Words: Alex Robinson
Melbourne-based electro-pop group Miami Horror is the product of producer Benjamin Plant, with additional members Josh Moriaty (vocals and guitar), Dan Whitechurch (bass, keys and sampler) and Aaron Shanahan (drums) both collaborating on studio work and forming the live incarnation of the group. Supporting acts such as Friendly Fires in their 2009 Australian tour and Lily Allen in her upcoming 2010 Australian Sideshow Tour, appearing in the Big Day Out 2010 first line-up and with their debut album to be released in January next year, they are a group with a very promising future.
Their commercial debut, the ‘Bravado’ EP, was released late last year and received moderate coverage in the blogging world. At five tracks long, ‘Bravado’ outlines the two different sounds of Miami Horror. ‘Don’t Be On With Her’ and ‘Make You Mine’ are catchy pop tunes with stylistic throwbacks to the eighties. Sparkling synthesizers, soaring heavily processed guitars riffs and a funky bass and rhythm section are coupled with Moriaty’s vocals, which seem perfect for this style of music, give both songs a great feel and vibe. Furthermore, techniques such as the chopped and high pitched vocals in ‘Don’t Be On With Her’, which would usually seem like silly gimmicks, fit the track excellently.
The second half of Bravado has a more electronic sound. The guitars and vocals, bar the exception of a robotic voice repeating ‘Illumination’ for the umpteenth time, have been replaced by a multitude of synthesizers. ‘Bellevue’ is a bright and upbeat track, whilst ‘Illumination’ sounds like a cross between Midnight Juggernauts and Justice, with dirty and distorted bass lines coupled with floating synthesizers. Both tracks are undeniably solid, but lack that human charm that makes the first half of the EP so great.
‘Summerfest 86’ seems a midpoint between these two sounds. Taking a guitar solo that sounds right at home in the eighties, Plant chops, loops, and generally messes around with the same phrase for around three and a half minutes. The repetition nearly gets to the point of boring, but luckily, Plant manages to create the feeling that the listener is actually listening to a rock band, with a screaming crowd in the background of the track.
Bravado is a solid all round release. It lays down the foundation of a group who could be a great electronic or pop group depending on which path they chose to travel. Hopefully they choose the pop route, as that is what they are best at.
8.0
Audiovisual: ‘Don’t Be On With Her’
It seems funny that Animal Collective choose to release their music for the grimmest of months. January and December – the start of winter and the end of warmth. Their songs are sun-appropriate, uplifting, life-affirming and yet every time I listen to ‘Merriweather Post Pavilion’, it works best when I’m chilly. ‘Fall Be Kind‘ sweetly infuses abstract patterns with the deep bass notes and striking vocal harmonics that helped define the previous album. Only on ‘Fall Be Kind’ we get to see a real significant shift towards less pacey, pop-orientated territory. It’s not their most accessible work to date – ok, it’s nothing on the band’s early material, but it certainly falls back on old times after the infectious instant likability of ‘MPP’ allowed certain “sell out” accusations to gather force.
In many ways these songs sound more comfortable when associated with ‘Feels‘; they’re elongated, evolving and far from straight to the point. Opener ‘Graze‘ allows an almighty sound shift in its latter half, from smooth, deep cries of triumph to tip-toeing percussion and a tribal party spirit. This isn’t quite ‘Feels’ with more gadgets though: ‘What Would I Want? Sky’ is very much amongst the three-piece’s latest work, crafting a Grateful Dead sample with an exquisite vocal performance from Avey Tare. There are lyrics, there’s a hook that keeps and it’s all formed with samplers. This is more Brothersport than Leaf House.
But it’s still a sure-fire exit from the material of late. And that sort of move could be judged as moronic or merely, the right thing to do. Animal Collective are never going to be chart toppers. More likely, they’ll be a group looked upon in decades to come as innovators, opinion-splitters, forward-thinkers. And so to continue upon this route of shortening the song length, tightening the ropes, would be a poor choice. After all, when have Animal Collective ever decided to stick to the same sound over the course of more than one release? Never.
Initial thoughts rating:
8.5
Take Three
- Graze
- What Would I Want? Sky
- I Think I Can
EP REVIEW: The Drums – ‘Summertime!’
words: Jamie Milton
The Drums choose to have the title of their latest EP placed in inverted commas. That could give some reasoning towards the desperately dark and squalid themes that emerge from a collection of songs that names itself after the finest, happiest of the seasons. “This ain’t what I thought it would be, this is the saddest summer ever” is the closing refrain of the opening track’s chorus, luring its listeners in with anything but optimism. And this is perfect: The Drums have instantly set aside doubts that they’d be a clichéd, one-dimensional pop act who can only pride themselves on one emotion. They’ve done this before the big time knocks on their door — and it will — and they’re all the more formidable for it.
But the signs were there from the off. Viral hit ‘Let’s Go Surfing’ was indeed filmed on a beach. But it was filmed on a beach at night – there was not one sign of sunbathing tourists or a macho lifeguard. The Drums have also cited New Order and The Smiths as core influences. It all adds up to a band who could switch their focus to either side: pure, sun-tinged and high spirited or bogged down and morbid. The prospect of both is absolutely thrilling.
“Oh baby, I don’t know what to do with myself.” Lyrics are at the heart of this veiled tone of depression. In similar style to Girls, The Drums’ lyrics make up a poignant polar opposite to the majority of the sounds crafted on top of the words sung. Much of ‘Summertime!’ consists of hand-claps, whistling, knee-jerk, sharp guitar parts. But the lyrics sitting aside display bleak wit; “You used to be so pretty. But now you’re just tragic. Believe in something. You’re full of horse-shit” being the stand-out collection.
But the key to ‘Summertime!’’s success is the melodies. Members of The Drums have already consistently expressed their desire to write “the perfect pop song”. And although that’s a far from abnormal aspiration, it’s the kind that seems to dominate the band’s outlook when it comes to writing almost every note of a song. The finest three-and-a-half-minutes comes in at the climax; ‘Down By The Water’, a ‘Stand By Me’-esque, welled-up, childish declaration that “I just wanna love you deaaar!”. It’s the kind of hands-in-the-air anthem that made bands in the 60’s and it’s very much because of that melody. So far, The Drums are setting their own goals and by God, they are meeting the targets.
9.5
mp3: The Drums – Down By The Water
October 13th
Pre-order
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EP REVIEW: Johnny Foreigner – Feels Like Summer
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Who says that the best things in life aren’t free? Johnny Foreigner would have you think that they most definitely are. The Birmingham three-piece (that’s guitarist Alexei Berrow, drummer Junior Elvis Washington Laidley and bassist Kelly Southern, right) made this EP available through their website a few weeks ago, for nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. That is a pretty sweet deal, from where I’m standing. It helps, too, that it is an absolute gem.
The three-song EP opens with its title-track, which we heaped praise upon a few months back. Its position as the most immediate thing the band have written to date still stands, in this reviewer’s opinion. But what of the two new tracks? Well, actually, one of them is only sort of new. ‘Camp Kelly Calm’ was the flipside to debut single ‘Sometimes In The Bullring’, released way back when in 2006. It’s nice to see old demos resurrected and given some studio polish, and a makeover has really benefited the song. Alexei Berrow delivers some absolutely fantastic lines, such as, ‘You said, “See, I’m not just a pretty face” / And how you’re wrong! You’re not, you’re not even pretty!’ and, ‘Don’t care, you’re a fool, and I’m stealing your words / Like an AK-47 in a nightclub full of handguns’. One thing about Alexei is that he has an astonishing turn of phrase, but then you knew that already, of course – ‘Hot girls know the words to our songs, and I’m terrified of what comes next’ – that’s from ‘Yr All Just Jealous’ off last year’s debut record, ‘Waited Up ‘Til It Was Light’. Usual quality of lyrics from him, then.
What is new, though, is that JoFo’s hook-writing ability has definitely improved. ‘Wow. Just Wow’ is a perfect example of this, a song that shows how far the band have come in the three years the current line-up have been together. The track is driven by excellent drumming from Junior, and reaches a high-point midway through the song, as Kelly takes vocals. Her impassioned cry of ‘You have gone deaf!’ wraps things up in style, as the EP is brought to an abrupt halt. All this is achieved in just under seven minutes. Take that, Tokyo Police Club.
I figure I may as well put the whole thing up here, as I really can’t choose a favourite track. The three tracks are every bit as good as each other.
The album is preceded by new song ‘Criminals’ on Monday October 12th. It’s called ‘Grace And The Bigger Picture’. It’s out on October 26th. Get excited.
9.3
Feels Like Summer [alt]
Camp Kelly Calm [alt]
Wow. Just Wow [alt]
TRACK REVIEW: Deerhunter – Rainwater Cassette Exchange
words: Jamie Milton
It’s a lot of fun being a Deerhunter fan. You only have wait a good six months or so before they update your collection with something fresh, giving your music a well-deserved spring cleaning. The character of Bradford Cox suggests that he has a big work-rate and a whole lot of stamina when it comes to songwriting, and the quick-fire release of ‘Weird Era Cont.’ next to an album it arguably exceeded in terms of quality, ‘Microcastle’, went to show how active Deerhunter were. You can’t seem to spend a month without hearing at least something new about work in progress, a change in sound (something more Strokes-esque has been suggested recently…).
‘Rainwater Cassette Exchange’ is the third release by the band in the last 6-7 months, albeit much shorter than the last two records. The title-track displays a firm stance on the previously-endeavoured, more streamlined, less abstract Deerhunter sound. Cox’s vocals are perfectly tuned and timed to give the track that extra boost it clearly cries out for. Smart guitar work akin to that on ‘Microcastle’’s first half returns in full flow, and whilst this would easily stand out on last year’s breakthrough release, it does nothing to suggest an element of change. But, avoiding the cliched catchphrase, why change something that appears to be flawless?
79%
mp3: Deerhunter – Rainwater Cassette Exchange (zshare)
“he still pulls the right strings when it comes to making you cry like a baby”
EXCLUSIVE EP REVIEW: Bon Iver – Blood Bank
words: Jamie Milton
Having just about given the green light to Christmas cheer filtering through into our lives, we’re still having to deal with quite a few snow-themed, saddening distractions. The Glasvegas Christmas EP certainly deals with the less jubilant side of our December time. And even though Justin Vernon, recovering still from his relationship turmoil, talks kindly of “that Christmas morning”, that he knows so well on the title-track of the snowflake covered treat of an EP, he still pulls the right strings when it comes to making you cry like a baby.
Expect the critical response towards ‘Blood Bank’ to be somewhere in between “oh him? Not fussed anymore…” and “Fuck me that’s amazing!”. It’s certainly difficult to be underwhelmed. Prior to the final track it’s more of a case of same-old, same-old but Kanye West inspired or not (the mostly likely of the two, blame coincidence), ‘Woods’ is Bon Iver’s most refreshingly “new” work to date. Those harmonics that ‘For Emma…’ was so fondly famed for spectacularly drive an instrument-free chorus into a euphoric wail of despair, all via. some autotune. It’s remarkable how well it works. Don’t dismiss it as the same stuff, just with a vocoder smeared on top of it, there’s an awful lot more to it; progression in structure, a gorgeous centring melody and the help of some reverb-heavy Vernon cries to close it all.
But that isn’t the only difference between his two works. ‘Babys’ is odd in the way that it gives the limelight to some busy, chiming yet clumsy piano chords, before an equally riveting guitar strum helps us make perfect sense of it all. ‘Beach Baby’ even, gives us something unfamiliar with its stereotypical-package-holiday-in-Hawaii guitar lines that enter midway.
But the finest work comes at the very start. A tale of two lovers falling into each-other’s arms when in a freezing cold car, stuck in traffic is a bit predictable knowing Bon Iver but in terms of resonance, it eclipses all. Perhaps then, Vernon should just stick to a perpetual theory, regardless of any inevitable critical backlash. But all the same, it’s very enjoyable to discover that there’s more to him than sentiment and sadness.
8.2
PLAY: Bon Iver – Babys
[pre-order 'Blood Bank']
“Christmas shouldn’t feel like this, but it feels good.”
INITIAL THOUGHTS: Glasvegas – A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like A Kiss)
words: Jamie Milton
Who’d have thought that music could draw the Christmas spirit right out of you with twenty minutes of depressing sonics. We’ve got our mistletoe and wine and our jingle bells, carols are probably the most annoying part of Christmas, when kids come knocking on your doorstep for the fifth time in the evening, my God that knocks the Christmas spirit right out of you a lot quicker than Glasvegas’ depressing sonics would.
Their new Christmas-themed EP opens with a warning message of ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’ and you can call James Allan’s vocals depressing if you like, but it’d be like calling the Smiths or Radiohead depressing, it’s a generalisation. In the background is a hint of cheeriness, no matter how bleakly disguised it may be. This two minute opener is soothing, atmospheric, akin to the beginning of ‘Flowers and Football Tops’. Their debut album had a consistent feeling to it, and as does this Christmas EP.
Had you grown tired of the self-titled record, this will not do any help. But Allan has grand ambitions and that perhaps becomes really clear for the first time in ‘A Snowflake Fell’. Why is it that Glasvegas are so likeable? They represent an awful lot that most of us claim to hate, repetitive laddish-ness. But there’s more to ‘em than that. Clearly, they’re one of the most inventive, ambitious bands around on evidence of this EP. Sure, they may be replicating the atsosphere and the dread that the album consisted entirely of but we’re gradually adjusting to it.
‘Fuck You, It’s Over’ is a shameless, sudden blow to the head courtesy of a typically high-pitched, repetitive riff coming face-to-face with the stirring abstract background. And if you ever thought that ‘Stabbed’ was a little bit less than run-of-the-mill, you’ve got another thing coming to you in the Scot’s cover of ‘Silent Night’, my favourite carol as it happens. They transform the potentially dark carol into a doom-fest, echoing piano chords making your heart ache and your head the same. Christmas shouldn’t feel like this, but it feels good.
PLAY: Glasvegas – Silent Night (Noapte De Vis) (zshare)
PLAY: Glasvegas – Fuck You, It’s Over
(GLASVEGAS PEOPLE DISCLAIMER: For sampling purposes only, please contact if you want these songs taken down)
[buy 'Glasvegas / A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like A Kiss)']
MFM @ HYPEM
