Music Chart - June 2013

This month brings us new albums from Alice In Chains, Seasick Steve, Gabrielle Aplin, John Murry, Queens Of The Stone Age, Jon Hopkins, These New Puritans, Vampire Weekend, Jagwar Ma, Filter, Sigur Rós and Lloyd Cole.

The National now hold top spot from Kurt Vile, Laura Marling, Biffy Clyro and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

1. Trouble Will Find Me by The National
2. Wakin On A Pretty Daze by Kurt Vile 
3. Once I Was An Eagle by Laura Marling
4. Opposites by Biffy Clyro 
5. Push The Sky Away by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 
6. Kveikur by Sigur Rós
7. Waiting For Something To Happen by Veronica Falls
8. Love Has Come For You by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell
9. ...Like Clockwork by Queens Of The Stone Age
10. Impossible Truth by William Tyler
11. The Beast In Its Tracks by Josh Ritter 
12. Nocturnes by Little Boots
13. Heartthrob by Tegan And Sara
14. Standards by Lloyd Cole
15. Welcome Oblivion by How To Destroy Angels
16. Les Revenants Soundtrack by Mogwai
17. More Light by Primal Scream
18. Let It All In by I Am Kloot
19. The Sun Comes Out Tonight by Filter
20. Spectre At The Feast by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club 
21. Random Access Memories by Daft Punk
22. The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here by Alice In Chains
23. Black Pudding by Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood 
24. Modern Vampire Of The City by Vampire Weekend
25. Tape Deck Heart by Frank Turner
26. Until In Excess, Imperceptible UFO by Besnard Lakes 
27. Howlin by Jagwar Ma
28. Silence Yourself by Savages
29. People, Hell & Angels by Jimi Hendrix
30. Fade by Yo La Tengo
31. Wolf's Law by The Joy Formidable
32. Heart Of Nowhere by Noah And The Whale 
33. The Graceless Age by John Murry
34. Paramore by Paramore
35. Tales From Terra Firma by Stornoway
36. Electric by Richard Thompson 
37. Oblivion OST by M83
38. AMOK by Atoms For Peace
39. Wonderful, Glorious by Eels
40. Immunity by Jon Hopkins
41. A Bad Wind Blows In My Heart by Bill Ryder-Jones
42. Volume 3 by She & Him 
43. Hubcap Music by Seasick Steve
44. Wait To Pleasure by No Joy
45. A Long Way To Fall by Ulrich Schnauss 
46. Machineries Of Joy by British Sea Power 
47. Pale Green Ghosts by John Grant
48. All The Little Lights by Passenger
49. Tooth & Nail by Billy Bragg
50. Sound City - Real To Real by Sound City - Real To Real
51. Disarm The Descent by Killswitch Engage
52. The Messenger by Johnny Marr
53. If You Leave by Daughter
54. Pollen by Wave Machines
55. Mosquito by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
56. Back Into The Woods by Ed Harcourt
57. Clash The Truth by Beach Fossils
58. Country Sleep by Night Beds 
59. The Next Day by David Bowie
60. Rules By Passion, Destroyed By Lust by Asphodells
61. Blood Oaths Of The New Blues by Wooden Wand
62. Centralia by Mountains
63. In Love by Peace
64. Ores & Minerals by Mazes
65. Pedestrian Verse by Frightened Rabbit 
66. The Invisible Way By Low
67. Lysandre by Christopher Owens
68. English Rain by Gabrielle Aplin
69. Monomania by Deerhunter
70. California X by California X
71. Field Of Reeds by These New Puritans
72. Save Rock And Roll by Fall Out Boy
73. 180 by Palma Violets
74. News From Nowhere by Darkstar
75. Almanac by Widowspeak 
76. Bloodsports by Suede
77. Graffiti On The Train by Stereophonics
78. Wash The Sins Not Only The Face by Esben And The Witch 
79. Comedown Machine by The Strokes
80. The Moths Are Real by Serafina Steer
81. {Awayland} by Villagers
82. Out Of Touch In The Wild by Dutch Uncles
83. Lost Sirens by New Order
84. Girl Talk by Kate Nash
85. Beta Love by Ra Ra Riot
86. Early Rocking by Paul Simon
87. Collections by Delphic

This Week - Sigur Rós, Queens Of The Stone Age and Filter

Iceland's finest Sigur Rós are usually predictable and safe. You know what to expect from their music: the soaring instrumentation, string arrangements, stirring piano, big guitars and angelic floating vocals all add to the glorious mix. But this time, a year after the release of the subtle beauty of Valtari, the departure of founding member Kjartan Sveinsson, and nearly ten years on from the masterpiece Takk, Sigur Rós have gone in a new direction. Kveikur is positively industrial, harsh and magnificently raw, like Takk in a blender. The core of the album is focused around the wonderful voice of Jónsi Birgisson, which is the big difference from the piano-led Takk and the controlled chaos of Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust. Opening song Brennisteinn sets the mood perfectly, with a backdrop of grinding machinery and melodic vocals, it introduces the new brutal landscape. Hrafntinna arrives like something from the Game Of Thrones soundtrack before Ísjaki, the album's big highlight and a supreme combination of Jónsi and the band driven forward by Orri Páll Dýrason's drums. After this build-up, Kveikur never reaches the same heights but Stormur is another emotive piece with Jónsi's unique voice shining through. The dark title track makes way for the lighter Rafstraumur and the simple closer Var brings this strange, intriguing adventure to an end. This is the sound of Sigur Rós shaking off the past to make a raw, fractured, yet emotional record.

Josh Homme is a genius but life as a genius in Queens Of The Stone Age is not easy. Homme was hospitalised in 2010 and had to 'fire' drummer Joey Castillo about a third of the way through recording new album, ...Like Clockwork, to bring in Dave Grohl. Former bassist Nick Oliveri provides backing vocals on a couple of tracks but has not officially rejoined the band, and Homme has brought in guests Mark Lanegan, Trent Reznor, Alex Turner, Jake Shears and Elton John (yes, really). In spite of this turmoil and a host of side-projects (most notably the brilliant Them Crooked Vultures), Queens Of The Stone Age remains a solid, coherent and formidable musical force. That said, ...Like Clockwork feels like a band fighting themselves and the future; but ultimately it's rewarding. Darkness is everywhere, even in its lighter, more positive moments and the approach is much more interesting than the listless Era Vulgaris. As always Troy Van Leeuwen is excellent, providing supreme guitar work, while Grohl and the much maligned Castillo add solid percussion. This is evident from attention-grabbing prog-rock opener Keep Your Eyes Peeled, followed by the equally impressive I Sat By The Ocean. The Vampyre Of Time And Memory is something of a departure but Homme's subtle vocals and more incredible guitar work create an uneasy yet satisfying atmosphere. If I Had A Tail, Fairweather Friends and Smooth Sailing are instant highlights while Kalopsia is verging on Pink Floyd, until the last minute and half brings the noise. The title track closes the album in style, with Homme's delicate falsetto and piano making way for startling guitars and drums(this time from Jon Theodore (ex-Mars Volta). ...Like Clockwork is order from chaos and the best Queens Of The Stone Age album since Songs For The Deaf.

Filter, lead by Richard Patrick - brother of actor Robert and former touring guitarist in Nine Inch Nails, has not had a typical life as a band. With many more ex-members than current personal, and a very new present line-up, Filter are a different band than that of the mid to late nineties. Short Bus and Title Of Record remained their best work but new album The Sun Comes Out Tonight takes the approach of 2010's The Trouble With Angels and provides some genuinely excellent results. The songs fall into two styles - venomous vitriol (opener We Hate It When You Get What You Want, What Do You Say and This Finger's For You) and more reflective acoustic style (the wonderful Surprise, the elegant pop of First You Break It and the sweet It's My Time). The title track is something in between while Take That Knife Out Of My Back deftly switches from soft to hard - but Filter remain a schizophrenic outfit, able to produce full-on alt-metal and light, airy pop with equal and effortless ease. Closer It's Just You is the album's most coherent and unique moments, as it seems to transcend this juxtaposition. The Sun Comes Out Tonight is Filter at their best and this is a tremendous, and worthwhile, comeback.

Music Chart - May 2013

A definite case of quality over quantity for a busy May. New albums this month from Little Boots,  Noah And The Whale, Deerhunter, She & Him, Savages, Primal Scream, Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood, Daft Punk, The National and Laura Marling.

Kurt Vile holds the number one spot from Laura Marling and Steve Martin/Edie Brickell.

1. Wakin On A Pretty Daze by Kurt Vile 
2. Once I Was An Eagle by Laura Marling
3. Love Has Come For You by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell
4. Trouble Will Find Me by The National
5. Impossible Truth by William Tyler
6. Opposites by Biffy Clyro 
7. Push The Sky Away by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
8. Waiting For Something To Happen by Veronica Falls
9. The Beast In Its Tracks by Josh Ritter 
10. Nocturnes by Little Boots
11. Heartthrob by Tegan And Sara
12. Welcome Oblivion by How To Destroy Angels
13. Les Revenants Soundtrack by Mogwai
14. More Light by Primal Scream
15. Let It All In by I Am Kloot
16. Spectre At The Feast by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club 
17. Black Pudding by Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood
18. Tape Deck Heart by Frank Turner
19. Until In Excess, Imperceptible UFO by Besnard Lakes 
20. Silence Yourself by Savages
21. People, Hell & Angels by Jimi Hendrix
22. Fade by Yo La Tengo
23. Wolf's Law by The Joy Formidable
24. Heart Of Nowhere by Noah And The Whale
25. Paramore by Paramore
26. Tales From Terra Firma by Stornoway
27. Electric by Richard Thompson 
28. Oblivion OST by M83
29. AMOK by Atoms For Peace
30. Wonderful, Glorious by Eels
31. A Bad Wind Blows In My Heart by Bill Ryder-Jones
32. Volume 3 by She & Him
33. Wait To Pleasure by No Joy
34. A Long Way To Fall by Ulrich Schnauss 
35. Machineries Of Joy by British Sea Power 
36. Random Access Memories by Daft Punk
37. Pale Green Ghosts by John Grant
38. All The Little Lights by Passenger
39. Tooth & Nail by Billy Bragg
40. Sound City - Real To Real by Sound City - Real To Real
41. Disarm The Descent by Killswitch Engage
42. The Messenger by Johnny Marr
43. If You Leave by Daughter
44. Pollen by Wave Machines
45. Mosquito by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
46. Back Into The Woods by Ed Harcourt
47. Clash The Truth by Beach Fossils
48. Country Sleep by Night Beds 
49. The Next Day by David Bowie
50. Rules By Passion, Destroyed By Lust by Asphodells
51. Blood Oaths Of The New Blues by Wooden Wand
52. Centralia by Mountains
53. In Love by Peace
54. Ores & Minerals by Mazes
55. Pedestrian Verse by Frightened Rabbit 
56. The Invisible Way By Low
57. Lysandre by Christopher Owens
58. Monomania by Deerhunter
59. California X by California X
60. Save Rock And Roll by Fall Out Boy
61. 180 by Palma Violets
62. News From Nowhere by Darkstar
63. Almanac by Widowspeak 
64. Bloodsports by Suede
65. Graffiti On The Train by Stereophonics
66. Wash The Sins Not Only The Face by Esben And The Witch 
67. Comedown Machine by The Strokes
68. The Moths Are Real by Serafina Steer
69. {Awayland} by Villagers
70. Out Of Touch In The Wild by Dutch Uncles
71. Lost Sirens by New Order
72. Girl Talk by Kate Nash
73. Beta Love by Ra Ra Riot
74. Early Rocking by Paul Simon
75. Collections by Delphic

This Week - The National, Laura Marling, Alice In Chains

Few bands make a trio of really great albums and The National have now made it four in a row. Alligator, Boxer, High Violet and now Trouble Will Find Me continues the impressive run from an American band at the top of their game. Unlike the immediacy of Alligator and High Violet, Trouble Will Find Me is a slow burner, an album of subtle complexity and hidden messages which have to be teased from the music on repeat listens. Vocalist Matt Berninger delivers his unique melancholy tones throughout, with a few pleasant surprises: Heavenfaced is excellent while Humiliation is a gloriously successful experiment of dark chamber pop. Don't Swallow The Cap is right up there with the best, as is opener I Should Live In Salt, and to finish Pink Rabbits is several ideas in one, transforming and evolving to make way for the wonderful Hard To Find. The National continue to enthral and beguile with wondrous effect.

In the same week as The National make it four from four, Laura Marling does the same. From tentative, charming début Alas, I Cannot Swim to the more confident duo I Speak Because I Can and A Creature I Don't Know, Marling has expanded her musical landscaping further with Once I Was An Eagle. The album magnificently builds through an introduction of connected songs (You Know into Breathe is especially slick) into the brilliant Master Hunter, with Marling in full flow. Devil's Resting Place concludes the first half before a more subdued collection: the lovely country waltz of Where Can I Go?, vocals, keyboards and guitars blending perfectly. Once is equally arresting, as Marling reminisces on her childhood, and the dark tones of When Were You Happy? (And How Long Has That Been) brings in yet another character to the stage of a musician who is more of an actor than a singer. And while the album's encore is not as strong as its prelude and centrepiece, it is consistently compelling and utterly absorbing.

Veteran alt-metal legends Alice In Chains reunited in 2005 following the death of Layne Staley and their first album without their original singer was the heartfelt and beautiful Black Gives Way To Blue, an album of tribute and nostalgia. Given that there was a fourteen year break, and mainly due to the steerage of Jerry Cantrell and lead singer William DuVall, Alice In Chains sound remarkably familiar and refreshing. New album The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here is spirited and powerful, often lapsing into mournful dirge, while soaring above their muddy sound. The seven-minute Phantom Limb is an obvious highlight and the venomous Stone has echoes of Queens Of The Stone Age and Tool (puns intended?). Among the swampy metal, there are moments of clarity: Voices is uplifting and melodic and closer Choke is a mash of sounds and ideas echoing back to 1992's Dirt.

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories (Album Review 2013)

After enjoying huge success with the Tron: Legacy soundtrack, French dance duo Daft Punk realised that the approach to their next album was too much of a synthesiser overload. They set about making Random Access Memories, a celebration of the 1970s/80s US disco sound, and something of a rarity: a dance record with 'proper' instruments, singers and musicians, limiting the use of drum machines and performing live in a studio. That said, vocoders feature heavily  - Bangalter and de Homem-Christo sharing vocal duties - with mixed results and form a huge part of the album.

Random Access Memories features some notable guests and Nile Rodgers (Chic) provides guitars for several songs including opener Give Life Back To Music, a huge slice of smooth funk. But the big early highlight is the nine-minute genius that is Giorgio by Moroder, starting as spoken word, with Giorgio explaining his part in the early days of electronic music. He introduces himself and the cool vibrant electronica starts, moving from funky to classical, back to full-on beats and bass, driving drums and keyboards with a huge swathe of instrumentation, stuttering into a swirling mass of guitars. This is a wonderful tribute. Of the other collaborations, Pharrell Williams brings most to the party - his voice free of robotic production. Lose Yourself To Dance starts well but lapses into the predictable, while the excellent Get Lucky is perfect dance/pop again with Nile Rodgers adding his sparkling guitar work.

Elsewhere, Random Access Memories is a mix of brilliance and frustration. Touch is inspired (after an odd start), with Paul Williams adding a great vocal turn, some bouncy jazz/skiffle fusion before a choral/electronic arrangement. Williams provides the lyrics for Beyond, the smooth soundtrack opening and excellent outro are marred by clumsy vocals and a poor delivery. This and Instant Crush would work better as an instrumental, in spite of Julian Casablancas delivering a decent, if mashed up, vocal for the latter. Late on, Motherboard is a neat track and it's not every day you hear a cristal baschet in full flow, and the soulful Fragments Of Time (with Todd Edwards) is smart and uncluttered. Closing track Contact is a great idea, blending samples, the magnificent sound of a modular synthesiser (with DJ Falcon) and pounding drums into something old-school; it builds then builds again before ending in slightly underwhelming chaos.

Random Access Memories feels more like an experiment than a well-crafted album but when they are brilliant, Daft Punk are truly inspired and enchanting. They have revitalised a vintage sound and with the help of Nile Rodgers and Pharrell Williams (among others), created something quite wonderful. But this is nowhere near perfect and the early emotional ballads (The Game Of Love and Within) are slow and lifeless - it's hard to convey power and generate empathy when fronted by Marvin, the Paranoid Android. You can't fault the approach however - more often than not Random Access Memories sounds real and relevant. An audacious celebration.

-- CS

This Week - Primal Scream and Vampire Weekend

Primal Scream has never been a band to bow to convention, never staying in the same place for very long and frustrating fans and critics. Without question Bobby Gillespie and the band are at their best when they cut loose with psychedelic pop, none more so than the glorious timeless rhythms of Screamadelica and later the magnificent industrial stomp of XTRMNTR. But it's the disastrous forays into soft indie rock that has been Primal Scream's undoing: the hapless Give Out But Don't Give Up and the woeful Riot City Blues are huge blots on the landscape. So with new album More Light, the band (now without Mani who has returned to The Stone Roses) has returned to what they do best. This is weird and wonderful from the outset, a dark twisted and compelling album which opens with the nine minute monstrous epic 2013, sounding like an orchestra of which Jason Pierce would be proud. A great opening is let down by a weak first half: River Of Pain has sultry guitar work, Gillespie's breathless vocals and big strings, then the immense dark-funk bass and drums of Culturecide; both are impressive but Hit Void is a hopeless mess. A mixed bag leads to the brilliant stomp of Elimination Blues, all supreme guitars and drums, backing vocals and percussion. Only Invisible City, with guitar/trumpet combination works well after the spirited stirring ballad Tenement Kid. More Light shrugs off the inconsistencies and ends in style. Turn Each Other Inside Out is another fantastic bass line with pounding drums and guitars. Walking With The Beast, with echoes of Gillespie's ex-band The Jesus And Mary Chain, is a highlight - gorgeous guitars and vocals deliver throughout, before closer It's Alright, It's OK brings back the Screamadelica-era pop, all jangling guitars, hippie choral vocals and exquisite piano. Easily Primal Scream's best work since 2000 - ambitious, adventurous and wonderfully unique.

Vampire Weekend's third album has delivered the band's most interesting album to date, building on their auspicious eponymous début and adding focus to the pop rhythms of follow-up Contra. Modern Vampires Of The City is smart, precise and cool - exactly what Vampire Weekend should be. Up to now, they have always seemed more style over substance but, as opener Obvious Bicycle proves, the focused industrial acoustic sounds, wonderful songwriting and Fleet Foxes vocals are a winning combination. Unbelievers is an immediate pop-punk highlight while Step is an odd spiky piano-led Elizabethan waltz. Modern Vampires Of The City never quite revisits this opening but Hannah Hunt is a lovely mixed tale of road-trip and love-song with a big Dylan-esque outro and some of the best vocals from Ezra Koenig. Everlasting Arms is cool pleasant string-pop while Finger Back is completely different - punchy and fast, like following song Worship You, they take the album up a notch. Sadly, Ya Hey is a great song ruined by some grating vocal blending, the absurd chipmunk crooning a horror show - the album's only obviously bad move. Then Modern Vampires Of The City falls flat at the end with the spooky drawn-out mournful strings of Hudson followed by fragment closer Young Lion, this is a downbeat ending to an otherwise enjoyable work. Still unique and compelling, Vampire Weekend is full of character, intelligence and pointed observations, but the band still need more substance to dispel the often empty style.

Kurt Vile - Wakin On A Pretty Daze Album Review (2013)

When Kurt Vile left The War On Drugs in 2008, a great music collaboration ended. Vile was already a solo artist (of sorts) and his backing band The Violators continued with The War On Drugs co-founder and front-man Adam Granduciel still on board. Granduciel left The Violators in 2011 and went on make one of the finest albums in the last decade, Slave Ambient, as Vile blitzed through four solo albums, with mixed results. So now, on his fifth attempt to make a solid, coherent and engaging work, Kurt Vile and Wakin On A Pretty Daze have finally delivered.

Vile has always been a free and liberated musician, blending styles and moods with seemingly incoherent abandon but he has yet to do this with such elegance. Wakin On A Pretty Daze opens with the cool sublime nine-and-a-half minute, sleek, sun-kissed guitar-led epic Wakin On A Pretty Day, with Vile musing on thoughts and observations like a philosophical stoner. 'To be frank, I'm fried...but I...don't mind', he sings before drifting off into a series of uninspired, yet entirely appropriate, 'yeah yeah yeahs'. As the song enters a fourth minute it's difficult to know where it could go. One wonderful guitar solo later and Vile is back with more of the same with additional random empty lyrics. Yet the effect is mesmerising and sublime, as another swathe of swirling guitars drives the song on into its last minute like the eighteenth minute of a classic Neil Young And Crazy Horse adventure.

KV Crimes opens with a blistering guitar riff before Vile starts the tale of self-analysis. The chorus, while not the most inspired, is wonderfully structured around a laid-back delivery: 'Well, right...what now? It's fine. I think I'm ready, to claim what's mine, rightfully, yeah...'. Vile's voice is not so much of a clear and concise storyteller but it's an incredible instrument, to compliment more supreme guitar work. To complete an impressive opening trio, Was All Talk is another highlight, with injected pace and energy. Vile, again, is examining his own life and achievements: 'There was a time in my life when they thought I was all talk' he claims dismissively and then later 'Making music is easy...watch me!' before repeating the aforementioned accusation, all framed with psychedelic swampy guitars. Vile is not scared of letting the music run and go where he feels it should, as the outro hurtles into an eighth minute.

The mid-tempo Girl Called Alex rolls lazily through its six minutes, occasionally lifted by some neat guitar-work from Jesse Trbovich and organ from Vile. It's not quite a weak point but feels more like an interlude between the first part of the album and what is to come. This leads into Never Run Away and the closest Wakin On A Pretty Daze comes to producing a three-minute pop song while being utterly unique and odd. Vile simply fuses empty lyrics with repetitions of the song's title. Pure Pain echoes Pavement covering The Pixies, a modern proto-punk stomp, before changing completely, only to return later in the third minute. It's a brief re-visit as the song drifts again into a series of delicious guitar loops. And another huge eight minutes produces Too Hard, with Vile at his most heartfelt and honest: 'I will promise not to smoke too much. I will promise not to party...too hard...too hard...It's too hard', he sings before the profound 'Life is like a ball of beauty that makes you wanna just cry...then you die...'. Again, the guitars shine with added hope to Vile's inward, self-deflating lyrics. This is a great example of a song drawn thin with over-extended lyrics and wide-open instrumentation.

Shame Chamber is another brilliant pop song, more ego-bashing and catharsis set to a playful soundtrack, complete with maddening 'woops'. This begins an impressive end to a great album. Snowflakes Are Dancing is the late high-point with Vile on top form, the music blending perfectly into a swirling mass of guitars, percussion and voice. The quality continues with Air Bud, which could easily be The War On Drugs doing an acoustic set. And as if the album needed a big finish, Goldtone is a final ten minutes of icing on a massive cake. Opening lyrically with 'Sometimes when I get in my zone, you'd think I was stoned...but I never, as they say, touch the stuff. I might be adrift, but I'm still alert, concentrating my hurt into a gold tone...'. This is an album in one song, an autobiographical account of a musical journey, with more sublime musical moments: layers of guitars, sweet backing vocals and harmonies. Into the ninth minute and the music rises to a mini final crescendo.

Wakin On A Pretty Daze is one of the most interesting albums of the year and is set to remain so. Vile's unique and unstructured approach and delivery makes it sound as if this is the product of a series of experimental, improvised and shambolic jam sessions. This may be the case but it captures Vile (and The Violators) at their most creative and consistent, yielding a huge album that drifts in and out of ideas and themes; at times drawn-out and threatening to lose focus, but rightfully so. The open spaces, protracted sequences of guitars and often thin lyrics add to the overall feel and charm and create the right atmosphere. This is Kurt Vile's most ambitious and ultimately rewarding album: huge, expansive and, above all, enjoyable.

-- CS

Steve Martin and Edie Brickell - Love Has Come For You (Album Review 2013)

The contrasting duo of comedian, actor, and now accomplished bluegrass banjo player, Steve Martin and singer, songwriter Edie Brickell might seem an unlikely combination for a new album but proves to be a perfect match. Martin's love of the banjo started in his teenage years and he has been playing ever since, while Brickell started her musical life as part of New Bohemians and made one of the finest pop albums of all time, Shooting Rubber Bands At The Stars, before briefly going solo. She is now part of The Heavy Circles and The Gaddabouts so another collaboration was always inevitable. This new project: Love Has Come For You follows Martin's Rare Bird Alert (with the Steep Canyon Rangers), and the Grammy winning The Crow: New Songs For The 5-string Banjo, and the inclusion of Brickell's vocals adds character and charm to his music.


What makes Love Has Come For You such a charming and engaging folk album is that no part of it is over-done. The ever-present banjo is a core instrument but it never overwhelms or consumes the storytelling. And Brickell's voice soars and shines throughout, a controlling presence but never upstaging the music. The title track, for instance, is an understated three-minutes of wonder, tinged with darkness from another time and driven by gorgeous vocal harmonies and subtle percussion. The duo are continuously respectful and honest to the genre as Sarah Jane And The Iron Mountain Baby shows - a superb tale of a baby thrown from a train in a suitcase, found unharmed and raised against adversity. Both Martin and Brickell are playful and bring a sense of fun and energy to the seemingly macabre subject matter - even the odd train impersonations work as the banjo echoes the frantic wheels of the runaway engine. As an introduction, Yes She Did is a stark, cold and honest account of suicide, delivered without emotion. Opener When You Get To Asheville breathes modern life into a classic sound as Brickell asks '...send me an email', while Siamese Cat is more like something from her New Bohemian days. Both work in their different ways. Martin's best performance is Shawnee, a master-class of string work, as Brickell tells the story, that of a love-lost girl trying to avoid the advances of her 'creepy cousin'. And the heartfelt ballad of King Of Boys is simply wonderful, if way too short, providing Brickell's finest vocal. As the album closes, Love Has Come For You leaves one of its finest moments for last. Remember Me This Way is another song washed with dark cold tones, perfectly judged and uncomplicated.

Love Has Come For You often feels like music from a different era while remaining current and timeless, bringing old stories and forgotten souls back to life. It runs hot and cold, musically, with vibrant rhythms and energy making way for a darker, colder side. As musical collaborations go, this is a triumph of songwriting and execution. The combination of Martin and Brickell is so natural that you wonder why they haven't done this before and Love Has Come For You sounds like a partnership that has been years in the making.

-- CS

Music Chart - April 2013

The music chart for April features new music from The Strokes, British Sea Power, M83, Paramore, Killswitch Engage, Kurt Vile, Fall Out Boy, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Besnard Lakes, Bill Ryder-Jones, Frank Turner, No Joy, Steve Martin and Edie Brickell and William Tyler. This has definitely been a month for quality over quantity with some new albums breaking into the top ten and knocking Biffy from the number one spot.

1. Wakin On A Pretty Daze by Kurt Vile
2. Love Have Come For You by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell
3. Impossible Truth by William Tyler
4. Opposites by Biffy Clyro 
5. Push The Sky Away by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
6. Waiting For Something To Happen by Veronica Falls
7. The Beast In Its Tracks by Josh Ritter 
8. Welcome Oblivion by How To Destroy Angels
9. Les Revenants Soundtrack by Mogwai
10. Let It All In by I Am Kloot
11. Spectre At The Feast by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club 
12. Tape Deck Heart by Frank Turner
13. Until In Excess, Imperceptible UFO by Besnard Lakes
14. People, Hell & Angels by Jimi Hendrix
15. Fade by Yo La Tengo
16. Wolf's Law by The Joy Formidable
17. Paramore by Paramore
18. Tales From Terra Firma by Stornoway
19. Electric by Richard Thompson 
20. Oblivion OST by M83
21. AMOK by Atoms For Peace
22. Wonderful, Glorious by Eels
23. A Bad Wind Blows In My Heart by Bill Ryder-Jones
24. Heartthrob by Tegan And Sara
25. Wait To Pleasure by No Joy
26. A Long Way To Fall by Ulrich Schnauss 
27. Machineries Of Joy by British Sea Power
28. Pale Green Ghosts by John Grant
29. All The Little Lights by Passenger
30. Tooth & Nail by Billy Bragg
31. Sound City - Real To Real by Sound City - Real To Real
32. Disarm The Descent by Killswitch Engage
33. The Messenger by Johnny Marr
34. If You Leave by Daughter
35. Pollen by Wave Machines
36. Mosquito by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
37. Back Into The Woods by Ed Harcourt
38. Clash The Truth by Beach Fossils
39. Country Sleep by Night Beds 
40. The Next Day by David Bowie
41. Rules By Passion, Destroyed By Lust by Asphodells
42. Blood Oaths Of The New Blues by Wooden Wand
43. Centralia by Mountains
44. In Love by Peace
45. Ores & Minerals by Mazes
46. Pedestrian Verse by Frightened Rabbit 
47. The Invisible Way By Low
48. Lysandre by Christopher Owens
49. California X by California X
50. Save Rock And Roll by Fall Out Boy
51. 180 by Palma Violets
52. News From Nowhere by Darkstar
53. Almanac by Widowspeak 
54. Bloodsports by Suede
55. Graffiti On The Train by Stereophonics
56. Wash The Sins Not Only The Face by Esben And The Witch 
57. Comedown Machine by The Strokes
58. The Moths Are Real by Serafina Steer
59. {Awayland} by Villagers
60. Out Of Touch In The Wild by Dutch Uncles
61. Lost Sirens by New Order
62. Girl Talk by Kate Nash
63. Beta Love by Ra Ra Riot
64. Early Rocking by Paul Simon
65. Collections by Delphic

Sigur Rós to appear on The Simpsons

Sigur Rós are to star in an episode of The Simpsons on May 19th. Entitled 'The Saga of Carl', Homer heads to Iceland in pursuit of Carl and the band feature, provide new music for a score and have a go at the classic theme song.

Read more on Eighteen Seconds Before Sunrise.

RIP Storm Thorgerson

The National - "Demons"

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Specter At The Feast (Album Review 2013)

The road to greatness has not been easy for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. After a promising eponymous début, the then line-up of Peter Hayes, Robert Levon Been and Nick Jago broke-up with their record label and each other (twice) and mourned the passing of Been's father Michael, the band's sound technician and mentor. Seven albums later, Hayes and Been, alongside Leah Shapiro (once of the The Raveonettes - on tour at least), B.R.M.C. are still going strong and making some of the best music of their lives. Previous album Beat The Devil's Tattoo is a glorious mix of swampy garage-rock, blues, folk and psychedelic pop; a welcome relief after the underwhelming Howl and the odd instrumental The Effects Of 333, either side of the straight no-nonsense rock 'n' roll of Baby 81. Three years on and Specter At The Feast follows on perfectly, in spite of a different mood and agenda.

Specter At The Feast opens in style with Fire Walker, part instrumental, part mournful ballad which builds to a vocal duel between Hayes and Been while guitars, keyboards and lazy drums quietly creep up to fill the space. An excellent, if surprising start. The Call cover Let The Day Begin brings in the familiar formula - like Kasabian doing Tomorrow Never Knows, smart and emotional in equal measures, before Returning slows things down. This is an open-hearted tribute, beginning with the line 'A part of you is ending; a part of you holds on..'. At its most sorrowful, the refrain 'But you must leave and not turn back, knowing what you hold; How much time have we got left? It's killing us, but carries us on' is the highlight, as the guitars soar. And the final words are simple and effective: 'You'll carry us on...carry us all'.

Lullaby is another highlight, a mid-tempo gloomy ballad centred around the words 'I'll walk until I've no shadow' set to folky guitars. B.R.M.C. prove that grungy rock is still in their hearts at the core of the album. Hate The Taste echoes their impetuous début sound, while Rival tries the same approach from the other direction - and a chance to cut loose. Of the trio, Teenage Disease is the most empty-headed and consequently the weakest. The comedown to all this is the moody blues of Some Kind Of Ghost, another glorious move back to the balanced feel, and neat comprise that now forms band's sound. And in contrast, Sometimes The Light finds an equilibrium between Spiritualized and the band they are often compared to (way too much) The Jesus And Mary Chain. This creates a wonderful interlude; a song of poise and control. Lyrically it's another soulful tribute: 'Sometimes the fallen is all we know; I leave your picture inside the room, for I'll remember all we could. Sometimes the light turns out too bright'.

Specter At The Feast's closing trilogy starts with the fuzzy guitars and echoing vocals of Funny Games. It's the album's weak point, sounding for the most part like something Supergrass might attempt, but with Gothic overtones. Thankfully Sell It is the highlight, and one for the best songs in the B.R.M.C. arsenal - a swirling delight of stomping drums, howling muddy guitars and a complex vocal arrangement. The angst starts from the opening line: 'I'm mad! Sell it on a T-shirt'. Closing song Lose Yourself is equally effecting, at just over seven minutes it builds from a slow vocal to a mass of Coldplay-esque guitars, before doing it all over again. The music soars to the end.

Tragedy inspires creativity and music is no exception. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have made an album that is both a fitting tribute but also a strong follow-up to their best work. The band has managed to find the perfect pitch between their rock roots and prosaic arrangements, anger, melancholia and sadness to make a rock record that is both emotive and uplifting.

-- CS

How To Destroy Angels - Welcome Oblivion (Album Review 2013)

The musical collaboration of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross gained the duo a Golden Globe and an Oscar for The Social Network soundtrack in 2011, and a Grammy for score of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Reznor has come a long way from the angst-ridden establishment-bashing controversy of Nine Inch Nails: 1989's Pretty Hate Machine and 1994's The Downward Spiral. Now, a more settled and reasoned savvy industry animal and family man, alongside his wife Mariqueen Maandig, he is now one quarter of How To Destroy Angels. Rob Sheridan, who has worked with Reznor, and on the aforementioned soundtracks, completes the band as 'art director'.

Welcome Oblivion is the much awaited début album from How To Destroy Angels, taking the best of previous EP 'An Omen' and forming a full-length body of work (the vinyl version has two extra tracks: The Province of Fear and Unintended Consequences in a different running order - this review is of the CD/digital edition). Maandig is lead-vocalist with Reznor appearing occasionally, adding his trademark moody voice, but mainly he and Ross lay down the groundwork. Harsh grinding guitars and thrash drums have made way for stark electronica and smooth rhythms, and with Maandig's delicious tones, they are more than just Nine Inch Nails 2.0. She adds a new dimension, a calm presence within the fragmented industrial landscape.

The early highlight And The Sky Began To Scream sets the morose tone as a bleak electronic backdrop makes way for Maandig's world-weary start and Reznor's menacing finish. The song is beautifully constructed and arranged. Ice Age is a surprising break from formula - seven minutes of industrial folk with Maandig delivering an elegant crisp vocal, while How Long? attempts credible R&B with some success. And the album closes strongly with the wonderful The Loop Closes and Hallowed Ground. The former builds from Ghosts-like instrumental to a simple vocal duet, while the latter grows slowly from piano into strings, gradually filling with choral layers and buzzing production. Elsewhere results are mixed but everything stays neatly on course. Opener The Wake-Up is ominous until the startling riff arrives, piercing the atmosphere, the title track is a more controlled and accessible Crystal Castles, while Strings And Attractors fuses a prickly soundtrack with the softness of the vocals. The near-instrumental Recursive Self-Improvement adds a beguiling injection of pace.

How To Destroy Angels will no doubt draw comparisons with Nine Inch Nails - it is in Trent Reznor's blood, his soul. So this is not a distraction. Welcome Oblivion is more than the result of a side-project, or an experiment. Similar themes and thoughts have been crafted into a different creation. Sometimes it is necessary for a band not only to evolve and progress but to create an outlet, a creative diversion, an alter-ego. How To Destroy Angels is now as much an essential part of Trent Reznor as Nine Inch Nails, and with Ross and Maandig, he has the perfect companions.

-- CS

Music Chart - March 2013

A real mixed bag of 'old' and new for March. New albums this month for Stereophonics, Jimi Hendrix, Kate Nash, Palma Violets, Josh Ritter, Ed Harcourt, David Bowie, John Grant, How To Destroy Angels, Atoms For Peace, Daughter, Stornaway, Low, Billy Bragg, Suede, Sound City - Real To Real, Peace, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Depeche Mode.

1. Opposites by Biffy Clyro 
2. Push The Sky Away by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3. Waiting For Something To Happen by Veronica Falls
4. The Beast In Its Tracks by Josh Ritter 
5. Welcome Oblivion by How To Destroy Angels
6. Les Revenants Soundtrack by Mogwai
7. Let It All In by I Am Kloot
8. Spectre At The Feast by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
9. People, Hell & Angels by Jimi Hendrix
10. Fade by Yo La Tengo
11. Wolf's Law by The Joy Formidable
12. Tales From Terra Firma by Stornoway
13. Electric by Richard Thompson 
14. AMOK by Atoms For Peace
15. Wonderful, Glorious by Eels
16. Heartthrob by Tegan And Sara
17. A Long Way To Fall by Ulrich Schnauss 
18. Pale Green Ghosts by John Grant
19. All The Little Lights by Passenger
20. Tooth & Nail by Billy Bragg
21. Sound City - Real To Real by Sound City - Real To Real
22. The Messenger by Johnny Marr
23. If You Leave by Daughter
24. Pollen by Wave Machines
25. Back Into The Woods by Ed Harcourt
26. Clash The Truth by Beach Fossils
27. Country Sleep by Night Beds 
28. The Next Day by David Bowie
29. Rules By Passion, Destroyed By Lust by Asphodells
30. Blood Oaths Of The New Blues by Wooden Wand
31. Centralia by Mountains
32. In Love by Peace
33. Ores & Minerals by Mazes
34. Pedestrian Verse by Frightened Rabbit 
35. The Invisible Way By Low
36. Lysandre by Christopher Owens
37. California X by California X
38. 180 by Palma Violets
39. News From Nowhere by Darkstar
40. Almanac by Widowspeak 
41. Bloodsports by Suede
42. Graffiti On The Train by Stereophonics
43. Wash The Sins Not Only The Face by Esben And The Witch
44. The Moths Are Real by Serafina Steer
45. {Awayland} by Villagers
46. Out Of Touch In The Wild by Dutch Uncles
47. Lost Sirens by New Order
48. Girl Talk by Kate Nash
49. Beta Love by Ra Ra Riot
50. Early Rocking by Paul Simon
51. Collections by Delphic

The Gaslight Anthem/Japandroids - Bristol Academy (22 March 2013) gig report

So it was on a cold, rainy March day that we travelled halfway across the country to the O2 Bristol Academy to see The Gaslight Anthem supported by Japandroids. We endured First Great Western, Ibis and the vibrant, hectic, cosmopolitan streets to reach our venue, host for a second night to the New Jersey heartland rock band. Truth be told, I was more interested in the Vancouverite duo in support than the headliners. Having listened to the albums, American Slang more than others, and been taken in by their new release Handwritten, The Gaslight Anthem have remained 'take-it-or-leave-it' for me. But sometimes it takes a live gig to win you over.

Before I could think about it too much, Japandroids walked on stage, in front of a wall of amplifiers. How would the Canadian prog-punks deliver a set to get the crowd ready for the main event? Awesomely, that's how. In what seemed like a fifteen minute blur of guitars, drums and distorted vocals, just the two of them with no tour support or gimmicks, they blazed through most of Celebration Rock as if their lives depended on it. They made The Black Keys look and sound like The Carpenters. The small venue shook and shuddered as The Nights Of Wine And Roses, Evil's Sway and the magnificent Adrenaline Nightshift threatened to blow the roof off the place. The crowd quickly became a mix of delight and bemusement right up to the last dregs of For The Love Of Ivy.

The crowd swelled, the balconies and walkways filled and the band most people were here to see, arrived. The Gaslight Anthem walked on stage to the sound of Jump by Van Halen and immediately launched into High Lonesome followed by the brilliant Handwritten. The set comprised mostly the latest album and The '59 Sound, with the rest forming the best of American Slang. Such was the quality there was no room for the wonderful Mae, Meet Me By The River's Edge and Miles Davis & The Cool. And it wasn't as if lead singer and guitarist Brian Fallon stopped to talk to the crowd - he thanked everyone for coming, asked if anyone had been to the previous night's gig (a mighty roar suggested that most had), and told everyone that it was 'the same band, different set'. He also introduced the Dylan cover Changing Of The Guards and explained that it was from the new Amnesty International compilation. And that was about it. He is a man of few words. This fitted the workmanlike attitude of the band who simply got on with the music as the fans swayed, punched the air and in part pushed each other around in one of many impromptu moshes - it all seemed harmless, if spirited, enough. My favourite track from Handwritten, Too Much Blood, was a welcome surprise and the excellent "45" proved to be my highlight, and the encore closed with a mighty rendition of The Backseat. But above all, the band re-introduced me to the power and depth of their impressive catalogue.

I went to the gig wanting to be a fan and left feeling like one. I didn't get it before but now I do. I don't remember the last time I witnessed a band generate that much emotion and passion from a crowd and I was instantly taken by the energy they injected into the live performance.

A great night.

The Set list was (I think):

• High Lonesome
• Handwritten
• We Came To Dance
• The Diamond Church Street Choir
• "45"
• The Patient Ferris Wheel
• Desire
• Film Noir
• Changing Of The Guards (Bob Dylan cover)
• The Navesink Banks
• Casanova, Baby!
• Biloxi Parish
• Mulholland Drive
• Orphans
• Too Much Blood
• Great Expectations
• Keepsake

Encore:

• She Loves You
• Here Comes My Man
• Old Haunts
• The Queen Of Lower Chelsea
• The '59 Sound
• The Backseat 

-- CS

Peter Kay and 'James' - Sit Down for Comic Relief 2013

Music Chart - February 2013

After a lacklustre start to the year, February has been a good month for new music and a busy time at Underwurld Towers. The best of the month is Biffy Clyro, Eels, Delphic, Veronica Falls, Night Beds, Richard Thompson, Frightened Rabbit, Ra Ra Riot, Tegan And Sara, Darkstar, The Asphodells, Passenger, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Wave Machines, Beach Fossils, Mazes, Ulrich Schnauss, Mogwai and Johnny Marr.

1. Opposites by Biffy Clyro 
2. Push The Sky Away by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3. Waiting For Something To Happen by Veronica Falls
4. Les Revenants Soundtrack by Mogwai
5. Let It All In by I Am Kloot
6. Fade by Yo La Tengo
7. Wolf's Law by The Joy Formidable
8. Electric by Richard Thompson
9. Wonderful, Glorious by Eels
10. Heartthrob by Tegan And Sara
11. A Long Way To Fall by Ulrich Schnauss
12. All The Little Lights by Passenger
13. The Messenger by Johnny Marr
14. Pollen by Wave Machines
15. Clash The Truth by Beach Fossils
16. Country Sleep by Night Beds 
17. Rules By Passion, Destroyed By Lust by Asphodells
18. Blood Oaths Of The New Blues by Wooden Wand
19. Centralia by Mountains
20. Ores & Minerals by Mazes
21. Pedestrian Verse by Frightened Rabbit
22. Lysandre by Christopher Owens
23. California X by California X
24. News From Nowhere by Darkstar
25. Almanac by Widowspeak
26. Wash The Sins Not Only The Face by Esben And The Witch
27. The Moths Are Real by Serafina Steer
28. {Awayland} by Villagers
29. Out Of Touch In The Wild by Dutch Uncles
30. Lost Sirens by New Order
31. Beta Love by Ra Ra Riot
32. Early Rocking by Paul Simon
33. Collections by Delphic

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away (Album Review 2013)

In 2009, Mick Harvey left Nick Cave as the last remaining founding member of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. It ended a 25 year career. Their last album together: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! was one of their more inconsistent, ending the band's run of form that started in 1994 with the introduction of Warren Ellis (then a guest member) on Let Love In followed by the glorious Murder Ballads. This marked a transition, not only physically but musically, from upstart punks 'Kicking Against The Pricks' to master song-crafters, troubadours and poets - with The Boatman's Call and Cave's tour-de-force No More Shall We Part, still his most beautiful and proficient song writing, they matured and evolved. And in 2004, the double album Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus yielded some of the best songs the band has produced. Push The Sky Away is Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' first album in five years. Distracted by evil-twin side-project Grinderman, and the lure of soundtracks to expand their musical repertoire, Cave, Ellis and drummer Tom Wydler - now the stylistic core of the Bad Seeds - are back to their main, important, focus.

From the outset, Push The Sky Away is truly mesmerising. The combination of Cave's deep, resonating, evocative vocals and the oddly compelling, often hypnotic sounds of bass, drums, guitars, big strings, then tiny hushed rhythms, create an album of songs that absorb rather than enthral. It is dark, with edges of light and shade and, while not as minimalist as The Boatman's Call, certainly echoes its feel and mantra. This conception is augmented by some earth-shattering moments - all building to the mighty opus of Jubilee Street. From stark, lazy guitar-led narrative to mournful strings, through a subtle change of pace - Cave matching this startling effect with the line 'The problem was, she had a little black book; and my name was written on every page...' as the story unfolds, moving from third to first person as the music builds to a glorious guitar/violin crescendo. Leading to this moment, Wide Lovely Eyes and Water's Edge set the cold, desolate tone. The former, a listless, wavering love song - keyboards gliding over cut-glass percussion with Cave almost speaking the lyrics, while the latter unfolds like a horror movie, driven by Martyn Casey's bass and Cave's evocative delivery.

At times Push The Sky Away sounds like the songs are fragments of much bigger ideas, yet the unstructured, loose approach is incredibly effective - the listener is dipping in and out of a collective, wandering consciousness. An exception to this rule is structured opener We No Who U R - instantly recognisable with Cave's breathy vocals against the Ellis flute, and delicate backing vocals. This is haunting, creepy and sympathetic in equal measures. In contrast, one of the album's more serene moments, proving that Cave can still deftly amuse, confuse and delight at every turn, Mermaids is a joyous love song. 'I do driver alertness course, I do husband alertness course, I do mermaid alertness course...' is one of the most bizarre, yet perfect, lines he has written. After the magnificently understated We Real Cool and the stupefying Finishing Jubilee Street, Push The Sky Away ends with the near eight-minute Higgs Boson Blues; Cave becoming more bewildered and frenetic - part mad scientist, part sceptic - as the song progresses. Musically, the mood is matched by the rising guitars and lazy percussion. The title track brings the album to a close in majestic style - a late highlight of contrasting vocals, drifting music and thoughtful tone.

In 2013 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have made an album which sounds unlike anything else. Push The Sky Away is unique in its mood and its execution. It is as if the band made a conventional record of complete structured pop songs, the vocal arrangements and guitar/piano marrying predictably, and then replaced the soundtrack with murmuring heartbeats and subtle, yet mesmerising loops - to create an oddly oppressive feel and texture. Push The Sky Away isn't an album that is pitched for commercial success, nor is it solely for fans and purists; it hits the middle ground perfectly as something different, yet familiar, compelling and relevant. At last it sounds like the chaotic and disjointed Grinderman project has proved to be the necessary catharsis for Cave and The Seeds to polish the jagged edges and make way for this uniquely beautiful, dark and captivating genius.

-- CS

Veronica Falls - Waiting For Something To Happen (Album Review 2013)

Sometimes the difficult second album really isn't that difficult. London's Veronica Falls seem to have followed their promising eponymous 2011 début with such effortless precision that Waiting For Something To Happen sounds like a classic mid-80s indie guitar album. Far from the smouldering wet ashes of punk and the impending pomp and arrogance of Britpop, this quartet of lead vocalist Roxanne Clifford, guitarist/vocalist James Hoare, bassist Marion Herbain and drummer/vocalist Patrick Doyle are reminding us of a world of shimmering guitar hooks, delicious three-part harmonies and sparkling, vibrant pop songs.

Waiting For Something To Happen kicks off in style with the wonderful Tell Me, the pure combination of velvety vocals and looping guitars, accelerating out of the first minute on a wave of pounding drums. The stark, awkward, Gothic rhythms of the band's début are gone, now replaced with a shining energy and clear confidence. Recent single Teenage is just as arresting, a tale of discovery and love, memories of 'driving home' and letting your better half 'listen to the music they like', followed by the excellent Broken Toy - the best pop song on the album and some of the best lines. 'If you don't care, you'll never care; if you don't care now, you'll never know how' leads to a punchy, yet downbeat, chorus and a quick guitar break before the next. This is slick, uncluttered song writing.

The highlight of the album is the glorious trilogy of the title track - another perfect blend of guitars and vocals all brought together with the deft percussion, the darker feel of If You Still Want Me - with Clifford and Hoare providing their best vocal arrangement over the thundering guitars, and My Heart Beats - another excellent vocal and chorus. In the second half of Waiting For Something To Happen, Everybody's Changing and the brilliant Falling Out, with its verse-hook-chorus structure, dropping then rising, continue the charm. These quickly make way for the final duo of the beautiful Daniel, a three-vocal ballad set to a rippling guitar track, and closer Last Conversation, a slow-building epic (at nearly four minutes, the longest song on the album) of spellbinding vocals wound into another gorgeous arrangement.

It's not every day that a band make an album that captures the body and soul of a band as perfectly as Veronica Falls' Waiting For Something To Happen. Clifford and Hoare blend effortlessly with guitars and vocals to create new instruments and textures, while the production is light and adds a brightness to the songs. This is the sound of a band proving they are much bigger, and better, than the sum of their parts; a proficient and skilful machine of old souls and new minds.

-- CS