Perhaps the only “big” release 2009 has left to give, supergroup Them Crooked Vultures are swiping away the mysterious, unrevealing stance that came with their surprise festival appearances this summer and here, they are truly announcing themselves a band “proper” with this self-titled debut.
Being a three-piece, they don’t just stick to the rules. A vast amount of outside instrumentation arrives in small stages of this album, although the majority of the record keeps to the idea of three pretty old men rocking out with a bass, a guitar and a drum kit. That’s a bad thing. This sort of musical gesture is completely dated and were Josh Homme not fronting the project, it would have absolutely nothing going for it. Even his challenging vocals cannot save the bulk of wankery that gives the album its pulse. It’s no doubt something that all member get off on but a listener can feel swept aside, excluded from what’s happening.
And it’s not even as if the brave instrument-heavy moments such as ‘Warsaw, Or The First Breath You Take After You Give Up’ are in any way spectacular. When it punches, it makes up for the self-indulgence. This is an album that needs to be more instant, merciless. It’s ultimately a sub-par Queens of the Stone Age, without the psychotic dramatics that made the likes of ‘Rated R‘ and ‘Songs For the Deaf‘ such timeless albums.
NEW MUSIC: Kidnapper Bell (Birmingham, UK)
words: Jamie Milton photo source: owlgardens
Pop-punk needs to become more pop if it is to lure in the hearts of the mainstream. Heading that movement seems to be an Anglo-American bunch who go by the name of Kidnapper Bell. Playing shows with contemporaries Tubelord, Johnny Foreigner, Hot Club De Paris, they’ve had plenty of time to inhale the tricks of the trade and 2009 has been the year in which they’ve unleashed their blueprint – ‘The Great Outdoors‘, a mini album showcasing dramatic, melodic, guitar-led pop with a commanding, sinister outer edge.
‘An Evening‘, taken from said album, is due out on November 23rd as a download-only single. It’s a prime example of the ambitious, active sound that Kidnapper Bell have seemingly already mastered – delicate male-female vocals combine behind delay-ridden guitar patterns that recall Grammatics at their finest. It’s a sure-fire means of easing you into enjoying Kidnapper Bell, so d/l the single in November or alternatively, give it a sample here and then make up your mind.
ALBUM REVIEW: The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
words: Jamie Milton
When you approach ‘Embryonic’, it’s not totally unfair to approach it with haste. This is after all a band who, 26 years into their career, pride themselves on gutsy flings with previously unapproachable genres and combinations of sound. Rightfully, they have no fear, no limits.
Holding that thought, The Flaming Lips’ twelfth release could go either way: Its nineteen tracks could consist of loose ends, limitless ideas that only go so far in charm and accessibility. Or, this could be the band’s tour de force; an escape from verse-chorus, a euphoric, twisted extreme of psychedelia that makes for not just 19 tracks, but a single journey. You guessed it – it’s the latter.
Wayne Coyne and co.’s exploration into the depths of experimentation is what won them critical acclaim in the first place. But this is a step even further. ‘Embryonic’ isn’t devoid of melody, nor is it intentionally provocative and pretentious the whole way through. It represents a merging of terrifying, stimulating turns of pace and mood with more blissed-out, retrospective reprisals.
“Overwhelming but all the better for it”
Thoughtful declaratives such as “See the grass, it’s dying again” and “That’s the difference between us” are just some of the few bold words to come from Coyne, who takes a more shadowed stance in this album when compared to 2006’s ‘At War With The Mystics’. Here, you imagine him away from the stage prop of a giant hamster ball. He spills over, chanting and yelling in response to the hectic, active atmosphere that so dominates the instrumentals. He comes out of his cage in ‘Evil’, the most melodic song of ‘Embryonic’; mid-tempo, spacious ambience near overwhelming Coyne’s whimpering cry of “I wish I could go back in time…”
All that lacks from ‘Embryonic’ is a centerpiece. The band have previously declared the desire to make this record a “a free-for-all” and interestingly, this denies convention of surrounding a stand-out track with all the abstract, trivial craft that so teases the listener. The unpredictability of this album almost gives way to the feeling of no need for its own ‘Idioteque’. But without it, the album does eventually give in to its longevity and admittedly, becomes tiresome. That’s where the repeated listens come in handy. That’s when the pensive, sample-ridden instrumentals of ‘Sagittarius Silver Announcement’ and ‘Gemini Syringes’ blossom and come to life. For they are what truly makes ‘Embryonic’ a special record; had this been a “free-for-all” that only went bold, that didn’t allow beauty to seep through, it would have collapsed as an erratic failure.
It’s quite telling when guest appearances on an album don’t set the agenda: Karen O’s animal noises, intimidating as they may be, make up a vital revitaliser of the record, ‘I Can Be A Frog’ coming just after gung-ho, edgy ‘The Ego’s Last Stand’. And MGMT’s appearance on ‘Worm Mountain’ almost goes unnoticed. Flaming Lips are at centre stage because they are somehow, veterans still trying new things. Aside from one or two other anomalies, no other band is achieving what Flaming Lips can. Overwhelming but all the better for it, ‘Embryonic’ breaks boundaries that nobody considered breakable.
If we are to believe claims from the band itself, Johnny Foreigner might be in the brink of releasing their last album. Financial meltdown could prompt it. Said meltdown could be prompted by the leaking of their albums. Now I’m sure many of you reading this will have inevitably got your hands on ‘Grace and the Bigger Picture‘ upon its leaking. This review is based on what we’ve heard from a promo copy, not a transcode leak. All the same, if you’re to buy one record this year, even be it out of pure sympathy and slight worry, buy ‘Grace and the Bigger Picture’. It has a lot going for it, you know…
What might seem a chaotic, mindless rout at first eventually reveals a more considered routine. Its purpose is to be obnoxious, provocative, from the “aaand it starts like!:” opening on ‘Choose Yr Side And Shut Up!‘ to the excruciating ‘Kingston Called, They Want Their Lost Youth Back‘ , this record prides itself on making you squeamish before eventually enjoying the ride. There’s a communal spirit, a sense of inclusion when listening to it, as if you’re stepping into a house party that consists of a close-knit group of friends you’ve never met before. Trying to get their in-jokes, attempting to be on the same wavelength, Johnny Foreigner have a frighteningly loyal stance towards the scene, the upbringing, the whole band image and prophecy.
Anyone who couldn’t get into debut ‘Waited Up ‘Til It Was Light‘ should steer well clear of this. It’s a more audacious, experimental collection of songs, interlocking gruesome bass notes with squeal-pitched synths. It all ultimately relies upon a fantastic, timeless riff, the most notable arriving in ‘The Coast Was Always Clear‘, the damn finest closer to an album for some time.
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3 recommended tracks:
‘Criminals’- Streamlined but brutal pop-punk, what you’d expect. (mp3)
‘Every Cloakroom Ever’ - similar to ‘Salt, Peppa & Spinderella’ in starting minimal before combusting into frenzied chants.
‘The Coast Was Always Clear’ – Featuring the kind of joyous, tight guitar parts that sat so neatly on the debut, this epic closing to the record is the stand-out moment – giving every ounce of passion remaining before reluctantly giving up.
Adventures In The Beetroot Field, despite being an entirely new record label, already had prestige and pride associated with its work thanks to the success of the last few year’s Field Day festivals. Von Haze, their first signing, might be feeling a slight weight on their shoulders being the label’s very first signing. But their sound is anything but phased; smooth, ghostly psychedelia is put through its paces against synthesised backdrops and hard-hitting basslines.
It recalls the garage vibe of many other Brooklyn acts – Crystal Stilts, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart as examples. Of course, Von Haze sound absolutely nothing like the former or the latter, but their creations muster up a similarly damaged yet modernised scope of sound. Their most melodic, touching work is the most insightful – ‘Outside the Night’ pits Xx-esque male and female vocals tugging at eachother with subdued, spacious organs and almost unnoticeable drum rhythms. Their paramount achievement to date is the seven-minutes-long ‘Sooner Or Later’, a drawn-out stalking terror, staring right at you for as long as you take it, but never giving in, never unleashing anything other than HEALTH-esque bitty synths and the occasional storm of white noise. Teasing but very capable of surprising. (JM)
Editors have had their fair share of stick. To turn a blind eye to it is one thing, to make brave, bold moves musically is another. When Tom Smith and co. first emeged in 2005 with ‘The Back Room’, most thought they had the band pigeon-holed nice and snug as an indie band, crying out for stadium shows. I suppose we should have seen it coming: Editors may sound like a boring band name but it does ultimately imply the idea of change more than anything.
‘Eat Raw Flesh…’ is perhaps a bigger surprise than the change in direction explored by The Horrors this Spring. It combines a London-suburb darkness akin to Portishead’s ‘Third’ with the Knife-esque electronics and similar howls to ‘One Hit’, all glued together by a more high-pitched vocal performance from Smith than usual. On the Jools Holland performance you can look directly at the band and observe how much this means to them and frankly, how bloody wonderful they think it is. It’s teasing, because it leaves us prepared, awaiting ‘In This Light and On This Evening’ to unleash what could be anything. It has the potential to be phenomenal.
Matt Bellamy on drums, Chris on guitar and keys, Dom as the terrific front man, Muse have performed a bit of a prank on a German Italian TV station. Matt’s performance on the kit is something to behold, punching triumphantly for every musical bash and crash. But the best part is the interview that follows, showing that no producer in the studio, nor the host had even bothered to notice that things had gone a bit topsy-turvy.
Trends and scenes can sometimes be seen from miles off. But not many anticipated the stampede of synth-pop that arrived in 2008 and grew even more so this year. But the scent of a type of adrenaline-fulled grunge, a blend of garage rock, with the “hipster” tag is approaching. And without said tag, it’s the kind of music that still maintains its appeal. In 2010 you can expect to hear the name Male Bonding splashed all over the shop having just signed to Sub Pop, and expect their companions, Brighton’s La La Vasquez and Cold Pumas to also nab a bit of the limelight.
This isn’t chart-topping, this isn’t even real “music” to the old folks. But this is an energised, instrumental pulse. Guitars, guitars, guitars all clashing to create an almost otherworldly output, as if there are no guitars at all. The three-piece’s sound is given life by hard-hitting, relentless drums and this notion of repetition that makes all of it so intriguing and instant.
Call this city boy biased but the future should be well-prepared for what Brighton’s got in store.
COLD PUMAS @ Tumblr
All mp3s posted on Music Fan's Mic are posted after gaining the relevant permission.
Jamie Milton began Music Fan's Mic in 2006 as a means of publishing and collecting his reviews for other publications. Since then both Milton and Gareth O'Malley are co-running the blog and posting the best new music on a regular basis.
Boom-box-in':
Yeasayer - Odd Blood LP
Final Fantasy Heartland LP
Beach House - Teen Dream LP
These New Puritans - We Want War
Gigi - The Old Graveyard
jj - The xx Intro
Toro Y Moi - Causers of This LP
Liars - Sisterworld LP
Vampire Weekend - White Sky
Los Campesinos! - In Medias Res
MFM @ HYPEM
