A Heart Full of Hornets

Here’s some more videos for some of the recent albums I’ve written about:

The Presets - This Boy’s In Love:

Enter Shikari - Anything Can Happen In The Next Half Hour:

Vampire Weekend - A Punk:

Band Of Horses - No One’s Gonna Love You:

I actually have a smidgen of sympathy for so-called “MySpace bands”, which are bands that have supposedly used the internet to gain a following but seen to be passed it by the time they actually release any tunes. Vampire Weekend formed in 2006 but it’s taken until early 2008 for them to release their first album, despite a wave to hype and interest surrounding the band throughout the previous year. Maybe that’s a good thing: now the interest has subsided a bit, their self-titled debut album will have to stand on it’s own merit. What also helps is that Vampire Weekend really don’t sound like any other band right now. Taking the literary approach to rock and adding it to a world-music vibe makes for a really unique album in 2008.

Much has been made about the afro-beat influence on the band and indeed the drumming definately incorporates the layered “poly-rhythmic” african influence, especially on the lead single “Mansford Roof” which starts off kind of frenetic only to have a light chiming guitar and keyboard that mellows the track considerably. The songs on Vampire Weekend tend to be fairly short, normally lasting 3 minutes and this is a good thing: the songs are short and crafted, with short bursts of strings that lend a nice extra texture on some songs, like the jaunty “Bryn”.

Picking one track to highlight doesn’t do the album justice: Vampire Weekend works best as a cohesive album, rather than a collection of songs. At times, it reminds me of Paul Simon’s African inluenced Graceland album (the breezy melody of “One (Blake’s Got A New Face” and the percussive “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”). Indeed, I think my favourite track is nestled at the end, “Walcott” has this amazing chiming sound which is either a piano played really far away of a very distorted guitar. When the second verse starts up, there’s a wonderful violin solo propelling it on. I hate recommending an album purely on the basis that it’s original and it stands out from the crowd, but Vampire Weekend really does sound different and it’s stuffed full of songs that have a lightness of touch about them which makes this album an intoxicating listen.

Vampire Weekend - Mansford Roof:

The Presets are probably the best dance act in Australia right now and that’s not a dig. Midnight Juggernauts, Cut Copy and Muscles are all putting out great stuff right now. The Presets had a big hit single with “Are You The One” a few years ago from their debut album Beams. Now Apocalypso has been released and it is a brilliant dance album. It’s one that manages the rare trick of having tracks that sound great in a club and it does really well as a full album. It spans quite a few genres but vocalist/keyboardist Julian Hamilton and drummer Kim Moyes keep it all fresh and consistent, even though there’s a few detours through some different styles.

“Talk Like That” is slightly camp and you half expect to see Hamilton twirl a rakish moustache whilst he sings the lyrics with the bombastic organ in the background. “Eucalyptus” sounds lo-fi and a little monotone until the chorus kicks in with a melancholy synth line and some haunting vocals. “If I Know You” wouldn’t sound out of place on the GTA: Vice City soundtrack (now there’s an idea, I’m gonna import the mp3 into the game now) with it’s 80’s ambience and classic drum machine sound.

The huge single “My People” is another stormer (a worthy followup to “Are You The One”), with it’s sneering electro vocals and throbbing bass line. It’s only the squelchy “Together” that sound out of place, it’s a track meant firmly for the dance floor. The instrumental “Aeons” sounds pleasant enough and maybe benefits from having no vocals laid on it. “Anywhere” is the come-down track at the end that layers some delicate synth lines to make a downbeat, but strangely uplifting track. Apocalypso is a winner on all counts and even thought their profile isn’t that big in the UK, find the album and get into it.

The Presets - My People:

Rock music and dance music haven’t ever really combined in a way that the unique elements of each genre stay unique. Usually it ends up sounding either like very polished rock music or dance music with rock-like guitars. The “New-Rave” scene scuzzed it up, but it basicaly didn’t do anything vastly different from the “disco-punk” bands of 2002-onwards, like the Rapture and Radio 4. Enter Shakiri take things a step further though, but adding thunderous metal guitars and drums into the mix of synths and programmed beats. It’s an exhilirating listen, but it’s not without it’s flaws. Enter Shikari formed in 2003 but it’s took them four years to issue their debut album “Take To The Skies”. The album features re-recorded versions of a some tracks that appeared in various EPs, that the band released between 2003 and 2007, but on the whole Take To The Skies is a cohesive effort.

Opening efforts “Stand Your Ground…” and “Enter Shakiri” set out a template the band sticks to: screaming vocals, anthemic terrace chants, pulsating synths and crunching riffs. It’s a staggering opening and “Mothership” helps keep up the drnamic. The slow ending of “Anything Can Happen In The Next Half Hour…” slows things down. However, the dye seems to be set. The band only use a handful of synth and guitar sounds and it begins to great. “No Sssweat” changes it up with it’s rolling beat and slightly surreal lyrics (I’ll bite your fingers off!”). “Today Won’t Go Down In History” starts of strangely slow but then develops into a glistening song that sounds like it was recorded in the 80’s.

There are still standout moments though: the closing refrain of “Return To Energizer” is melodic and tender and the single “Sorry, You’re Not A Winner” crackles with energy and focus. I just get a feeling that the band have maybe polished up a bit too much here; I’ve not heard their earlier versions on their EPs, but I feel they’d have more impact if they were even rawer. Just go hell for leather, up the riffs and tempo and layer on the synths. I know it sounds strange, but if they cut out the numerous unessecary interludes (all four of them don’t really add anything) and just went for blunt impact, then Take To The Skies would be really memorable.

Enter Shikari - Sorry, You’re Not a Winner:

You would have thought the resurgence of 1980’s nostalgia would have faded years ago, once people stopped play GTA: Vice City. But it still goes on; the new M83 album harks back to the slick synth-pop hey-day of the 80’s and now Gruff Rhys of the Super Furry Animals has teamed up with producer Boom Bip for an album of glossy electronic pop that wouldn’t have been out of the place on the New Wave station in Vice City. For a long time, my memories of 80’s pop was horrid white boy soul like Johnny Hates Jazz and other shite like that. Stainless Style however manages to take all the good parts of 80s pop and somehow make it sound fresh.

The whole album is seemingly a concept album about the rise and fall of John Delorean, whose eponymous car was a symbol of what was good and bad about the Reagan-years. In all honesty, aside from a few lyrical mentions, the concept doesn’t really add or subract anything to the album. The opening “Neon Theme” is an interesting track, that sounds more like a sleek post punk guitar track than a slickly produced pop gem. “Steel Your Girl” is a sunny pop song that could easily have been a SFA song. The single “I Lust U” reminds me of Depeche Mode’s “People Are People”, but still sounds original thanks to it’s catchy chorus.

The more hip-hop based tracks like “Sweat Shop”, “Luxury Pool” and “Trick For Treat” let the album down slighlty, as they just sound like modern hip-hop tracks, despite some quality vocals from the likes of Fat Lip. The best track is the shimmering power-pop of “I Told Her On Alderaan”, a knowing wink to the dominance Star Wars had on the 80’s but a hugely optimistic and uplifting track too. There’s also the album’s title track at the end which has the Magic Numbers provide some great harmony vocals too. Stainless Style might sound a bit “too 80s” for some people (trust me, unless you’ve heard the new M83 album, then you’ve not heard anything yet), but it’s a great synth pop album that unashamedly borrows from the past, but never sounds derivative.

Neon Neon - I Lust U:

R.E.M. might be the only band that could be accused of being worse after their drummer left. Bill Berry left the group after their experimental tour album “New Adventures In Hi-Fi” (maybe the most underrated album) and R.E.M. were never the same. Whilst most of you might think, “He was only the drummer” he was anything but: it was Berry that wrote the melody for Everybody Hurts which became the band’s signature tune. After he left, R.E.M. experimented with synths and new textures, but these albums (Up, Reveal, Around The Sun) never had any mystery or drive to them. So almost 11 years after Berry left, Accelerate finds R.E.M. sounding like a proper rock band for the first time since 1995’s Monster.

“Living Well Is The Best Revenge” is a killer opener, a classic melodic riff, driving bass and some classic Mike Mills harmonising. “Man Sized Wreath” and “Supernatural Superserious” keeps the pace quick and direct. “Hollow Man” starts slow but picks up with a great chorus. Even the comparatively weaker tracks “Houston” and “Accelerate” aren’t bad and pass quickly. “Until The Day Is Done” references the band’s Gothic-Americana roots without sounding derivative. Indeed, the songs on Accelerate seem to hark back to all the stages of R.E.M.’s career whilst still sounding fresh

And this is why Accelerate is R.E.M.’s best album in recent years. There’s nothing as melancholy or as moving as anything on Automatic For The People, but this is R.E.M. in rock-band mode and as such it’s a roaring success. The last two tracks “Horse To Water” and “I’m Gonna DJ” are just over two minutes and deliver a solid final punch to the album. At 11 tracks in 35 minutes, Accelerate is a no frills and no flab album that shows why no one should write them off.

R.E.M. - Supernatural Superserious: