”, where things have been stripped to the bare bones and Violet Violet explode with 10-songs full of indie-punk hooks.
Oh yeah, there’s also a really rather pointless remix at the end too. People still do hidden tracks? Seriously? They’re never worth it and just bring the mood down. They’re the musical equivalent of an Easter egg hunt where when the kids eventually find the eggs they’ve all melted into the grass and the dog has already been at them, who when they get back to the house is dead in the porch from chocolate poisoning.
4/5
Monday, 19 October 2009
A Lesser Of Two Evils – Fighting Fiction
Reviewed by Mark Gomersall
When I think of reggae the last words I expect to see describing it are "These are songs written with anger", but that's exactly what Bristol 4-piece "Fighting Fiction" are promising on their debut EP "A Lesser Of Two Evils". Whilst this has all the makings of a trainwreck, the band actually manage to pull off the blend of reggae and indie-rock fairly competently, albeit in a rather mediocre fashion, with the opening and closing tracks both feeling as though they're stuck in second gear. It's also quite difficult to shrug off the feeling that this is the kind of music your year 9 Geography teacher would have enjoyed. However, the middle 2-songs on the EP sees the band turning things around. Channelling the spirit of both Billy Bragg and a more ‘punked up’ Frank Turner, “Cameraphones And Choruses” and “You Mean The World To Me” are exciting tracks with massive sing-along choruses and show definite promise for the band’s future. All in all a mixed bag of an EP, in which I feel the band still hasn’t found the sound they’re looking for.
2.5/5
When I think of reggae the last words I expect to see describing it are "These are songs written with anger", but that's exactly what Bristol 4-piece "Fighting Fiction" are promising on their debut EP "A Lesser Of Two Evils". Whilst this has all the makings of a trainwreck, the band actually manage to pull off the blend of reggae and indie-rock fairly competently, albeit in a rather mediocre fashion, with the opening and closing tracks both feeling as though they're stuck in second gear. It's also quite difficult to shrug off the feeling that this is the kind of music your year 9 Geography teacher would have enjoyed. However, the middle 2-songs on the EP sees the band turning things around. Channelling the spirit of both Billy Bragg and a more ‘punked up’ Frank Turner, “Cameraphones And Choruses” and “You Mean The World To Me” are exciting tracks with massive sing-along choruses and show definite promise for the band’s future. All in all a mixed bag of an EP, in which I feel the band still hasn’t found the sound they’re looking for.
2.5/5
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