Short Cuts! 8 March 2010

This week's batch includes Gorillaz, Titus Andronicus and Broken Bells.

Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
Plastic Beach perhaps, but this is no plastic pop – the irony of Blur’s demise is that Albarn is now too smart to push his (increasingly forlorn) hooks too far to the front.  Duly, he mixes things up with a Mick Jones here and a Bobby Womack (!) there, burying the Gorillaz-as-band continuity, but can’t resist marrying the whole together with an eco-harmonious back story. As always, no-one else would’ve dared, or bothered.

Choice Cuts: ‘On Melancholy Hill’, ‘Some Kind of Nature’, ‘Empire Ants’
7.5/10

Titus Andronicus – Monitor
Punk concept records (an oxymoron, surely?) are a bit like algebra for toddlers. Even the smarter ones, of which Titus Andronicus must rank – they like history, for chrissakes – struggle with the step-up. Unfortunately, the American Civil War deserves better treatment than “you will always be a loser, man” repeated ad infinitum, and clocking your songs in at 7 minutes doesn’t constitute ‘maturity’. Disappointing.

Choice Cuts: ‘A More Perfect Union’, ‘Theme from Cheers’
5.5/10

Broken Bells – Broken Bells
James Mercer (Shins’ voice/strummer) and Danger Mouse (ubiquitous producer type Brian Burton – see Gnarls Barkley; The Good, The Bad and the Queen) team up for this debut collaboration. Muso matchmakers expect a soaring majesty of cred and class, substance and sheen. Neither materialises – Mercer’s vocal yelp is familiarly adequate, whilst Burton feeds everything through the usual washed-up electronic filter (then tacks on dub bass), but the results are uncharacteristically stilted.

Choice Cuts: 'Vaporize', 'Your Head is on Fire'
5/10

BRMC – Beat the Devil’s Tattoo
Shouty garage rock noise meets blues stomp with the occasional point of interest – namely ‘Bad Blood’ and the meditative ‘The Toll’, which sounds like the Jesus and Mary Chain singin’ the country-blues. As is customary with this vastly over-egged band, however, their couldn’t-care-less disappointment and ability to make two chords sound like such a chore eventually conspire to grind out another failure.

Choice Cuts: ‘Bad Blood’, ‘The Toll’
4.5/10

Short Cuts! New Releases 22 February 2010

This week's new album releases, including Marina and the Diamonds, The Courteeners and Toro Y Moi.

Marina + the Diamonds – Family Jewels

A fairly typical example of the hype-meets-fame-meets-success paradigm instigated by the BBC’s Sound Of poll, Marina Diamandis has swiftly undergone a makeover from East London indie-boys’ guilty-pleasure to pop chart darling. Unsurprisingly then, this record goes for the dual attack of hooks and sheen, both of which flow with abundance. When done well, as on ‘Are You Satisfied’ and brilliant single ‘Hollywood’, Diamandis is allowed to create perfectly legitimate, enterprising pop songs. However, when it’s not so well – as on ‘Girls’, which sounds like La Roux covering Madness – it can be the musical equivalent of fingernails down a blackboard. In addition, for all the comparisons (Regina Spektor, Bat for Lashes, Kate Bush), listening to Family Jewels I couldn’t help but be reminded of forgotten mockney Kate Nash. Whilst the actual flesh and blood of the music has virtually nothing in common with Nash’s chirpy piano-pop, both have affected voices which can border upon irritating, and whilst Diamandis has her eyes on bigger fry (‘Hollywood’, ‘Shampain’) than Nash’s kitchen-sink observational banality, the results of both are close in terms of lyrical accomplishment. Still, it’s unlikely anyone who actually buys the record will notice such matters, so this one’ll doubtless sell by the bucketloads. Ironic lyric: “feeling like a loser, feeling like a bum, sitting on the outside observing the fun” on ‘The Outsider’– not for long love.

Choice Cuts: ‘Hollywood’, ‘Are You Satisfied’, ‘I Am Not a Robot’

6/10

The Courteeners - Falcon

I’ve not exactly hidden my insatiable disdain for this band, not least for wretched trailing single ‘You Overdid it Doll’, but nonetheless I approached this one with at least a modicum of journalistic impartiality. Just a modicum, mind. The good news is it doesn’t get much worse than the aforementioned single; the bad news is it doesn’t get much better either. And so, a plateau of eye-wateringly tedious ploddery ensues. Bizarre fetishes aside (“I miss your eyelashes” from ‘The Opener’), this one ostensibly treads a more sensitive path than it’s predecessor, but don’t be fooled – no matter how much Liam Fray might wish he was born a fragile Liam Gallagher, unfortunately he’s just as boorish, unimaginative and fond of a witless platitude as his Mancunian counterpart, just with a voice that’s far shitter and entirely devoid of Gallagher’s early menace and enduring husk. Furthermore, this lot are so painfully proud and constantly aware of where they come from that I genuinely pondered whether ‘Falcon’ was a reference to that literary figure of waxwork Northernism, Kes. I’m still undecided. Fingers-crossed moment: “So I’ll cross my heart and hope to fly, and fuck off right into the middle of the sky, where no-one can find me and no-one can see” from ‘Cross My Heart and Hope to Fly’ – we can only hope!

Choice Cuts: -

1.5/10

Strange Boys - Be Brave

Returning with their sophomore effort, these Decidedly Nondescript Boys appear committed to bridging a rather happy gap between fist and foam. And so, this is for the most part lazy brawlin’ music for surfers. Or tide troublin’ tunes for hicks. It all rumbles along with carefully manicured raucousness, but half an hour of howlin’ vocals and scratchin’ chords later, you might be a-wantin’ a rest – regardless of the unexpectedly excellent garage-Dylan drifters which are tacked on as parting shots (‘All You Can Hide Inside’, ‘You Can’t Only Love When You Want To’.)

Choice Cuts: ‘All You Can Hide Inside’, ‘A Walk on the Beach’

5.5/10

Toro Y Moi - Causers of This

This South Carolinian may have come from the school of hard names (he’s really called Chazwick Bundick – ouch!), but despite the hip-hop twinges evident herein, judging by this effort he certainly didn’t come from the school of hard knocks. Indeed, his dreamy, spacious hip-pop has more moments in common with the like of Empire of the Sun and Phoenix, but avoids sounding derivative, even if it lacks thrust. Unfortunately, most of the groundwork of the first few tracks is laid to waste by a middle section (‘Fax Shadow’ on) which employs the kind of relentless in/out glitching that renders it virtually impossible to listen to. Note to Chazwick (and others): stop tripping over the mixing desk!

Choice Cuts: ‘Minors’, ‘Imprint After’

5/10

Album Reviews/Interviews Round-up: Spoonfed.co.uk, Subba-Cultcha.com

Recently I have been busy tooling around town and burning the midnight oil alone in my room in an effort to complete the following album reviews and interviews for Spoonfed and Subba-Cultcha. The fruits of my labour are thus:

JOY FORMIDABLE Interview

STRICKEN CITY Interview

GOOD SHOES Interview

Saxon Shore - It Doesn't Matter 

Eugene McGuinness and the Lizards - Glue E.P.

Race Horses - Goodbye Falkenburg

V/A - The Best of Fried Egg Records [Bristol 1979-80]

The Postmarks - Memoirs at the End of the World

Strumpets - Hello Strumpets

PROJECT SKYWARD interview

Short Cuts! New Releases 25/1/10: Part 1

*** Short Cuts Special - as there are a ridiculous amount of new records warranting review, this week's short cuts have been split into two parts. Apart from that, it's business as usual. Enjoy!

Fools Gold – Fools Gold

As unconcerned with geographical legitimacy as Vampire Weekend, but far more faithful to source material, Fools Gold’s energised debut traverses Kingston, Istanbul and Rio before settling somewhere between Fela Kuti’s Africa 70 and the house band on a week’s cruise down the Nile. Despite the scattered approach, the musical voyage seldom hits rocky waters, and the surf-tastic guitar tones provide breezily welcome reminders of home at regular intervals – sublime.

Choice Cuts: ‘Surprise Hotel’, ‘The World Is All There Is’, ‘Nadine’

8/10

Good Shoes - No Hope No Future

Where Think Before You Speak was a study in laissez-faire arrogance and relationship insouciance, No Hope No Future’s humbler themes of longing and relative heartache necessarily require a darker tone. Nonetheless, the hooks, whilst fewer and farther between, still can’t help but jostle their way to the forefront. And so, whilst clumsily politicised rumblers like ‘I Know’ are missteps, tracks like ‘The Way My Heart Beats’ and ‘City by the Sea’ are up there with the best from their excellent debut. Meanwhile, ‘Do You Remember’ shows off hitherto unseen guitar-smarts, with licks wound tight enough to befit obvious musical forebears XTC.

Choice Cuts: ‘The Way My Heart Beats’, ‘City by the Sea’, ‘Do You Remember’

7.5/10

Hadouken - For the Masses

Not as smart as These New Puritans, and not as authentic as ‘proper’ grime acts Wylie and Mr Rascal, this lot are destined to languish in chart and critical purgatory unless they up their game substantially.  Nonetheless, the realignment from nu-rave to more overt ‘grindie’ at least shows they’re thinking – now think about writing more than a splattering of listenable songs.

Choice Cuts: ‘Turn the Lights Out’

4/10

Tindersticks - Falling Down A Mountain

If love is a drug, Stuart Staples doesn’t half make it sound like heroin – and I’m not just talking about ‘Black Smoke’. Unfortunately, his seemingly impending descent into comatose arrest is the only thing which threatens to enliven the instantly forgettable lounge-jazz-cum-elevator-music which backs his mumbling inertia for the first half of this record. Having said that, I’m genuinely enthralled by the vocal-less ‘Hubbard Hill’, part of a better second half that goes some way to explaining why these nouvelle vag(ue)abonds still seem to retain the rub of the critical green.

Choice Cuts: ‘Harmony Around My Table’, ‘Hubbard Hill’

5.5/10

Spoon – Transference

Whilst by no means fully conversant with these highly acclaimed indie-rockers’ back catalogue, I’d nonetheless hazard a guess that this effort lies strictly in the middle of their creative road. Whilst Britt Daniel’s vocals are as pleasing whether he’s quietly composed (‘Who Makes You’re Money’) or carefully straining (‘Trouble Comes Running’), only the attendant clatter of the latter song type threatens to raise the excitement bar beyond a solid ‘B’. In short – half a dozen spoonfuls of sugar where one or two would have sufficed.

Choice Cuts: ‘Got Nuffin’, ‘Trouble Comes Running’

6.5/10