Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito

We haven't heard any new material from Yeah Yeah Yeah's for close to 4 years and after the fantastic 'It's Blitz' came out back in 2009 I have been yurning for more from this trio ever since. Mosquito however I feel isn't the follow up I had hope from by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, it's certainly not as memorable or instant as either 'It's Blitz' or 'Fever To Tell' and it doesn't reach the astonishing highs the flawed 'Show Us Your Bones' reached. When I listen to this album I often feel like I'm listening to a band that had a long period of writers block during the album writing process and it's an album that provides very few highs and an astonishing amount of misfires. It's not as if the is anything particularly offensive on this album, it's just I always leave this album feeling like the is no reason to come back at all, and that's the first time I've felt this way about a Yeah Yeah Yeahs album; as far away from bad as it may be it's equally as distant from being 'great'. Song's such as 'Mosquito' and 'Area 51' come off as a band completely going by the motions and that's a real shame. 

Album Review: The Knife - Shaking The Habitual

Definitely near the top of my most anticipated records of the year list once announced I've been looking forward to a new album from The Knife ever since Silent Shout blew my mind way back in 2006, the surreal electronic pop music was simply wonderful, and when the day came for this albums release I turned my stereo up to 11 and was prepared to digest this album in all it's off beat glory. A departure/evolution of sound was to be expected on this album, you can hardly expect a band not to evolve in 6 years, however I found myself largely underwhelmed by this album. It's not that it isn't interesting, it is very interesting, it's just I don't think the core songwriting is very good with many songs hitting their peak way before they conclude. It's a good album, but it's not the masterpiece I was hoping for and as far as I'm concerned it doesn't even come close to the masterpiece 'Silent Shout' you may disagree and the is plenty to appreciate in this album but for me it's got the foundations to be a great album but it's chock full of filler & failed experimentation. 

Album Review: Paramore - S/T

Having never been a huge fan of Paramore, but always been a big fan of their singles, I've found myself listening to their entire discography over the years but have never been overly impressed; sure they were often showing glimpses of being a great pop punk band, but the reliance on a strict formula and cringe worthy ballads totally killed it for me. On their latest self titled album I was totally caught off guard by how much I enjoyed this album, with a total line up overhaul, Paramore have strung together a diverse collection of top tier pop songs that just relentlessly deliver in memorable hooks, melodies and energy. With tracks such as 'Fast In My Car', 'Grow Up' & 'Ain't It Fun' all jostling for single of the year you also have some awesome heavier moments such as the Post Rock closer 'Future'. It could be criticised for being perhaps a bit too long but as far as I'm concerned the isn't really a dud on the whole album, but if it was only 12 track it'd have been one of the greatest pop record released this generation.  As it stands it's a flawed pop masterpiece. 

Music Video: A Primitive Evolution - We Are Lost

A Primitive Evolution are an alternative rock/blues band from Toronto whose accolades read pretty impressively for any upcoming band with various festival appearances, support slots with popular acts such as Billy Talent and coming 2nd in a regional hard rock competition; it's fairly clear to me that this band has appeal. What struck me was how polished and high budget this music video is for an unknown band, with very acomplished direction & some impactful imagery,  I kind of like it! Now whilst this is far from my usual cup of tea & I cannot envision myself listening to this too much in the future I can definitely say as far as big anthemic rock songs go this is a tier above from your average band, and I can imagine fans of bands such as Queens Of The Stone Age, The Dead Weather and Jane's Addiction getting quite the kick out of it. Whilst not a huge fan I can definitely see this band potentially grasping a large audience, the blend of acoustic guitars in what is a fairly heavy up-tempo track & those harsh guitar tones towards the end adds a breath of fresh air in what is often seen as a very stale genre; it's pretty good but those looking for a revolutionary sound may need to look elsewhere. 

'We Are Lost' was released on debut album 'The Prize' last year & is available on Spoitfy 

 A Primitive Evolution – The Prize

Why am I rebooting my blog with a song I'm not in love with you ask? I got an e-mail and remembered I had a blog! I will now resume updating said blog.

Dawn Richard - Goldenheart

'Goldenheart' is the debut full length LP from former P.Diddy manufactured girl band 'Danity Kane' member Dawn Richard coming off the back of her highly brilliant EP 'Armor On' which came out last year. This album pretty much follows all the tropes of this alternative R&B that seems to be around at the moment & if I'm honest with you I think this may be that genres defining piece, at least currently. Full of hooks, infectious melodies & some incredibly clever song structures which combines subtlety with abrasiveness which allows Dawn to create an album that sounds familiar and approachable as well as producing an album that has got it's very own defined sound, atmosphere and theme. For an album as long as 'Goldenheart' I was really quite surprised at how cohesive it sounded with every song sounding completely at home within this album with enough variants and changes to stop the album from dragging or becoming repetitive. In short this album is a masterpiece and would proudly sit as the Magnum Opus of any musicians back catalogue & considering this is a debut I really cannot wait to hear what else comes from the mind of Dawn Richard in the near future. 

Comadre - Self Titled

A fresh new year and a time for fresh new releases & whilst I have never heard Comadre before this release I have to say that if 2013 continues in this trait then I'd be a very happy chappy. Comadre is very much a hardcore/screamo album with onslaughts of distortion underneath some incredibly palatable and melodic guitar riffs. Clear influences would be bands such as 'The Blood Brothers' with their grooves, screams and noise. 'Cold Rain' and 'King Worm' pull off one hell of a 1 2 blow as they come in loud and proud with grooves and infectious hooks. 'Drag Blood' comes out a little leftfield with inclusion of Trumpet and the ninth track 'Hack' is a superbly poppy synth laced number with lots of momentum and drive. And that how I'd best describe this album, it's album with a lot of momentum and drive & it never relents, it finds it's footing and pacing early on and runs with it. The isn't any real weak tracks on here, just some tracks outshine others & this is a fantastically punchy record which I'm sure will get a considerable amount of plays this year. 

Memory Tapes - Grace/Confusion

We all have a band like this, love one and only one release and be practically indifferent to anything they've released besides that release, and this is mine I'd like to welcome you to 'Memory Tapes'. I loved 2009's 'Seek Magic' to the point of it my album of the year, it was bright and fun, it took you threw a journey of ideas without ever seeming cumbersome or lost. 2011 saw 'Player Piano' come out and I honestly couldn't tell you a thing about it, it was an album that failed to hold my attention, and I must've listened to it no more then 2 or 3 times... this coming off the back of an album I still listened to frequently at the time of 'Player Pianos' release. Now we end up at 'Grace/Confusion' an album which has some fantastic moments and ideas but it sure likes to take it's sweet time getting to them & whereas the more ambitious moments found in 'Seek Magic' were equally as long and as adventurous each song felt like it had a sense of purpose and it held your attention the whole way. 'Grace/Confusion' has a lot of moments which will make you really pay attention but more then half the time is spent transitioning from moment to moment and it fails to hold your attention whilst doing so. The are 2 songs on here that I cannot recommend enough though 'Neighbourhood Watch' is a beautiful song with moments of melodic sombre and frantic epic electronic infused noise, it was a build that I loved with results that paid off. The second song is the lead single 'Sheila' which really feels like it could have been one of the stronger moments from 'Seek Magic' and it has found the long lost groove found on that album, both these songs are excellent and would've made a fantastic single, in fact the is enough here for a great EP but as it stands at least half the material here is disposable and whilst it does make those bright moments shine that little bit brighter I'd be lying if I said the journey to get there wasn't a bit of a slog..