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| Fear of Men - Early Fragments |
Fear of Men
are a Brighton four piece consisting of two men and two women, the ideal set up
for indie pop. At a time where twee has become the new underground rock, indie
pop surfaced and regenerated as sweet, sophisticated pop with rock influences.
People could argue for years over 'who is better' or 'this genre is better',
but at the end of the day it doesn't really matter. The truth is that indie pop
has a deeper connection between band and listeners than most genres that are not considered singer-songwriter. Fear of Men are among the many elite indie
pop artists that can combine great sounds to make a track work, stay ethical to
their genre and present the great skill of lyricism.
Early
Fragments is a compilation of three Fear of Men singles over
the last two years. It features both the A-sides and the B-sides; it's clear
which is which. It's what ultimately takes a stab at Fear of Men's
catastrophically good back catalogue. As a growing artist, releasing all your
singles as a compilation is a great idea, it maximises sales, it adds exposure
and it compiles all your early tracks in one album that can be referred back to
as they grow and grow. Fear of Men will undoubtedly take off as soon as album
number one is released, and I look forward to hearing about the Brighton
quartet taking America by storm. There are eight tracks on Early Fragments, which
makes three singles. The single releases, "Mosaic", "Green Sea",
"Ritual Confession", are the best by far. These three are clear
standouts among the others. That's not to say the B-sides are bad, they're just
not as good. "Seer" begins the compilation. It's a new Fear of Men
track that hasn't featured on any single or EP release. It's an interesting
track due to its withdrawn sound and quieter lead guitar. Over the course of Early
Fragments, we hear a trend, and "Seer" differs from this.
Possibly a direction Fear of Men are taking. It's definitely softer, more atmospherical
and relaxing.
It's the
vocal harmonies, slow tempos and melodies that make Fear of Men better than
their London / Glasgow counterparts Veronica Falls. Tracks like
"Born" are exactly what a post-Belle & Sebastian audience want to
hear. The lyrics are up to scratch, with Jessica Weiss singing: "We're
not just empty vessels making noises." Weiss reminds me of a
modern female version of Jonathan Richman. The following track is my personal favourite
from Fear of Men's single catalogue, "Doldrums". More surf rock
guitars, more vocal harmonies and an even brighter chorus than "Green
Sea". Fear of Men have all the basics covered, however none of their
singles are advanced enough to make it on to their debut album, par
"Mosaic".
7.6
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| Mazes - Ores & Minerals |
Ores &
Minerals is Mazes second album. Their debut album A
Thousand Heys never clicked with me, and after seeing the trio live, my
opinion hadn't changed. Bassist Conan Roberts is in charge of one of my
favourite small independent record labels, Italian Beach Babes. Said label
aided the increasing growth of the above band, Fear of Men. Unfortunately Mazes
are completely different and in an entirely separate genre. Mazes like lo-fi, they’re
big fans of 80s / 90s American alternative rock, and that's apparent on Ores
& Minerals.
They show
good signs of a Pavement influenced trio with "Significant Bullet",
likewise for the sharp "Delancey Essex" and "Bite". The
self-titled track adds experimentation into the bands output, with soundscapes
and an entirely average electronic drum beat. Without Jack Cooper's guitar,
Mazes would be nothing but a Clinic-esque band without the psych influences.
The tracks on Ores & Minerals are far from impressive. The
averageness of the back third is painful, as well as the poor opening with the
repetitive "Bodies". I understand this music, and I know where
they're coming from with album number two, but it just doesn’t cut it for me. A
Thousand Heys has energy, guys and a band wanting to change the British
airwaves with guitar music. Roberts is doing this with the label Italian Beach
Babes, but unfortunately for Mazes, they don't quite make it with Ores &
Minerals.
It's almost
as if I’m waiting for that one track that changes my mind, alters my
imagination and view of Mazes, but that track never shows up. This is a trio
that have almost vanished from their former self. The lo-fi recordings have
been replaced with The Strokes-like left / right sided instrumentation, and
this never works in the minimal. Think of what you can do with drums, bass and guitars;
you can create a racket, Mazes decide not to do this. The direction they've taken
is cooler, quieter and less imaginative. If Ores & Minerals is the
re-birth of British guitar music, then I’m living in a fantasy world.
5.6
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| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away |
Push the
Sky Away is the
fifteenth studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Nick Cave has never
released a bad album in all his 34 years of recording. Known as the king of
Australia's musical output, Cave reignites the flame with his long-term
collaborator Mick Harvey. Harvey being a very talented instrumentalist and
producer, he was the man behind PJ Harvey's 2011 and (in 20 years) soon to be
classic album Let England Shake. The connection here is PJ Harvey's
relationship with Nick Cave in the mid-90s which spawned one of the best Nick
Cave albums, The Boatman's Call. Push the
Sky Away has a
sombre tone, Cave never fails to grab the audience in his sophisticated
singer-songwriter and masculine way, there's no stopping Nick Cave and the Bad
Seeds.
"Waters Edge" is a fantastic track. The dark instrumentation and heavy lyricism
reminds me of Kate Bush's unbelievable 2011 album 50 Words for Snow. There’s
something quite sentimental about Cave's sound. His vocal is growing stronger
in a sort of Tom Waits style, while keeping the mix of innocence and closeted
emotions. Of course it had to be Nick Launay who produced Push the Sky Away.
The experienced producer mixed The Dreaming for Kate Bush in the
80s. His credible production can be heard with the simplistic minimalism of
Push the Sky Away. "Jubilee Street" sounds beautiful with the
strings and drumming coming together at once. That also goes for
"Mermaids", where we hear the deeper sounds of Nick Cave and the Bad
Seeds. Weaving guitar effects and layers of various instrumental, the most
prominent an acoustic guitar and a keyboard.
"We
No Who U R" happens to be my least favourite track on Push the
Sky Away. It sounds like the music you would hear on an advert for Chanel
No5 or Jack Daniels. The quite soaring electric guitar on the left side is
brilliant, but other than that it’s hard to take a lot from the opening track.
It's also hard to be over critical of Cave's musical direction. Grinderman was
a brilliant side-project that has been executed with perfection. Push the Sky
Away doesn’t sit on the wall. It's a good album and everybody knows this.
People stop what they're doing to listen to Nick Cave, and Push the Sky Away
is no different. The final track "Higgs Boson Blues" sums up Nick
Cave and the Bad Seeds fifteenth album: "Who cares what the future
holds."
8.3
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| Panda Riot - Northern Automatic Music |
Northern Automatic Music is Panda Riot's debut album. The four piece have already gathered a huge
dedicated fan base through their EP Far and Near released last year. It
wasn't that long ago when I talked of shoegaze being a picky genre, Panda
Riot fall into the trap so many shoegaze artists try and avoid.
It's not that Northern Automatic Music is a
bad album, Panda Riot have done little wrong, they’ve just not done the things
shoegaze fanatics describe as 'right'. In a month owned by My Bloody
Valentine's third album, Panda Riot decide to release their debut album, an
accident. It's like having a TV show on Channel 4 at 7.30pm on week days, it's
never going to be seen with Eastenders and Coronation Street about - the same
applies with music.
There's not much depth in Panda Riot's sound. I
expected a heavier and deeper sound where the guitars and bass shine, instead
the lo-fi like percussion steals the limelight. The guitars are far too quiet,
making the whole shoegaze aesthetic pointless. It's hard to enjoy music that
hasn't been fulfilled correctly in the studio. This album would sound great
live, but unfortunately for them, the studio version sucks. "Serious
Radical Girls" is a poor track with out of place piano arrangements.
"Golden Age" is basically a structural copy of the first track
"Amanda In The Clouds". The little elements of Panda Riot's sound
don't come together to create on huge ball of power, which is what shoegaze is
all about. Without that sound, the texture, the effects and the emotion, it
becomes absolutely worthless and just a bunch of people 'attempting' to create
an album that's already been done before. "Good Night, Rich Kids"
would be my pick of the bunch, apart from this Northern Automatic Music is
flat out dull.
4.5
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| Johnny Marr - The Messenger |
The Messenger is an album
I really didn't think would be recorded. Johnny Marr now joins a select
group of artists I like to call the old mod elect. Paul Weller is there, Ian
Brown is there, Noel Gallagher, his less intelligent brother and now Marr. It's
the home of generic British rock, and they all think they're the saviours of
music. The Messenger isn't quite as bland as Beady Eye, or as mediocre
as Ian Brown's solo efforts. It's just not, and that's it. Like Morrissey’s
solo recordings, Marr becomes the next middle aged man to release an album of
unwanted material. Sure, there's fans of The Smiths and The Cribs out there
that would probably want to hear a solo album from Marr, and now they have it.
Is this really what he wanted? I beg to differ. Marr like Noel Gallagher are
guitarists, they belong in a band, not as a solo artist. Just because you wrote
decent songs and played guitar well doesn’t give you the same recognition as a stand-alone
artist. it's why so many solo careers have failed miserably, and Marr's solo
career will undoubtedly be the same.
There are little signs on The Messenger to show
that Marr was once the legendary guitarist of The Smiths. Do you remember Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce? Respectively
the bassist and drummer for The Smiths. Neither are on the tip of everyone's
tongue, and Marr / Morrissey have received a bit of stick for never giving
their other halves enough credit in The Smith's sound. It's came back to bite
Marr, because on The Messenger, drums and bass are the focus. The
electric and acoustic guitar Marr plays is pretty much nowhere to be seen. It's
there, but it's not individually heard, it's just part of the 'rock' sound.
"Lockdown" is a good example of where the sound takes over the individual
aspects. You can’t tear apart the separate instruments because they all work in
the same way. There's nothing exciting or imaginative about The Messenger. Tracks
like "The Right Thing Right" and "I Want The Heartbeat"
just sound like late 00s Oasis rips. "European Me" offers a little bit
of salvage with a great Marr guitar riff, for once. There's no "Bigmouth
Strikes Again", instead there's "Sun And Moon", "The Crack
Up" and "Upstarts", three bland tracks with simplistic slow
guitar riffs at the heart.
I didn't
want Marr to release a solo album because I wanted to remember him with The
Smiths, or as a mentor for The Cribs. His work in The Smiths is undeniably genius;
he's one of Britain’s greatest guitarist. From "How Soon Is
Now?" right the way to "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out",
Marr has established an indie pop / jangle pop sound that would of been
considered post-punk if it wasn't for the man upfront. The Messenger is
nothing like The Smiths, it's nothing like The Cribs. It's an average album
with no real meaning behind its creation - this almost sounds amateur.
4.0
