Black Kids - Wizard Of Ahhhs

"The Next Big Thing". "Has bloggers buzzing". "Critics raving". Three tired phrases that have been used to death when describing the Black Kids, and another key to hype is comparisons with some already established great bands. Something reviewers haven't been particularly modest in endowing BK with, The Cure and Arcade Fire both particular favourites. Both essentially inaccurate. Although, there's no denying the influence of Robert Smith's vocals on Youngblood, Black Kids are nowhere near as depressing, and are much tighter, well executed and just more fun than Arcade Fire. And yeah, when was the last time you heard synths in an Arcade Fire song?

Anyway, do Black Kids deserve all this rabid fervour? Of course they do! Wizard of Ahhhs their self-released debut EP that avoided CD-Rs and was released as a free download on their myspace, is a thrilling, synth-driven, energetic but sombre ode to pop's classic themes - love and heartbreak.

Hit the Heartbreaks is a cracking opener, beginning like fireworks exploding, and Youngblood yelping bitterly "it's not me it's you" - a real statement. Following, like an eager puppy afterwards is the ridiculously well-titled and just bouncily brilliant, 'I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You': it's like being admitted to a heavenly, melancholy kingdom in the sky called Synthtasia - both exhilarating and stupidly catchy (dare you not to shout out "Dance, dance, dance, dance!"). Hurricane Jane brings things back to Earth, with gloomy pizzicato bass, "it's Friday night and I ain't got nobody, so what's the use in making the bed", Youngblood strains - and you can almost picture him in the corner of his room crying. I can't even criticize, finishing with the weakest, most straightforward track I've Underestimated My Charm (Again), since it's still  single-worthy and has some delightful female-backing vocals.

Here's hoping they're album will match up to this. Ah stuff it, I think it will. Since Wizard of Ahhhs is all gold - a fantastic, timeless contrast of heart-rending lyrics, and pure life-affirming danceable pop. 

Rating: 8/10 

Adele - Hometown Glory [EP]

Getting mentioned at this years Brits and being plastered over the tabloids' paltry music sections will surely do wonders for Adele's upcoming album 19's commercial success, but it's left her isolated, easy prey for any vaguely indie music reviewer. So,  ignoring the hype, this lady clearly has a big voice. Comparisons with Amy Winehouse are perhaps a little generous, and unfortunately the emphasis on this EP is on sentimental ballads that reek of mediocrity and lyrical naivety.  

I know she's just 19, but on the eponymous first track she sings: "You get the people and the government, everybody taking different sides, shows that we ain't gonna stand shit, shows that we are united", it's down-right Kate Nash-like inexcusable. 'Daydreamer' almost killed any hope I had that she was not just another lovely singer-songwriter, especially being followed by the repetitive lull of her debut single 'Chasing Pavements', which seems to think - like too many awful pop acts - that relentlessly repeating some whimsical chorus makes a decent song. Thankfully, then, the last track shows some genuine promise. 'Painting Pictures' is a sultry romp, that slinks around the dancefloor, flashing its eyes, teasing, suggesting wryly what Adele's capable of.

So, Adele, please, please leave off the ballads.

Rating: 5/10 

Club 8 - The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Dreaming

Sweden's in the middle of a massive pop renaissance, with the likes of Annie, Robyn, The Concretes, Lykke Li et al bringing the combination of decent song-writing and pop back into the mainstream. Club 8 are another name to add to that list, with golden, dreamy melodies that bathe luxuriously in jangly acoustics,  flashing synths and even the occasional bongo.  And while it never ever stops being so damn lovely,  it's just never ever original.

Of course an album doesn't need to be eclectic to be good, but really The Boy Who Couldnt' Stop Dreaming  just isn't that interesting. You could easily go on about those melodies, the instruments, the comparisons with the other thousands of Scandinavian groups doing the same thing, Karolina Komstedt's vocals, her lyrics that pine for human contact and an escape from the snowy, empty north ("a land of pines not people") - but none of that matters since none of it will grab you. It's passable pop. Far too content drifting around aimlessly, void of any memorable hooks, and it just sounds lazy. However, there are occasions when they get the lazy melancholy right - 'Leave The North' with its gently rising strings and baritone ho-humming is the clear album highlight.

Really you could do much worse than getting this album, but with the creative splurge that's happening up there, you might want to look elsewhere.

Rating: 5/10

A Place To Bury Strangers - A Place To Bury Strangers

I wrote this review a couple of months back, when I was completely in love with APTBS' debut. Nothing's changed. Apart from now, I'm a little bit wary about this review. Hmmm.

Smashing up walls of mediocrity with massive sledgehammers of riffs, oddly beautiful melodies, intricate lyrics and - crucially - spine-tingling distortion, APTBS debut is certainly refreshing. New York's self-confessed noisiest trio may well be staring intently at their shoes but the brutal, relentless; blaring of noise resembles a Joy Division if they’d tied explosives to their equipment and not My Bloody Valentine. From hearing a revived Ian Curtis narrating to the downtrodden masses over 'The Falling Sun' and the screeching dinosaurs in 'Don't Think Lover' – it’s not only diverse, but really, well, just bloody exciting. Drenched in frustration, Oliver Ackermanns' lyrics cast further shadow over the crashing drums and dynamic bass, and amidst album highlight 'To Fix the Gash In Your Head's' callous, sprawling synths and buzzsaw guitars, Ackermann breathes a cold-blooded delivery worthy of Mr H. Lecter. 

In a time where a ten-a-penny hook can see a band hijack the top ten, 'My Weakness' is like a glass of traditional lemonade after an all-day trudge in the scorching sun. The sound of a thousand fighter jets bursting off the runway, which is impossible not to fling your limbs around to like a demented zombie, Ackermann’s desperate pining controls it all. And, who could ignore the fantastic finale, 'Ocean', which crashes a beautiful riff against rocky, pleading verses. Placing you at the edge of a cliff searching for an answer, an escape - 'it's love that controls you, you can never let it go', it mimics the sound of an apocalypse, leaving you completely wrecked after it finishes.

It'd be easy to dismiss APTBS as just another noise-rock band, simply adhering to the motto 'the louder the better', but you'd be ignoring the underpinning indie-pop of the album (especially in 'Breathe' which sounds like a faster take on The Strokes’ Barely Legal). APTBS are a band that has yes fallen in love with the effects pedal, but have used it to create a steely, oppressed ghetto for the listener to writhe in, it's both contorted, dark and scary and hopelessly fragile. Exhilarating.

Rating: 9/10

Handsome Furs - Plague Park

I've only recently started listening to the Krug/Boeckner camp of bands, and I'm giving each one of them a listen, that's right each one. Should be awhile before I finish. Anyway, my first impressions of Boeckner's side-project 'Handsome Furs' where he's accompannied by his fiance Alexei Perry, were that it was just a bit mediocre. Aside from 'Sing! Captain' nothing really stood out, and even Boeckner's primitive howl started to bore me. 

Then I gave it another listen. And yup, it grew on me. Lyrically it's superb - I love Boeckner's disdain for technology and the modern world, since really I wish life was a bit simpler. In 'Handsome Furs Hate This City', he growls repeatedly 'we hate this city and its drone', but while lyrically it may have grabbed me, unfortunately most of the songs still sound lethargic and lacking in variety. Stuffed with processed drum loops, Postal Service like synths and fuzzy reverberating guitar, Plague Park sounds rawer than Apologies To The Queen Mary but just, well, empty in comparison. 'What We Had' is a great alternative romp but it needs Krug's energy, while 'Hearts of Iron' simply needs a song. But the aforementioned 'Sing! Captain' is ripe with gorgeous, hushed acoustic licks and shows Boeckner's individual talent.

All in all, it's a solid album that's best listened to after midnight in a lonely towering block of flats. Music for the chronically disaffected.  

Rating: 6/10

Laura Marling - My Manic and I [EP]

Like a younger, less eccentric Joanna Newsom - Marling's voice isn't plain, but in truth it's her ancient, ghostly lyrics that elevate her above the squillions of other lovely singer-songwriters. Any lingering thoughts about her age and naivety evaporates within the first beautifully arranged song. Penultimate song, the eponymous 'My Manic and I' is the highlight and if this little EP is anything to go by then her album should be something quite special.

1) New Romantic
2) Night Terror
3) My Manic and I
4) Typical

Rating: 7/10

Ports Of Call - Like Thieves

Well, here's some shoegaze for my first post. Ports Of Call are a band from Philidelphia who wear their influences on their baggy sleeves. Track 9 'Quiet Tide' is actually a great description of the album - since you can almost feel the soft, lapping waves on your toes, while listening to Like Thieves. It's dreamy, delicate shoegaze that's clearly listened to Ride and the Cocteau Twins heck of a lot.  Although it creates some gorgeous ethereal atmospheres, this album is at its best when there's a tingle of urgency to the music, and the problem with this album is that in parts it relies too heavily on the atmosphere and is lacking in any sort of memorable melody, fading into hushed background music.  And since Ports are capable of producing some stunning melodies ('Washout', 'Here We Are'), it's a tad disappointing.  

The main riff from 'Honey' has been stolen straight from 'Bring It On Down' by Oasis surely, but really is that me just being too picky? I'm probably just being overly-critical about this album as a whole aswell. It's not mind-blowing no, but its a breezy, intimate listen that'll make you'll feel all warm inside - and what's not to like about that?

1 Elipsis 1:58
2 Washout 3:36
3 Here We Are 4:27
4 Honey 3:19
5 Like Thieves 2:32
6 Claire 3:02
7 Aireals 3:27
8 Hermissenda 2:49
9 Quiet Tide 3:42
10 Spirals 5:10

Rating: 7/10

Pree-vyet!

I'll post something tommorrow, I promise.