Reviews
Album Review: The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar
Feb 8th
Debut album from a promising Welsh indie band
The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar
RockOSaurus Says:
In The Big Roar, the Joy Formidable have do doubt created a massive indie rock record, one of the most impressive debuts for some time. Guitars clatter and glide with agression and finesse in equal measure as they show they can conjour up a thumping monster riff as easily as a stunning noise-rock progression.
Tracks 2 & 3 highlight this with the former “The Magnifying Glass” with its’s reckless punky feeling and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club slant, with the latter “I Do’t Want To See You Like This” being a vocal driven noise pop epic which rivals any Arcade Fire track for granduer.
It’s this combination of ubiquitous power, exhuberant melody making, noise-pop surrounds which are The Big Roars great strength.No doubt this huge record is doused in pop with its sweet fuzzy female vocals and big hooks, but it’s when they crank up the feedback and blast out indie-fied hard rock riffs that the true genius of this album appears. Where all the great ideas collide is on “Whirring“, an near 7 minute whirlwind of swirling fuzz, mammoth riffs, infectious chorus and jubilant crecendo’s (The outro is worth praise alone).
Given it’s dreamy like qualities, there is a tendency on occassion for the Joy Formidable to crank up the drama and ramble on a tad too much, leaving lethargy outstaying its welcome.The Big Roar is one UK press hyped-up release, which worthy of every word of praise it receieves…a rare thing!
Mr Flowers Says:
The monstrous The Everchanging Spectrum Of A Lie that opens The Big Roar is a statement of intent for the indie hype-machine that is The Joy Formidable. Led by the angelic vocals of the brilliantly named Ritzy Bryan, they take that popular wall of sound approach, give it a healthy spoonful of pop and finish it with crashing guitars and symbols.
Following it up with some actual rock-riffage on The Magnifying Glass and the pop gem that is Austere, with it’s lady squeal sound effect, twangy guitar and rolling drums building up to a thudding ending, we might just start to think that some of that hype could be justified.
However, it’s the bits in between the superstars like the indulgent end to Whirring and the drifting Buoy that bring the album down. Sure, they’re quite pretty but those walls of sound soon start to stack into one and another, and without the killer pop hooks you end up with 3 minute rock-outs without the rock. It’s all a bit… unremarkable.
While things pick up with the spectacular Cradle with it’s toe-tapping intro, driving melody and drumming, you get the sense by then that this is an album that, while blessed with some great pop moments, just lacks that bit of bite.
RockOSaurus: 8.5/10
MrFlowers: 7/10
DoesItRock Overall Score: 7.75/10
Listen to The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar now on Spotify!
Album Review: British Sea Power – Valhalla Dancehall
Feb 7th
Tree hugging environmentalist UK indie band British Sea Power release their 4th full length album:
British Sea Power – Valhalla Dancehall
RockOSaurus Says:
The first thing that hits is the sheer scale of these BSP’s latest tunes, their ambition seems especially grand this time out. Many songs tower above the clouds with their trademark soft vocals always providing a warm backing.
Early album highlights Whose In Control & We Are Sound are the musical equivalant of sinking into an comfy chair putting your feet up in front of a log fire. Its just as warm as the radiator, but it feels special somehow. It does this without really pushing boundaries, familiar…but not generic.
There are brief glimpses of their long forgotten pizazz and drive on Stunde Null & Mongk II with attack & urgent exhasperated vocals. Recent years have seen BSP’s sound too easily overtaken with their more recent staple of grandiose compositions. The greatest offender on this ‘epic’ front is Cleaning out The Rooms, which is a failed attempt to create Hoppipolla Pt.2.
The moments of greatness are matched with pockets of overindulgence, with consecutive tracks Luna, Baby & Living Is So Easy drifting far too effortlessley in one psychadelic ear and out the other. It feels they have been eating too many field mushrooms for their own good.
Valhalla Dancehall is a strong album which is mainly melancholic, always grand, briefly superb and occasionally comatose.
Mr Flowers Says:
The jangly pop guitars which open the album in Who’s In Control promises yet another triumphant return for British Sea Power with all the hallmarks of a great BSP song; a rousing chorus, layers of guitars, and replete with a weird scream sound effect to top it off.
Unfortunately it does mark somewhat of a decline as the album starts taking on murky water. A series of drony, forgettable songs are only really broken up by the squealing guitars of Mongk II, drinking from that Joy Division fountain more than any other song on this album.
If you successfully survive the suffocation of Luna and Baby without drowning, Observe The Skies provides a little bit of respite from the wistful ennui, before the album reaches Cleaning Out The Rooms – pretty much the epitome of everything wrong with Valhalla Dancehall: long, drony, hookless boredom with a few whispered aaaaaahhhaha ahhhahahhahaas thrown in case you hadn’t fallen asleep by the end of its seven minutes.
Out of nowhere, Thin Black Sail seems to have stowed away from some other album and found itself in the crew of Valhalla Dancehall. Completely out of place but a welcome break from the tedium, Thin Black Sail is a bluesy, gothic punk song which could easily have been found on the floor of a recording studio used by fellow Brighton-based indie-rockers Eighties Matchbox B-line Disaster.
Valhalla Dancehall is a difficult listen with few stand outs to make it worth revisiting too many times. Let’s just hope that once-seemingly ironic first album title doesn’t turn out to be some kind of prophetic albatross, eh readers?
RockOSaurus: 7/10
MrFlowers: 6/10
DoesItRock Overall Score: 6.5/10
Listen to British Sea Power – Valhalla Dancehall now on Spotify!
Does It Rock Awards 2010: The Results
Dec 24th
Sadly all of the award winners cannot be here to accept these awards, but feel free to get in touch to send your acceptance speeches any time!
Find out the Nominees here!
Does It Rock Live Awards:
Best Band
Winner: Muse
After those stunning Wembley shows this summer it is Muse who reign as the best Live band of 2010
Best New Band
Winner: Pulled Apart By Horses
For their breathtaking live performances and creating a fitting debut album which fails to dampen their rock and roll noise pollution!
Best Song
Winner: Knights of Cydonia (Muse)
Closing the Wembley shows, Muse had a 60,000 strong crowd jumping around like loonys to this prog epic with huge blues riffing finale!
Best Venue
Winner: Butlins
Our first foray into ATP weekend festivals was a roaring success. 3 great venues, bars, clubs, restaurants, and non-stop entertainment all under one roof with top notch accommodation merely a stones throw away. Unbeatable!
Best Crowd
Winner: Fight Like Apes
It was supposed to be a sedate electro-pop gig of fun and bippy beats and quirky hooks. As it conspired 50% of the patrons went nuts to every single song! It was the crowd that made the show epic, with cheeky banter, stage invasions, cheesy waltzing, comical heckling, boisterous behavior and full vocalled support. Everything a crowd should be!
Best Festival
Winner: Download
With the superstar triple headline attack of Ac/Dc, Rage Against The Machine & Aerosmith, it’s easily the best lineup of our 2010 festivals! It was sunny, loads of fun and had a series of great crowds not overrun by drunk teens.
Best Festival Anthem
Winner: Paradise City (Slash)
Arguably the best Guns N’Roses tune played by the original “Guitar Hero” Slash backed with the immense vocal talents of Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge was a monumental crowd pleaser. A magical moment!
Best Frontman/Vocalist
Winner: Pat Monaghan (Train)
Lead singer of American Alt-Rock band Train impressed with his stunning vocals which were immensely powerful, soulful, passionate and fragile! His performance and all round persona helped this show to become one of the great surprises of 2010!
Best Guitarist
Winner: Slash
There was something about his set at Download which was stupendous. Whether that be the Guns n’ Roses anthems, that cocky swagger, the awe inspiring solo’s or the addition of guests Lemmy & Myles Kennedy…but this show made me feel like I was in the prsence of a true legend of guitar!
2010 Spotlight Awards:
The “Waahahaaay Over The Top” award for exuberant Showmanship:
Winner: Guitar Solo at 45ft, while perched ontop of a festival stage (Airbourne @ Download)
Airbourne front man Joel O’Keef’s antics at this years Download Festival will go down as the single greatest example of literally putting your life on the line for rock and roll ever! That crazed climb in the pouring rain, with guitar on back before stopping for a few solo’s here and there was the definition of insanity. One never to be forgotten & hopefully never repeated either!
The “Eyecandy” award for the hottest woman of rock
Winner: The Sirens (x3) (@ Brixton)
It’s no surprise that Steel Panther support act, “dance troupe” (aka strippers) The Sirens took this title. 3 extremely agile and beautiful women gyrating for the audiences pleasure to a soundtrack of Slipknot set many men’s tongues a wagging.
The “Turned to 11″ award for the Loudest set
Winner: Boris @ ATP
There was some serious wattage was on show here, It physically hurt to be within 50m of the speakers. Any music which can make your clothes shudder and your chest compress should come with a government warning. Boris lives the “turned to 11″ dream!
The “I can’t believe I saw that” award for the Most Unexpected Gig Antics
Winner: “Everybody remain seated on the floor” (Monotonix @ ATP)
Truly bizarre things were going on inside Reds for the ATP Monotonix show. Refusing entry to all but a precious few, refusing entry as the venue was full, only to then change their minds 5 minutes later. Many surprises were in store inside! Firstly it was nowhere near full and secondly the crowd were all sat down cross legged. Why on earth organisers thought this would last is laughable! After about 20 minutes the inevitable happened and people were overcome with dancing fever. Swiftly the set was brought to a halt by the security, stating “inciting a riot” the reason. Absolutely crazy goings on!
The “WTF??” award for the most unusual crowd Antics
Winner: Lady relieving herself in cup then pouring onto poor blokes leg (RATM @ Download)
Really…this did happen! It was truly hideous and the ladies hearty laugh at the poor bloke (who in my opinion did well not to slap her) will haunt me forever.
The “Is that a…” award for Most Random Stage Prop
Winner: A Giant Train, 30ft Blow-up Doll & Huge Cannon’s (AcDc @ Download)
When it comes down to going over the top with their stage show, it was tough to category call what with Muse’s Balloon being pretty epic. Yet AcDc pulled out all the stops and went that bit further, bringing their own stage to a festival! Top that with a streaking 150yard catwalk, a 30ft raising platform, a Runaway Train, a 30ft Blow-up doll (There was a “Whole Lotta Rosie“) and plenty more besides!
The “Fashion Disaster” award for Terrible Style
Winner: Shoes, boxers and a full chest of hair (Monotonix @ CAMP)
Style clearly hasn’t got as far Israeli rockers Monotoninx. Playing in only their boxers and shoes this made for the boldest (and hairiest) statement of the year. Kudos goes to those men who held up sweaty lead singer Ami Shalev when he went crowd surfing…uurrgh!!
The “Do Not Enter” award for the worst gig Venue
Winner: The Troxy
The Troxy lacked so many things the most important being a good atmosphere. For a venue of this size, having a flat standing area and a small sunken dance floor is criminal for those wanting to see anything what-so-ever! Add ludicrously expensive beer prices, oversubscribed toilet facilities and a lack of friendly neighborhood pubs and bars means we won’t be heading back in a hurry.
The “Ouch My Ears!” award for the worst Performance
Winner: Atlas Sound @ ATP
With a gap in the ATP schedule, Atlas Sound was probably the most monotonously annoying and boring artist ever heard by the DiR.net team. Universally panned by all present, there was nothing to recommend in his whiny vocal atmospherics and “I wrote these in my bedroom while depressed” mutterings except the moment he down tools and left! By far the biggest cheer of the night!
Does It Rock Awards 2010
Dec 20th
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the Inaugural Does It Rock Awards 2010! The awards are a tribute to those band who spend endless hours on the road on unrelenting tour schedules, bringing high octane energy, passion and fantastic live music to the masses. From festivals to huge stadium shows, tiny pub gigs and giant arenas, we here at DoesItRock.net have compiled these awards to showcase the best (and worst) that Live Music had to offer in 2010!
So without further ado I present this years categories and nominees…
Live Awards 2010:
Best Band
1) Ac/Dc @ Download
2) Muse @ Wembley
3) Slash @ Download)
4) Stereophonics @ Hammersmith Apollo
Best New Band
1) Pulled Apart By Horses @ Electric Ballroom, Camden Crawl
2) Tubelord @ Enterprise, Camden Crawl
3) Taking Dawn @ Download
4) TurboWolf @ KCSU
Best Song
1) Arming Eritrea (Future of The Left @ Lexington)
2) Knights of Cydonia (Muse @ Wembley)
3) I’m Beginning To Think You Prefer Beveley Hills 90210 To Me (Fight Like Apes @ Barfly)
4) Dry County (Bon Jovi @ The O2)
Best Venue
1) The Lexington
2) Butlins
3) Heaven
Best Crowd
1) Fight Like Apes @ Barfly
2) Rage Against The Machine @ Download
3) AcDc @ Download
Best Festival
1) Download
2) ATP Pavement
3) Camden Crawl
Best Festival Anthem
1) Paradise City (Slash/Gn’R @ Download)
2) Killing In The Name (RATM @ Download)
3) Back In Black (AcDc @ Download)
Best Frontman/Vocalist
1) Myles Kennedy (Slash @ Download)
2) Matt Bellamy (Muse @ Wembley)
3) Pat Monaghan (Train @ Shepherds Bush Empire)
4) Steve Tyler (Aerosmith @ Download)
Best Guitarist
1) Slash (Slash @ Download)
2) Matt Bellamy (Muse @ Wembley)
3) Angus Young (AcDc @ Download)
4) Joel O’Keef (Airbourne @ Download)
2010 Spotlight Awards:
The “Waahahaaay Over The Top” award for exhuberant Showmanship:
1) A giant Balloon & a neon flashing Suit (Muse @ Wembley)
2) Reviving the the Hagar ‘Split Jump’ (Steel Panther @ Brixton)
3) Guitar Solo at 30ft (AcDc @ Download)
4) Guitar Solo at 45ft, while perched on top of a festival stage (Airbourne @ Download)
The “Eyecandy” award for the hottest woman of rock
1) Elizabeth Hale (Halestorm @ Download)
2) Eva Spence (Rolo Tomassi @ Camden Crawl)
3) The Sirens x3 (Steel Panther @ Brixton)
4) Emily Barker @ Camden Crawl
The “Turned to 11″ award for the Loudest set
1) Boris @ ATP
2) Pulled Apart By Horses @ Electric Ballroom, Camden Crawl
3) Pain of Salvation @ The Forum
4) Ac/Dc @ Download
The “I can’t believe I saw that” award for the Most Unexpected Gig Antics
1) Joel O’Keef climbs the stage in the pouring rain (Airbourne @ Download)
2) Isreali’s rock the bogs (Monotonix @ CAMP)
3) “Everybody remain seated on the floor” (Monotonix @ ATP)
4) “I’m Coming to get you” (Taking Dawn @ Download)
The “WTF??” award for the most unusual crowd Antics
1) Drunk bloke nearly knocking out half the crowd with crazed pogoing (Fight Like Apes @ Barfly)
2) Lady relieving herself in cup then pouring onto poor blokes leg (RATM @ Download)
3) Mosher who ran into a pole after circling round it too many times (Bomb The Music Industry! @ Underworld)
4) Putting fingers in ears, yet not leaving! (Boris @ ATP)
The “Is that a…” award for Most Random Stage Prop
1) Cardboard Box Human Robots (Robots in Disguise @ Heaven)
2) Alien Balloon + Acrobat (Muse @ Wembley)
3) Dustbin (Monotonix @ CAMP)
4) A Giant Train, 30ft Blow-up Doll & Huge Cannon’s (AcDc @ Download)
The “Fashion Disaster” award for Terrible Style
1) Eric Nally in skintight leather (Foxy Shazam @ The Borderline)
2) Wax Fang’s Prince costume (Wax Fang Performs Purple Rain @ ATP)
3) Steel Panthers 80′s glamtastic gear (Steel Panther @ Brixton)
4) Shoes, boxers and a full chest of hair (Monotonix @ CAMP)
The “Do Not Enter” award for the worst gig Venue
1) Monto Water Rats (For its summer heating crisis! Thankfully rectified!)
2) The Troxy (Big theatre, no atmosphere, extortionate beer prices, run down area)
3) CAMP (No more than a student squat with a bar at which you cannot buy beer)
4) Enterprise (The floor buckles under weight, slightly un-nerving)
The “Ouch My Ears!” award for the worst Performance
1) The Big Pink @ Wembley
2) Atlas Sound @ ATP
3) Twilight Sad @ Hammersmith Apollo
Album Review: Dinosaur Pile-Up – Growing Pains
Oct 22nd
Grunge is back, riding on the young shoulders of Dinosaur Pile-Up’s debut LP.
Dinosaur Pile-Up – Growing Pains
RockOSaurus Says:
Dinosaur Pile-Up kick off their debut with the exactly the kind of material which has brought them so many ‘next big thing’ column inches. Chugging slightly downtuned guitars drive forward the excellent album opening 1-2 combo of Birds & Planes and Barce-loner, both nicely polished heavy handed rock which is equally attractive to the pop and rock crowds.
When they lever themselves away from this winning formula just for the sake of variety, the cracks start to appear. Never That Together is plagued by a lethargic riff, Broken Knee and Hey Man are almost the same song, both plodding along to the loud/quiet structure.
Early days singles My Rock n’ Roll and Traynor reappear towards the back end of the album which ups the ante once more, before DP-U commit an act of sheer idiocy! Album closer All Around The World contains a barely listenable 2 minutes of amp reverb buzz! I thought I had contracted Tinnitus!!
Growing Pains is a solid debut album from these Grunge Revivalists. It’s not likely to spark a full scale nostalgic revolution, but the high points will definitely please those who were there the first time around.
Mr Flowers Says:
Despite the abundance of grunge, Nirvana and Foo Fighters influences, there just aren’t enough good songs on Growing Pains to spark a British-based genre revival. The album starts off well enough with Birds & Planes showcasing their best qualities: a thudding riff, great use of pauses and the rock scream out. And while Barce-loner follows the same blueprint it’s unfortunately also where some of the lyrical cracks start to show through.
Later, they start to show a tendency to drift into a repetitive drone when they don’t have the crutch of a catchy guitar part, which is part of the reason the songs Never That Together and Broken Knee seem much longer than they actually are. The self-indulgent, slow burning Hey You is also mostly a flop, finally getting going with a minute to go long after when I suspect most listeners will have fallen asleep.
They fare better when they get back to what they’re good at with the faster paced, punkier guitar riffs on Love To Hate Me and Traynor, which in the end just balances out an album which is more of a promising debut than a new dawning for grunge.
RockOSaurus: 7/10
MrFlowers: 6/10
DoesItRock Overall Score: 6.5/10
Listen to Dinosaur Pile-Up – Growing Pains now on Spotify!
Album Review: Superchunk – Majesty Shredding
Oct 12th
90′s Indie rockers Superchunk return with first new material in 9 years.
Superchunk – Majesty Shredding
RockOSaurus Says:
Superchunk have crafted a seriously fun record with Majestry Shredding! It’s chock packed with rampant rolicking rockers that are both full of energy and so very easy to sing all day. They manage to deftly toe the line between indie and pop-punk here, employing rocky guitar tones that really brings their melody making skills to the fore without straying too far from their pop ethics.
The high pitch vocals are somehow not annoying and their quirky lyrics such as “We laughed when the sinking pedalboats”, “Oh, my gap feels wierd” are enough to raised a few smiles. Its when these lyrics are merged with yet another superb melody and jovial vocal harmonies of the “Oh..Oh..Oh…” variety, Majesty Shredding shows its true strengths. This is showcased so perfectly on opener “Digging For Something”, pop mastepiece “My Gap Feels Wierd”, rampaging “Crossed Wires” and the fuzzy laid back melodies of “Fractures In Plasters”.
Amazingly Supechunk have maintained an incessant tempo and infectious immediacy throughout the course of record, with barley a duff song. An impressive album which blows alot of their peers into next tuesday!
Mr Flowers Says:
Digging For Something kicks the album off flush with pop melodies and with an “oh oh oh” chorus that makes it seem like they’ve hardly been away. Followed by the playful My Gap Feels Weird, you come to realise that this band still sounds youthful despite the intervening years.
Rosemarie is a slightly slower number but it’s chugging chorus is cool and there’s nice guitar bits dotted around the album, especially on Slow Drip, Learned To Surf and the closing Everything at Once. The pace of the album rarely relents, perhaps at it’s slowest on 5-minuter, Fractures in Plaster where, fittingly, the strings come in with good effect.
It’s classic Superchunk, full of good songs and while they might not reach the immediacy of tracks from previous discs like Skip Step 1 & 3, Phone Sex or Royal Fisticuffs, it’s perhaps one of their more consistent records and a welcome return for an evergreen band.
RockOSaurus: 9/10
MrFlowers: 8/10
DoesItRock Overall Score: 8.5/10
Listen to Superchunk – Majesty Shredding now on Spotify!
Album Review: Weezer – Hurley
Sep 30th
Classic 90′s geek rockers return with some more terrible artwork!
Weezer – Hurley
RockOSaurus Says:
Hurley sounds like a band who have finally realised that what people loved about them in the first place has been long neglected. In doing so they have rejuvunated their flagging album standards by producing their best album in what seems like decades. Rather than experimenting, they have concentrated on making this a fun filled record packed with damn cacthy pop rock. It may me a regression for Weezer, but it is a long overdue one.
The opening track Memories sets out their intention for an optimistic upbeat rock orientated album full of their unmistakable catchy vocals and pop melodies. They follow this with another fist pumping sing-a-long punk-pop tune Ruling Me before turning the noise down for the impressive ballary of Trainwreck.
Beyond this the album becomes a bit hit-and-miss, but there are enough hooks to keep up interest even if you have to ignore some all too familiar, unfunny, tongue in cheek lyrics. This is not a masterpiece on par with Blue (Mauve at a push), but it is a step “back” in the right direction .
Mr Flowers Says:
That keyboard bit the plays during the chorus on Memories doesn’t sit too well for me. It’s a fast paced jolly, but lacks a bit of soul. Unfortunately, the dodgy 80s film soundtrack theme wasn’t some cheeky experiment and continues through to Ruling Me and Trainwrecks. This pretty much soured the experience of those songs for me, maybe I’m allergic or something.
It doesn’t really tone down until Unspoken, which starts off as an acoustic number with backing strings before the guitars kick in for a rock out which sounds pretty good. On a side note, doesn’t the bass line from Where’s My Sex sound a bit like a slowed down version of the one from Green Day’s Hitchin’ A Ride?
The Casio keyboard demo drums come back on Smart Girls, but somehow this time they’re less obnoxious then before and it’s a fun romp with a slow-fast mechanic which lets the pop melodies breathe a bit more.
There’s no real standouts on the album really. Don’t get me wrong because I loved almost everything Weezer did up to and including Maladroit, but Hurley isn’t quite the return to form I was hoping for. I don’t know what they’re missing, but it’s not the same – I guess we’ll have to let Rivers and boys work that out for themselves.
RockOSaurus: 7.5/10
MrFlowers: 5/10
DoesItRock Overall Score: 6.25/10
Listen to Weezer – Hurley now on Spotify!
Album Review: The Thermals – Personal Life
Sep 28th
This punk turned pop trio return with their latest fuzz filled offering.
The Thermals – Personal Life
RockOSaurus Says:
The Thermals have always been great at crafting punky rockers which are sugary sweet with a soft pop centre. This album is no different. Lost is a ot of their vigour and punk bite, but they have made up for this with a number of catchy melodies.
These pop numbers however do not have the immediacy of some of their more rawkus numbers, in fact the highlight of this album is just that. I Don’t Believe You, is a cracking punk number with a trademark Thermals riff that rifles deep into your head, as does the rather similar Your love Is So Strong.
It’s the slowing down which causes this albums main fault, which is that there are not enough headline grabbing songs. There is alot of goodness, but not an awful lot of greatness.
Mr Flowers Says:
The album starts promisingly with those pop melodies we’ve come accustomed to from The Thermals hitting the sweet spot, with openers I’m Gonna Change Your Life, I Don’t Believe You and Never Listen To Me not letting you down in that respect.
About midway through the album the slower paced songs start to take a hold with Only For You and Alone, a Fool – Alone especially being difficult to get into with it’s 1 note riff and single drum beat. Sadly, those two songs seem to signal a metaphorical stagger to the finishing line for the album, with the melodies and riffs never quite reaching the highs and energy of the start. It leaves you thinking back to those blissful few minutes at the beginning of the album and wondering what could have been.
RockOSaurus: 7/10
MrFlowers: 7/10
DoesItRock Overall Score: 7/10
Listen to The Thermals – Personal Life now on Spotify!
Album Review: The Hold Steady – Heaven Is Whenever
May 15th
Probably the best bar band in the world ever are back with their literate indie rock and roll.
The Hold Steady – Heaven Is Whenever
RockOSaurus Says:
“Oh…where for art thou Franz” is the first thing which stands out on first listen to Heaven Is Whenever. Without it’s moustache sporting keyboard maestro many of the backing vocal led woah-a-woah-a-longs have gone and its seriously blunted their pop edge. Replacing them are bigger riffs which I would normally lap up, yet something doesn’t feel right. Their classic rock sound is fuzzier than usual and sounds like it was recorded in a tube tunnel. The production is purposefully more alternative than previous outings and I have to say I’m not a fan.
This is not saying Hold Steady have lost their touch completely. Tunes like ‘Soft In The Center’ & ‘Rock Problems’ are still packed with attention grabbing melodies and Craig Finn’s lyrical gift is more than a good reason to give this a try.
What the album is missing is some urgency despite the amping up of the record! The majority of the tracks ramble along in a mid-tempo groove that fails to pick-up when the going gets tedious. Even their ballads have lost their poignancy displaying vividly the hole left by their enigmatic piano player. A good album by anyone else’s standards, but for The Hold Steady this can only be a disappointment.
Mr Flowers Says:
The album starts with the relative slow-burners, Sweet Part Of The City and Soft In The Center, which give you an idea of what the album offers: less action, less excitement and probably fewer of those massive nights.
Now minus a keyboardist, the Steady seem to have compensated with crunchier guitars and a higher solo quota, with varying degrees of success. The Weekenders comes closest to getting back to the sound that made the band so well loved, while there’s some hope for the new formula with the rocky riffage and nice use of the cow bells in The Smidge, and the sweet solo in Rock Problems. Listening out for the numerous name-checks of We Can Get Together is amusing for a minute or so, but the song meanders and never reaches the sweet spot. It signals a string of similarly disappointing songs where a noticeable lack of hook works to the band’s detriment and unfortunately ends up defining the album.
It’s a shame it’s ended up like this, as previous Hold Steady albums would have gotten some 8s, 9s and even 10s on these pages. Let’s just hope the downward trend shown in this album isn’t part of some systemic problem for this much-loved band.
RockOSaurus: 6/10
MrFlowers: 6/10
DoesItRock Overall Score: 6/10
Album Review: MGMT – Congratulations
May 4th
Electro hitmakers MGMT return for their hotly anticipated sophomore LP.
MGMT – Congratulations
RockOSaurus Says:
Listening to Congratulations is like unwrapping a really large shiny Christmas present you saved till last to open, only to find it contains an Air-fix model. The hype has been immense, yet to really enjoy this album you really have to spend plenty of time to ‘learn to love it’.
Gone are all of the elements which made their debut such a hit single machine. No funky keyboards and instantly catchy tunes. Instead they have been replaced with jingly guitars and mundane melodies. Their quirkyness and likability is still intact on tunes such as the rampant standout track ‘Brian Eno’ & the surf electro-pop opener ‘It’s Working’.
But with tracks as dull as ‘I Found A Whistle’ and as bloated as Siberian Breaks (a 12 minute epic adventure) it feels as if they are purposefully being weird for the sake of being weird. Attempting to jettison your current fan base to upgrade them for better models may be cool and hip, but when this record divebombs their third outing must surely improve.
Sadly Congratulations is one to file next to Be Here Now.
Mr Flowers Says:
MGMT return with a concept album, whose concept is to apparently strip out any standout pop tracks. The result is an album a kin to all the troughs of Oracular Spectacular with out any of the peaks. Brian Eno (the track), comes closest to lifting the dullness, a comparatively fun, fast-paced song with 80s punk overtures. The 12 minute marathon that is Siberian Breaks that goes through some distinct phases like some kind of Simon and Garfunkel-gone-prog love child, but never really does enough to grasp your attention.
If you liked the first album you might be able to be a bit more positive with this latest offering, but for those of us in the other camp will find this a struggle.
RockOSaurus: 3/10
MrFlowers: 2/10
DoesItRock Overall Score: 2.5/10
