Liam Mclean is no joke. Not musically, nor when discussing his slick RnB.
READ MOREThere’s almost no doubt that the quintet of roused Australian youngsters that make up Boy & Bear are comprehensively nice.
It’s hard to fathom that British Sea Power now have five albums under their belts.
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Devil Sold His Soul
Blessed and Cursed
[Century Media]5/10
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Say what you want about ‘Blessed and Cursed’ – the second album by a band rising from the ashes of apparently hugely influential post-hardcore outfit Mahumodo – but it doesn’t beat around the bush about its intentions. Song titles like ‘Drowning/Sinking’ or ‘A Foreboding Sky’ hint at emotionally explosive, albeit somewhat musically one-sided, content, and this is pretty much what we get. Singer Ed Gibbs’ contributions oscillate between the pressed screams common in this genre and almost radio-friendly, tuneful singing reminiscent of Underoath, creating a kind of vocal narrative that keeps things interesting while the guitars pound out yet another larger-than-life breakdown. The extensive, atmospheric intros and string sections (buried behind the all-conquering guitars) underline the album’s aim of packing an emotional punch, but you can’t help but think that there will be few people over 18 to whom these songs will mean something.
By Matthias Scherer
Your worst fears about ‘Nothing’ are probably right. The late-year, post-album extended-play sounds like the runoff of a few constructions that didn’t make the cut for ‘Dedication’.
Milagres are a Brooklyn-based quintet fronted by a certain Kyle Wilson, whose soaring vocal style sits somewhere between Thom Yorke and Chris Keating of Yeasayer.
On first encounter, ‘Bad Dream Hotline’ is your standard emo-goth release – black on black cover art, tracks called things like ‘A Handsome Stranger Called Death’ and ‘Dance & Weep’.
‘Out of Sight, Out of Town’ is an album that concerns itself, in the main, with casual sex.
When LA Vampires first released ‘So Unreal’ on a limited vinyl run in 2010 it sold out in a flash, perhaps because of its superbly kitsch artwork by Spencer Longo.
Dan Mangan is a husky-voiced, melancholic Canadian singer-songwriter who does all the things you expect husky-voiced, melancholic Canadian singer-songwriters to do.
Favourite Sons is the most recent project of Ken Griffin, formerly of nineties outfits Rollerskate Skinny and Kid Silver.
Synth enthusiasts must have been veritably jumping with joy of late (would a synth enthusiast do that sort of thing?).
A long lasting member of the American garage rock scene since the late Eighties, Mark Sultan has cooked up a hotpot of a new album.
Some very big noises are being made in the mainstream press over this Swedish duo, and their calculated pop sensibilities go a long way to explaining that.
This week we’ve been listening to new music from The Proper Ornaments, The Weeknd, Electricity In Our Homes, Sunless ’97 and Ceremony [pictured].
LISTEN HEREDropping his iPhone was the best thing that ever happened to Reef Younis.
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