Sundara Karma - "Kill Me" (2020)

 

Sundara Karma's second album last year was a nice development from their debut, incorporating more of their arty and glam tendencies to their indie rock and pop sound. Admittedly I have only really come back to the best tracks from that album in isolation, not really the whole record, but it showed promise that the might go onto something even better next. This EP has kind of come out of nowhere at the end of this year, and unfortunately it really isn't that.

The first track and single is the title track, which sounds a bit like early Killers singles, with loud whining guitars and an angsty and theatrical vocals from Oscar Pollock. However the track is ridiculously loud and overblown, with a really weak melody that isn't catchy at all. Lyrically I think it's going for something similar to The 1975's Love It If We Made It, trying to bombard you with how overwhelming life is and then offer a cathartic release in the chorus. However, the writing, performance and production is so flat and underwhelming that the track has no real effect or impact.

Kill Me is probably the most impactful track here, with the four other tracks suffering the same problems: weak writing, forgettable melodies and annoying production. The band do experiment with trap beats on O Stranger and autotune vocal effects on Artifice and I wish they hadn't, because they just don't work at all. There are touches of interesting instrumentation here and there, such as the woodwind on Lifelines, but they're completely suffocated by the compressed production that they don't add much at all to the tracks.

On the whole this EP feels completely throwaway. It's bland and forgettable, but so short and inoffensive that I find it hard to even care. There's nothing to unpack beyond that.

3/10

David Bowie - "Hunky Dory" (1971)

 

Heading backwards in time through David Bowie's discography now, Hunky Dory is the album previous to his breakthrough classic The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars, and was brought into the mainstream consciousness by the success of that album. I find it so strange that it didn't break through on its release, because it features some of Bowie's most anthemic, feel good singles that are now considered some of his most iconic tracks.

The album opens on such a run, with the first four tracks being brilliant. The album opens with Changes, which is such an anthemic and sing-a-long tune with sweeping strings that sound like a film score. The stuttering way Bowie sings the chorus is just so charismatic and fun. This leads into Oh! You Pretty Things which is much more of a bouncy, stomping glam rock jam, which is just as fun and theatrical. Eight Line Poem slows the pace down into something more bluesy and sorrowful, which is exactly what is needed to lead into the dramatic, emotional masterpiece that is Life on Mars?. Everyone has heard this song, it's one of Bowies most famous, and it has such a cathartic release to it that makes it obvious why. The intense swells of strings, the powerful storytelling about escaping in cinema, and Bowie's soaring, impassioned vocals work so perfectly.

However, after this point I feel like the record is nowhere as consistent and a bit lightweight in places. I think this is a bit of a controversial opinions as it's generally considered one of the best Bowie records by most fans. None of the songs are noticeably poor quality, but it feels like Bowie is still finding his footing as an artist, with the songs feeling generally lacking in the grand conceptual themes and experimental musical elements that Bowie delves head first in from Ziggy Stardust onwards. There is also an obvious sense of Bowie trying to imitate his idols on this record. There are tracks titled Song for Bob Dylan and Andy Warhol, and Queen Bitch is just straight up Lou Reed worship. These tracks lean far to much on trying to sound like the artists in question, rather than being their own thing. Some of the other tracks deeper into the record just sort of breeze by without much impact on me. They're sweet and cute little ditties, but just lack that weight and importance that the first four tracks (and Bowie's future records) do.

There are a couple of real hidden gems in the record though. Quicksand is a slow stripped back ballad which builds in intensity through each chorus, sounding very bare and emotive; as does the closer The Belway Brothers. This track is mainly just an acoustic guitar and Bowie's vocals, but the guitar tone and Bowie's performance turn it into something sounding much larger and dramatic. The hints of reverby trumpets that crop up here and there make it seem so spooky and somewhat sinister.

Hunky Dory has some absolute classics on it, but the record as a whole feels breezy and easy on the ears. It's not a record I feel I can sink into and explore like some of Bowie's later works (yes I will get to them - Spoiler: Station To Station is particularly phenomenal), and the reliance on tributing his idols mean's it doesn't really have a strong identity compared to what would come immediately after.

Top Tracks: Changes, Oh! You Pretty Things, Eight Line Poem, Life on Mars?, Quicksand, The Belway Brothers

7/10

Pink Floyd - "Wish You Were Here" (1975)

My only real gripe with Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon (well not really a gripe, more of a personal preference) was it's generally more separated and impersonal approach to the lyrics and themes. This is one of the biggest draws of it's follow-up, that it is famously very personal and emotional (at least in part). A big part of the record is essentially an incredibly potent and emotional ode to former frontman Syd Barret and his mental decline following his overuse of LSD. Syd even made and unannounced visit the band while they were recording the album, which was the first time the band had seen him in years, and the last they would see him again. The band played him a mix of Shine On You Crazy Diamond, and he was unable to make the connection between the song and himself. It's such a heart-breaking story and only adds to the potency of the recording and atmosphere of the record.

Shine On is a 25 minute, 9 part journey which is split into 2 tracks which bookend the album. It slowly builds up in atmosphere through part one until it releases the first instance of the iconic, harrowing 4 note guitar motif (dubbed Syd's theme). It is something so simple, yet so unbelievably stark and isolating. The song becomes warmer, and more of celebration of Syd from part 3 onwards; with lusher, more rich instrumentation and many, many solos. Aside from part 2 - parts 4, 5 and 7 are the real highlights of this opus. The title track also deals in the same themes of nostalgia and loss, and once again is clearly is about and directed to Syd. The track is most likely the band's most popular, and it's not hard to see why. It's so straightforward and direct, it's not a prog song at all. The twangy acoustic guitar combine with some really affective lyrics to create something that is equally relatable, deeply moving, and anthemically sing-along. The line "Did you exchange a walk on role in the war / For a lead role in a cage?" is one that hits for me in particular.

The other two tracks, feel like more of a continuation of the socio-political themes of Dark Side, but with more of a slant towards the music industry in particular. This gives a real split in the record, half being deeply personal, half being more broader and thematic. These tracks also come across more bitter than those on Dark Side (particularly Welcome to the Machine), which creates a more sour atmosphere which doesn't mix well with the very human and sensitive feelings of the SOYCD and WYWH. It might reflect Roger Walter's increasing control over the group's direction at this point in time (especially since Welcome to the Machine sounds very much like what I have heard from the Wall - which is Walter's baby). Not that these tracks are anywhere close to bad; I do genuinely really like Have a Cigar for its bouncy groove and sneering representation of clueless record execs following the money. They just don't mesh well with the other two tracks, and they just feel a bit indulgent compared to the songs that tackled these themes in The Dark Side of the Moon.

Indulgence is really what sets this record back compared to TDSOTM in my eyes. As much as the best parts of Shine On You Crazy Diamond are phenomenal, the song is 25 minutes long and does end on it's weakest point. Part 7 leaves the song in such a weightless and ethereal place that parts 8 and 9 feel completely unnecessary. That being said, the other 20 minutes of Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Wish You Were Here are some of the most beautifully moving (and Best) music I have ever heard.

Top Tracks: Shine On You Crazy Diamond (parts 1-5), Have a Cigar, Wish You Were Here, Shine On You Crazy Diamond (parts 6-9)

8/10

IDLES - "Ultra Mono"

Let's get on the IDLES hype train. I've been aware of IDLES for a couple of years, due to the critical acclaim their second record received, but didn't actually ever listen to them until Ultra Mono came out last month. So as a newcomer to the band, Ultra Mono has really impressed me as a really intense, ferocious punk album with thick, gritty instrumentation that incorporates ambitious post-punk and noise rock elements; and angry, politically disenfranchised sloganeering from frontman Joe Talbot.

The basis of every track here is the loud, pummelling drums and gnarled and grizzly bass riffs that just propel each song along with so much energy and aggression. Layered on top is the relentless lead guitars and Talbots sung / shouted vocals that sound somewhere between jaded sarcasm and complete fury. Despite the sheer intensity and volume of these songs, they're actually constructed in quite a delicate way to accentuate the bouncy grooves or the more post-punky elements such as the electronic and industrial parts of  the tracks Grounds and Reigns. Anxiety slowly gains tempo and becomes more chaotic and noisy as the track progresses, reflecting the themes within the song. The lyrics of the album are as equally relentless as the instrumentation, raging over one socio-political grievance after another. The aforementioned Anxiety addresses the complete lack of control over ones life someone can feel in current society and how it can feel overwhelming to simply exist sometimes. Reigns and Carcinogenic slam down on class inequality and War is aggressively anti-war. Joe essentially declares war on war with the opening line, "THIS MEANS WAR".

Some of the tracks take themselves slightly less seriously, and are probably the most straightforward punk on the album. However they don't feel as consistently impactful as the more aggressive and serious songs. Model Village is excellent, and something I can relate to well, growing up in a village filled with stuck up gammons like the ones described in the song. The surf-rock guitar solo is also a load of fun too. Mr. Motivator and Ne Touche Pas Moi aren't quite as impactful though. Mr. Motivator takes the piss out of the idea that you have to always be motivated and productive, and is a fun song, but lacks depth of some of the other tracks on the album. Ne Touche Pas Moi is a track about toxic masculinity and how women are often treated in public from the perspective of a women. You can tell from the performances that the band are leaning into the irony that they're a bunch of middle-class white guys singing the song from the perspective of a marginalised person, and Jenny Beth from Savages does provide backing vocals; but something about the song that just feels a little off. It's like the message of the song feels slightly forced, compared to some of the other statements on the record.

The only real slowdown on the record is the penultimate song, A Hymn. This track is a moody and atmospheric post-punk slow burn, which builds in intensity as Talbot repeatedly sings "I wanna be loved, everybody does". It's about as personal and emotional as the record goes, and does a great job functioning as a bridge between the political rage of the other tracks and genuine human emotion outside of that bubble. This leads into the loud and thunderous closer, Danke, which returns to the choppy and raw post-hardcore instrumentation, but sticks with the emotional themes of A Hymn, with Joe declaring "True love will find you in the end". Its a hopeful way to end a record that's for the most part very angry and discontent.

Ultra Mono is a brutal 40 minutes of ferocious but carefully constructed rage, and I think its great. I've heard that the record hasn't been met with quite the same level of praise that the band's first two albums were, so I'm really intrigued about how good those albums must be if Ultra Mono is considered a bit weaker.

Top Tracks: Grounds, Anxiety, Model Village, Carcinogenic, Reigns, The Lover, A Hymn

8/10

Nothing But Thieves - "Moral Panic" (2020)

Nothing But Thieves is the kind of mainstream alt-rock band you don't see much these days, harkening back to bands of the late 90s / early 2000s like (pre-Kid A) Radiohead, Muse, Foo Fighters and Queens Of The Stone Age. The heavy, crunching guitars; angsty and anthemic lyrics; and Connor Mason's impressive falsetto is not something you really see all that much anymore. They were really on a roll as well: from the promising debut, to the much more ambitious and consistent Broken Machine and then 2018's even better What Did You Think When You Made Me This Way? EP. The signs were pointing to the band going on to making something truly great for their 3rd record, but unfortunately it hasn't really worked out for me.

The album really flits between two distinct lanes: either really run of the mill pop-rock ballads, or very hit and miss songs that incorporate elements of electronics, dance and a little bit of industrial styles. You can here both the strong influence of drive-time radio rock and the recent strain of super edgy electro-pop (think Billie Eylish and more recent Bring Me The Horizon stuff). It makes the album feel quite derivative without good enough writing to make up for it. The opener Unperson demonstrates how the band don't really know how to incorporate these new influences together. It's a super messy tune that starts sounding something more like Nine Inch Nails before going back to the bands more standard alt-rock style before turning into something more dancy as the electronics manipulate Conner's vocals as he sings "I feel like a clone of a clone of a clone of a clone of a clone (ect)". The track is about not having an individual identity in the modern age, but isn't really profound at all and just comes across so overly edgy. The band has delved into political and societal themes before, but Moral Panic completely revolves around them. Unfortunately much of the record, like Unperson, doesn't really hit the mark and just comes across as edginess with little substance.

At least some of the failed sonic experiments on here are interesting, which can't be said from the majority of the radio-ready power ballads. They are particularly generic and predictable; following done to death chord progressions and emotional swells. Genuinely the only two ballads that I can remember anything about straight after a listen is the singles Real Love Song and Impossible, and Real Love Song in particular feels pretty underwritten despite its catchy call and response guitar line. Free If We Want It and There Was A Sun sound like the toothless drivel that Snow Patrol have put out since Eyes Open and Before We Drift Away is such a one note and obvious closer with no twists or reasons to care about it. This Feels Like The End is the most shameless rip off on the record, not only of the band's own song Amsterdam, but also of Rudimental and John Newman's Feel The Love. Weird mix, I know; but the band some how manages to completely rip off both those songs at the same time

Despite the lack of overall consistency, there is a handful of good to great songs on here. Impossible is gentler than the other ballads on the record and has some unique vocal melodies from Connor that make it sound unique amongst the predictability of the other slow tracks. The lead single, Is Everybody Going Crazy? is classic NBT with massive guitars and a soaring anthemic hook. Phobia is obviously influenced by Billie Eylish with its creepy and claustrophobic first half, before descending into a heavy guitar led back end where Conner works himself up into a frenzy and breaks his usually flawless falsetto to sound darker and more deranged. Finally, Can You Afford To Be An Individual? is by far the best track on the album and one of the best songs the band have written to date. This relentless behemoth is the most lyrically dense on the record, as the band channel their inner Rage Against The Machine; rattling out political sloganeering nonstop for the song's four minute length. Conner literally sounds like he's tiring himself out by the end of the track, that's how intense the track is. The riffs are heavy as the band has ever been, leading to a massive breakdown in the middle of the track. It's the progression from the last album the rest of the tracks here should've been.

Despite the fair share of generic pop rock nothingness on here, the record isn't that bad. Conner Mason's gorgeous vocals save all of the songs on here from being truly uninteresting and the album is really well (if a little cleanly) produced; and when the band are in gear, they're still producing good songs. I've saved the tracks I like, and I probably won't come back to the full thing again. Hopefully they'll get back to the upward trajectory they were on with their next project.

Top Tracks: Is Everyone Going Crazy?, Phobia, Impossible, Can You Afford To Be An Individual?

5/10

Gorillaz - "Song Machine, Season 1 - Strange Timez" (2020)

Gorillaz were one of my first musical loves, with the singles from Demon Days and their respective videos imprinted in my brain from my childhood. And as I've grown up I've only grown to love them more, as I started to understand how creative and daring the project is, with the format allowing Damon Albarn to not be confined by genre boundaries and conventions. That being said, the cartoon band's post hiatus work so far has been rather mixed, lacking (for the most part) the colour and life that permeated the group's first 3 albums. Song Machine fixes that by effectively being a series of standalone singles (and videos), completely disconnected from each other - allowing each track to be entirely its own thing. This makes each song on the record feel as colourful and unique as possible, without Albarn having to worry about the overall theme or atmosphere of the entire record. Plus some of these tracks are phenomenal.

The opening track, Strange Timez, launches us into the record with eerie, sporadic keys and The Cure's Robert Smith twisting and eccentric vocal hook, before 2D's dreamy and dejected vocals lamenting the state of the world take over for the verses. The track slowly unravels into an alt-dance groove. The track is spooky and dark, yet colourful and catchy - just like the best Gorillaz tracks. Much of the record follows in the title track's footsteps, being the best Gorillaz tracks of the revival and some up there with the classics. The following track, The Valley of The Pagans, featuring Beck, is a fun new wave romp about internet / celeb hedonism. It's super slick, groovey and colourful. Beck sells the persona of a super arrogant celebrity so well on the song. Pac-Man is funky with really video-gamey synth tones, and features a fantastic multipart verse from Schoolboy Q to close out the track. The closing track of the standard edition, Momentary Bliss, is a homage to British ska and punk, but with the trademark cartoony synths that Gorillaz are know for. Both the punk due Slaves and the rapper Slowthai also kill it on this track.

The tracks Aries and Desole are the pinnacle of the record and by far my two favourite songs of the year. Aries features drumming from UK artist Georgia and basswork from (formally) New Order's Peter Hook. The song is pure New Order worship, but the track is amazing. It is such a good New Order song that it's better than a lot of what New Order have put out, and their 80s track record is pretty great. Peter Hook's bass, 2D's dreamy and wistful vocals, and the thin ethereal synth lines; it's all there. Desole fetures elements of African Wassoulou music, with Fatoumata Diawara's beautiful lead vocals and the  dreamy Afrobeat groove. It's emotional and intense, yet restrained and full of longing.

Even the weaker tracks on the record are still fairly decent, and have elements to them I really like. The Pink Phantom has grown on me a lot since it was released as a single. It's a completely over the top and melodramatic piano balled featuring Elton John hamming it up on the vocals. On initial listens, the inclusion of the monotone, autotuned rapping from 6lack completely bewildered me; but now while I don't think it adds to the track, I don't really think it detracts from it either. Friday 13th has this really nice dreamy synth pop meets dub instrumental, although Octavian's feature is easily the least charismatic on the record and I really wish someone more colourful provided the vocals. The Lost Chord and Chalk Tablet Towers have some really good atmosphere to them (both being quite R&B infused tunes), but just lack an extra element to make them stand up against the best of the record.

I've also got to mention the Dulux Edition tracks, because they're all generally good or great. Particularly the 7 minute dance banger, Opium. The track infuses alt-dance with acid jazz and Latin music and just keeps going trough these manic, chaotic phases. Simplicity is a much more strip backed chill Latin song, and MLS is colourful and fun with really charismatic rapping from JPEGMAFIA. The closing track, How Far?, is also really good, being this sinister and carnival sounding song featuring drumming from the late Tony Allen and an angry and bitter vocal performance from Skepta.

Strange Timez is such a great return to form for Gorillaz, and while it doesn't quite reach the consistent brilliance of Demon Days and Plastic Beach due to its lack of consistent theme and atmosphere, it is undeniable that the change in format has resulted in a such a more creative and quality release than the likes of Humanz and The Now Now. It's one of  my favourite records this year.

Top Tracks: Strange Timez, The Valley of The Pagans, Pac-Man, Aries, Desole, Momentary Bliss, Opium, Simplicity, How Far?

8/10

Fontaines D.C. - "A Hero's Death" (2020)

I was turned onto Fontaines D.C. by my dad just before the release of this record, saying they sounded somewhere between Joy Division and Arctic Monkeys. And their debut very much fit that description, a moody but breakneck selection of straight to the point post-punk songs. A Hero's Death, on the other hand, delves deeper into the slower, darker and more intense side of post-punk. Keeping with the Joy Division comparisons, its very much more Closer than Unknown Pleasures. The songs are slower and more drawn out, being slow burns that let you sink into the atmospheric bass grooves and Grian Chatten's repetitive, mantra-esque lyrics.

Lyrically, the album starts sad and stays there for its 46 minute runtime. Focusing on the complete social and political disenfranchisement that can lead to the feelings of depression and emptiness. These tracks are so desolate and defeated that even the repeated mantras that Chatten sings sound almost half hearted like he doesn't even really believe them. "Love is the main thing" he repeatedly sings on the second track, but it doesn't sound like he feels any love, it sounds like him clinging to the idea of love to give life some meaning and purpose. It's bleak stuff.

The album also hits the post-punk sweet spot musically, opening with the foggy and slow duo of I Don't Belong and Love Is The Main Thing. The gnarled but restrained rhythm sections sound near enough gothic, interlocking with the twangy but low in the mix lead guitar. These tracks sound like a wet and cold November evening. Especially Love Is The Main Thing with its vibrato effected guitar and references to rain in the lyrics. Televised Mind picks up the tempo for the first time in the record, as everything becomes heavier and the vocal delivery more twisted and cynical. The pummelling bass sounds like some rage filled late night drive, with a whining lead guitar solo just to add to the intensity. A Lucid Dream sounds exactly like its title suggests, a delusional nightmare that's completely disorienting. The back half just descends into noisy madness.

The only time the record tries to dig itself out of the depths is on the title track, a song built around a slightly less bitter and sad guitar line and "ooh ooh" backing vocals, where Chatten repeats the mantra of "Life ain't always empty" over, and lists off ways to make yourself feel happier and more fulfilled in life. It's the kind of track that could come of cringy and overly sentimental, but the band pull it off very well. I Was Not Born is also more uptempo, but its more of an angry anti-capitalist anthem than a 'things can get better' song. The Closer, No, is also a real gem. It's a slow, drawn out ballad that's tinged with hope, but ultimately gets bogged back down in despair, which is a perfect representation of the album as a whole, and the view of life it's trying to present. It is darkly bittersweet.

A Hero's Death is a really solid post-punk record. It just does everything a record like this should to a T. Some might feel that this makes it an inferior imitation of the classics, but for me it just hits the right buttons just like they do. It's another record to add to the list of what to listen to when I'm in the mood for depressing post-punk.

Top Tracks: I Don't Belong, Love Is The Main Thing, Televised Mind, A Lucid Dream, A Hero's Death, No

8/10

Everything Everything - "RE-ANIMATOR" (2020)

 

Everything Everything have grown to be one of my favourite bands of the 2010s. Their maximalist and progressive approach to making pop and rock music has consistently produced wholly enjoyable albums, with 2015's basically flawless Get To Heaven being being the crowning jewel in their discography. The accompaniment of Jonathon Higgs' socio-political lyrics taken to their logical extremes, and super eccentric instrumentation and hooks make the band so ear grabbing to me. However, the band has taken a slight change of course with their 5th record that does make it stand out on it's own in their collection.

The band has made a deliberate attempt to shift their lyrical focus away from politics and society, towards the more abstract ideas surrounding the human condition: the development of consciousness, ideas of supernatural fear, enemies, desire, and tribalism. The opening lyric is "I did what anybody would that day, No speechless gibbon in the road, Not me" and sets up the tone of the record perfectly. To accompany the more cerebral themes, the instrumentation has been toned down. These tracks are far less over the top and manic, and feel simpler and more stark. I understand that it will be a turn off to some fans, as singing along to some batshit lyrics to a super fun poppy groove is a big part of the band's appeal; and even the singles from the record aren't particularly catchy in that way. But for me, the more minimalist approach is a nice change of pace that allows the more conceptual themes room to breathe and sink in.

The opener, Lost Powers, sounds like the grand awakening the opening lyric suggests. The simple chiming guitar and drums slowly give way to more elaborate instrumentation. It sounds like some kind of daybreak as the world slowly becomes more illuminated. Big Climb tackles the uncontrollable desire for excess that seems to drive so many people, backed by a more aggressive glitchy beat and harsher more staccato vocals from Higgs. It Was A Monstering and Moonlight are about as straight up Radiohead-worship as the band has ever been (and the last record, A Fever Dream, had some very Radiohead-y moments), and the first of those is actually a pretty good attempt. The krautrock-ian, rigid drums and dark, hollow guitar tones would fit in perfectly on Amnesiac. Higgs even does a really good Thom Yorke impersonation. The descending guitar lines and sinister hook melody are really good. I especially like the switched up bridge of the track. It's a really well constructed song, even if it's influences are obvious. Moonlight, on the other hand calls back to some of the more serene Radiohead ballads such as Nude. Its not bad, but doesn't quite come together into something particularly distinct for me.

The middle of the record is where it goes on its biggest run, starting with the single Arch Enemy. This track is about as close as the record comes to the band's big pop singles of the past, with its squelchy synth-funk groove and bizarre lyrics comparing an enemy to a fatberg that attaches itself to you. It is the wackiest and most fun song on the album. Lord of the Trapdoor focuses around the ideas of tribalism and 'otherness', built around a really simple and stripped back beat and stark, chiming guitar which just descends into a ferocious, heavily distorted guitar solo that tears up the back half of the song as the track falls into madness. The beat on the following song, Black Hyena, is this super snappy and prangy loop that sounds like something you'd find on a Massive Attack album which gives the song a unique flavour within the EE discography. The lyrics are really sinister, seemingly alluding to personality changes following perhaps brain damage, or maybe just a traumatic event in general - they're pretty abstract.

However, RE-ANIMATOR is certainly the least consistent record since the group's debut. Early on in the record, the single Planets is the first sign of trouble. The track is perfectly listenable, but feels like a one trick pony with its long, slow-burn verses that slowly build up through the chorus towards a spiralling post-chorus synth line. It's the only thing the track has up it's sleeve and it gets old fast. Towards the end of the album, the songs In Birdsong and The Actor also have some crippling flaws that ruin the entire tracks for me. In Birdsong is a linear, building ballad that sounds ethereal and profound; and the track at the core of it is fairly good. But as the track builds in intensity and volume, the entire mix becomes more and more tinny and compressed. It's obviously an intentional artistic choice, but it sounds really unbearable. Likewise, on The Actor, the group go so completely overboard on the reversed vocal effects that it's incredibly distracting and kills any enjoyment I might've got from an already not that impressive song.

The band do save the best cut on the record for last, being the blistering new wave throwback of Violent Sun. The pummelling drums, whining guitar leads, and overwhelming vocal delivery just commands you to feel something. It's really good, and really powerful with the simple message of  'it's okay to feel like you don't understand, or that the world is overwhelmingly confusing and scary'.

RE-ANIMATOR is a good album, if slightly underwhelming when compared to Arc, A Fever Dream, and especially Get To Heaven. I appreciate that the band took risks with their sound, and when the play out, they result in some really good songs. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, especially if you came to the band for their whacky, up-tempo singles. It's certainly an album which grew on me with time though, so don't just write it off on first listen.

Top Tracks: Lost Powers, It Was A Monstering, Arch Enemy, Lord Of The Trapdoor, Black Hyena, Violent Sun

7/10

Declan McKenna - "Zeros" (2020)

 

Declan McKenna burst onto the UK indie scene back in the mid 2010s after winning the 2015 Glastonbury's Emerging Talent competition at the age of just 16, releasing his debut record, What Do You Think Of The Car? a couple of years later in 2017. That record was a perfectly fine, if run of the mill, indie rock album tinged with some existential and political writing that showed some promise (the big single Brazil is genuinely a great indie rock song).

I only began to pay more attention to McKenna last year when he released the non-album single, British Bombs; a protest song about the war in Yemen that sounds straight out of The Clash's London Calling. It's a really great song. That song was followed up by the lead single for this album, Beautiful Faces. The song is the stomping mix of indie rock and glam with a souring otherworldly chorus. The noisy, rough guitar tones; thunderous drumming and whining synths create this raucous and alien atmosphere for Declan's existential vocals to glide over. It's a toss up between these two tracks as to which is the best song McKenna has written but it's one of them for sure.

The mash up of indie rock and glam on Beautiful Faces is carried throughout the whole of Zeros, in a generally entertaining, if messy and disjointed, way. The opener, You Better Believe!!!, starts as a jovial indie rock song with a breezy guitar melody before gaining more and more swagger as the track progresses. The existentialism seeps in as McKenna howls "We're gonna get ourselves killed!" on the bridge. It's such a feel good opener to the record and seems ready made for festival stages. Daniel, You're Still a Child has chunky, new wave groove to it that combines with the glam elements nicely. Declan uses the character of Daniel, who crops up on various points of the album, to voice the themes of teenage nihilism and existential dread; and how you've just got to enjoy yourself at a personal level, despite how terrible the world you're growing up into might seem.

The album is at its weakest when its at its most derivative.The tracks Be an Astronaut and The Key to Life on Earth are so obvious Bowie pastiches. They aren't bad songs but they feel like pale imitations of Bowie's sound and style. Be an Astronaut is a dramatic piano led song akin to the likes of Space Odyssey and Life On Mars, but is no where near as wondrous and whimsical as those classics, or as catchy. The Key to Life on Earth opens with these wobbly synths that sound exactly like the ones on Ashes to Ashes. It's distractingly similar, and the lyrics are also some of the weakest on the record. Declan plays up the teenage drama a bit too much, and is really trying to sell things like not liking school and teen fashion trends as deep, and it doesn't work for me really.

The back half of the record consists of messy but intriguing tracks, that introduce so many ideas and elements that they never quite settle into knowing what are. The track Emily for instance, starts as this twangy folk song, but from the second verse turns into a 'bleepy-bloopy' synth tune, before an admittedly killer guitar solo closes out the song. The song just doesn't know what it is. It is the most egregious example of this lack of cohesion, but it does permeate into other tracks on the second half. They all have good qualities to them (Rapture has super glam-y falsetto hook; and the simple, minimal verses of Sagittarius A* are a nice change of pace), but they don't quite come together into a particularly memorable whole. Twice Your Size is the only song from the second half that feels like a focused, complete experience, and it's one of the better tracks on the album. The very 70's synth tones and jangly guitar combine with McKenna's yelpy vocals to make something slightly psychedelic and woozy, climaxing to a wall of sound at the end of the song.

Zeros feels like the kind of transitional album for an artist still in development (hes only 21), but an ambitious and interesting one, even if it doesn't always hit the mark. McKenna's personality is also strong enough to carry the album when it's ideas don't quite land, meaning it never drags. It's solid but only touches upon something greater in a couple of places.

Top Tracks: You Better Believe!!!, Beautiful Faces, Daniel, You're Still A Child, Twice Your Size

6/10

Biffy Clyro - "A Celebration Of Endings" (2020)

Biffy Clyro have consistently put out decent records since their 2002 debut, even though they only really touched greatness with the consecutive releases of Puzzle and Only Revolutions in the late 2000s. A Celebration Of Endings very much follows in that path, being another really solid, enjoyable record of Biffy doing what Biffy do. It's completely what you would expect from a Biffy record, but it's still a great time regardless.

I was initially a little worried as two of the four teaser singles really didn't do anything for me at all. These two tracks, Instant History and Tiny Indoor Fireworks, felt like the band had succumbed to the most tired of pop rock tropes; which I didn't get as the band have done pop rock brilliantly in the past (tracks like Howl and Bubbles just to name a couple). Instant History comes straight out of that Imagine Dragons style of faux-epic, genreless nothing music and I have no idea why the band decided to try and make a song like this. It's not the worst that this type of music has to offer, but it's a really bland and simple song that has no depth at all. The guitars are mixed slightly higher on the album version which makes the track slightly better I guess. Tiny Indoor Fireworks sounds like 2000s power pop perfect for a trashy teen movie, and the tune at the core of it is pretty decent; but the track is plastered with these garish, annoying whoops and heys and it completely overwhelms any of the good elements of the track.

The other two teasers, on the other hand, are the best tracks on the record. Weird Leisure is classic Biffy, being a super heavy and off kilter but also super melodic and anthemic at the same time. The verses have this massive syncopation in the time signature which give the song a really ear-grabbing bounce to it. The song is about one of singer Simon Neil's friend's cocaine addiction, and has some really scathing yet honest lyrics in it. "You focus on others and just pick apart their dreams / It's fucking mean" is one of the most brutal. Yet the song comes full circle, detailing that this guy recovered and elaborating that Simon (or anyone else) could easily fall into the same trap. End Of is straight up, simple post-hardcore thrashing and it is so cathartic and relentless - it's great. The track details the fractured relationship between the band and someone they used to work with, and just doesn't hold back lyrically or sonically.

The opening and closing tracks are also high points on the record. North Of No South, the opener, gives a uniquely Scottish perspective on the UK leaving the EU. "You had a choice and you chose to believe it" Simon anthemically howls over loud triumphant guitars and soaring backing vocals. Cop Syrup is the heaviest and least 'pop' song here. Simon literally screams "fuck everybody, wooo!" over and over, on top of super heavy instrumentation. But in the middle of the track there is an extended orchestral section that sounds really great. The song closes out the record at its most massive and epic. The Pink Limit is also a pretty good track on the record. It has a manic energy to it as the band just go wild. The drumming on the track is thunderous, and the guitars are hectic and sporadic.

The other tracks on the record aren't that bad in comparison to the best moments, but generally follow the Biffy formula to varying results. The Champ has a kitchen sink mentality which means it never really settles. It starts as a dramatic piano and strings type song, before shifting into a more standard pop rock sound from the second verse. Then there's an emo-ish downtuned bridge that comes completely out of nowhere and then its back to the pop rock for the climax of the song. Its very all over the place. Opaque tackles the theme of betrayal by a close friend much like End Of, although in the form of a slow acoustic song. It's a very genuine and sincere song, but sounds exactly like slow acoustic songs in the band's back catalogue. If you've heard Machines, you've heard this. Worst Type Of Best Possible sounds straight out of Puzzle, although doesn't quite stack up to the songs on that album in terms of quality. It's a fine song, but one we've heard Biffy do better before. The last track to mention is Space, which is the most run of the mill alt-rock, string laden, power ballad. It's inoffensive but completely uninteresting to me.

A Celebration Of Endings is another solid album from Biffy. It's not their strongest offering, but the fact that no other band really sounds like them means it's still really enjoyable to me. Aside from a couple of hiccups, it's just Biffy doing what Biffy do, and it still works.

Top Tracks: North Of No South, Weird Leisure, End Of, The Pinkest Limit, Cop Syrup

7/10

The Killers - "Imploding The Mirage" (2020)

The Killers were one of my favourite bands as a teenager, and although it's only their first two records that are truly great, every record they've brought out since then has been at least decent, since the band have settled into their style of heartland rock meets new wave and do it pretty well. I know what I'm getting with a Killers record, and I know I'll enjoy it in the moment, even if it doesn't stick with me over time.

That being said, I enjoyed the group's last release, 2017's Wonderful Wonderful, slightly more than Day & Age and Battle Born due to the sense of subtlety and insecurity it had (perhaps due to tensions within the band preventing them from recording a record for 5 years). Killers records are usually bombastically optimistic and earnest, but WW had a real vulnerability and unease to it. Imploding The Mirage is the exact opposite. This is easily the most bombastic and stadium sized record the band has released so far, and it is kind of it's undoing. Almost every track here turns it up to 11, as if every song is trying to be the album's climax, which ultimately is to the detriment of the songs here, as most of them are pretty good.

Lead single, Caution, is the best of the bunch. A typical Killers lead single, sounding absolutely massive with a rip roaring, anthemic chorus, wailing guitars and synths and a kick ass guitar solo courtesy of Fleetwood Mac's Lindsay Buckingham. "I'm throwing caution..." Brandon Flowers wails in the Springsteen-esque chorus and it captures that sense of catharsis and sheer overwhelming emotion that all the best Killers songs do. The thing is, it is the 4th track on the record, with the two similarly Springsteen inspired and massive singles My Own Souls Warning and Dying Breed before it. When I heard them for the first time in isolation, despite them being pretty good songs, they felt like just not quite as good versions of Caution. On the record however, because they come first, by the time I get to Caution I enjoy it less, as I have already been bombarded by these tracks without any respite in a more subtle moment. As a track, My Own Souls Warning has grown on me quite a lot. It's the kind of opener that really pumps you up with soaring melodic synths and jangly guitars, and Flower's slightly wobbly vocal inflections on the song give it a really endearing nature. It's a real feel good song. Dying Breed is built on drum samples from krautrock legends Can and NEU!, which give the song a unique sound in the first half, but are overwhelmed by the more standard Killers instrumentation as soon as the live drums kick in and you can barely hear that original rhythm. The track does have one of the best choruses on the record though, so it's an odd mixed bag of a track.

The album only really comes close to having a subtle moment to regain itself in two places, in the tracks Blowback and Fire In Bone. I really like the gentler instrumentation on Blowback, but the hook is one of the weakest on the record and it really kills my enjoyment of the song. Brandon really sang "She's breathing in the blowback" and expects it to be a singalong chorus?... Fire In Bone, on the other hand, I really like. It's a funky, Talking Head's inspired track that stays reserved and lets you enjoy it's groove and quirky lyrics. It does climax towards the end of the song, but unlike most the tracks here it doesn't explode into the first chorus, setting it apart from the others.

A couple of the later deep cuts, Running Towards A Place and My God, also impressed me quite a bit. Running Towards A Place channels a very pop-era Fleetwood Mac energy with a silky smooth bass-line that's a lot less pummelling and intense than the ones on the singles, but still builds up the layers as the track progresses to a big climax that feels very earned. All the little guitar and synth licks are placed just in the right moments to give the track a lot of character. My God has a really catchy chorus that embedded itself into my brain on first listen. Flowers and guest Weyes Blood sing it in this kind of blocky flow that puts emphasis on every other word in each line. It's pretty memorable. The drums on this track are thunderous, just pummelling along with the melody. Weyes take the lead on the bridge where the track shifts to a Madonna sounding synth pop sound, and while it sounds completely different to the rest of the song, it works.

With every track trying to be the most epic on the album, some do lose out. Lightning Fields is quite forgettable, being super reverby with a long meandering chorus that doesn't really have much of a hook to it, yet Brandon is still singing is heart out trying to make it sound important. When The Dreams Run Dry is the only serious dip in quality on the record, as it has this kitchen sink mentality which makes it feel like one of those tacky novelty 80s new wave songs that would smash other genres into the typical synth pop format just for the sake of it. The track has kind of a reggae beat and tropical synths, and Flowers even does a stereotypical 'reggae' vocals for the second verse. The chorus is also so blown out and too loud, and the whole tropical angle is dropped in the second half, which means the track doesn't really end up anywhere interesting, it just sounds a bit cheesy and tacky.

Imploding The Mirage is the kind of record that is pretty decent, but could've been a lot better if the band didn't insist on turning it up to 11 on every single song. It really needs a couple more genuinely reserved songs for it to feel like a complete album. That being said, if most of these songs came up on shuffle, I wouldn't skip them; which shows that the album's issues aren't to do with the writing, more the structure. It is a bit disappointing, since Wonderful Wonderful seemed like the band was on the right track, although this album is still isn't the group's weakest (Battle Born has it beat for that). Yeah it's Killers album, so if you know what to expect from the band, you'll get at least something from it.

Top Tracks: My Own Souls Warning, Dying Breed, Caution, Fire In Bone, Running Towards A Place, My God

6/10

Glass Animals - "Dreamland" (2020)

Glass Animals first two albums were pretty different, but equally great records that mixed up a lot of different sounds and styles including art pop, psychedelia, R&B and indietronica. However since the release of How To Be A Human Being in 2016, the band's drummer Joe Seaward was involved in a serious cycling accident and suffered brain damage, causing the band to go on hiatus while he recovered. Thankfully he has made a full recovery, and the whole experience left frontman Dave Bayley wanting to create a more personal album for their next release, as opposed to the eccentric character studies of HTBAHB.

This shift in lyrical content has also been accompanied by a shift in sound as well. The R&B elements of their sound take the centre stage here, with the psychedelic and art pop tendencies nowhere to be found. These R&B influences have been augmented with more than a handful of trap beats and a general washed-out, hazy dream pop atmosphere. I understand that this an attempt to match the dreamy nostalgia of the lyrical content, and that the more eccentric elements of the band's sound in the past would not have fit. However the album doesn't really sound dreamy, it sounds flat and sedated. This is part due to how slickly produced it is, but mostly due to the generic and predictable songwriting on both fronts - lyrically and musically.

Nearly every beat and groove on this record feels like I've heard it before in some generic pop tune on the radio in the past two or three years. It's the same thing with the hooks, melodies and chord progressions. It's almost as if the band was aiming for that market of boring, meaningless, 'vibey' pop songs that leave no impact and say nothing. The title track opens up the record with the most generic of Ibiza styled piano riff's before Bayley comes in with the most repetitive of vocal melodies, all filtered through so much reverb and echo it just sounds like slush. That's literally all the song does for three and a half minutes. The following track, Tangerine, sounds like Bayley heard Childish Gambino's Feels Like Summer, tried to make it, and ended up making something that sounds enough like it for it to be noticeable, but with a melody and groove so repetitive it fails miserably at recreating that euphoric summery vibe. It's All So Incredibly Loud is a linear track that is supposed to build and build throughout until the climax at the end of the song. However, the chord progression and synth crescendo at the of the song sound like any summer club track you'd here over the past 4 or 5 years; even if the percussion rhythm at the base of the track is decent.

Lyrically the album just doesn't work either. It's supposed to be about Bayley's experiences growing up - so it's a coming of age story. But it isn't; it's just a bunch of references to things from the late 90s / early 2000s (Space Ghost Coast To Coast is basically just a list of early 00s video games), and generic 'vibey' party songs about partying and sex and booze. There's no story here, no arc. Bayley is telling us nothing about himself, and filling in the gaps with his usual references to fruit and other random things. This fractured, whacky lyrical style worked on HTBAHB when he was turning it up to 11 and creating these incredibly eccentric character studies. On Dreamland, it seems like he doesn't want to turn himself into a caricature like this, but toning down the eccentricity just makes obvious Bayley's lyrical shortcomings.

While the majority of the record, while incredibly dull and boring, is inoffensively bland; there are a handful of real stinkers in here. Tokyo Drifting features Bayley's absolutely terrible attempt at trap rapping, and his vocals are filtered with so many effects that it genuinely sounds horrible. Luckily he hands the reigns over to Denzel Curry half way through, and Denzel being an incredibly talented rapper almost saves the track (but not quite). Melon And The Coconut personifies a fracturing relationship as these two fruit talking to each other, and it as stupid as it sounds. Bayley's vocals are filtered through the worst auto-tune imaginable, and there's a bluesy guitar part in the track that feels like its been put through the same awful effects. Waterfalls Coming Out Your Mouth obsession with sex really rubs the wrong way, I think due to it trying so hard to come across dirty and edgy while still attempting to be random and quirky. There's a lyric about gummy bears in this track, and gummy bears are not sexy, and trying to make them sound it comes across really weird and creepy. The track is also awfully mixed. Every part of the song is either too loud or too quiet at various points, but the dynamic is constantly shifting and it sounds terrible.

There are a couple of tracks that do feel fairly decent, although they would easily be some of the weakest tracks if they appeared on the group's first two records. Hot Sugar is built on the same jazzy sample as Loyle Carner's You Don't Know from last year, and it gives the song more of a sense of genuine coolness and actual life to it, and the vocal melody isn't too bad either. However if I think about the track too much, all I can think of is that if I like the song because of the sample and You Don't Know uses the sample better, why aren't I listing to that instead? Your Love (Deja Vu) is easily the best track here. The beat and bass groove on the track give it the greatest sense of urgency and momentum of any of the songs, and Bayley's vocals sound sensual and impactful. And the melody is actually catchy and not repetitive.

This record is one of those ones that feels so much longer than it is, by virtue of it being so repetitive and boring. I could not tell any of tracks from the last leg of the record apart from each other, because they all sound the same, and all sound so weak and unmemorable. Furthermore, there are enough stinkers on here for me to not ever want to come back to it. I find it so perplexing that the band threw out everything that made their first two records really interesting and fun, and replaced it with a sound that is already done to death, that they aren't even doing to a degree of any quality. This is not a good album and I'm really disappointed by it.

Top Track: Your Love (Deja Vu)

3/10

Pink Floyd - "Dark Side of the Moon" (1973)

So last summer I started listening to Pink Floyd's discography properly, however I ended up only listening to the band's first two albums, and only ended up writing about the first. However a documentary I watched on concept records which featured The Dark Side of the Moon pretty prominently, and its (obvious) inclusion on my '100 Albums to listen to' poster has spurred me on into listening to the groups 8th studio record, regardless of my original intentions of listening along chronologically. I'm glad I did, because Dark Side is a fantastic album, and it is so obvious why it was such a game changing album when it released, and the influence it has had on some of my favourite artists and records is blatant.

Compared to the band's earlier releases, Dark Side is so much more accessible, musically and lyrically. None of the tracks here take the weird left field turns that the first few records do, and all follow the consistent theme of modern human life - from birth to death, and all the trials and tribulations people face along the way. Every track on the record transitions smoothly into the next song, aside from The Great Gig in the Sky and Money, being at the end of side 1 and the beginning of side 2 on the original vinyl format of the record. This lends the record an incredible flow, particularly in the first half, where the entire side feels like one long, multi-part song.

Part of why the first half of the record flows so well is that it follows a clear linear narrative. The intro, Speak to Me, is essentially the moment of birth; which leads into Breathe (in the Air), with lyrics that read like a parent setting up their child for adulthood. On the Run is a tense instrumental piece which reflects the frantic nature of adult life, before Time slows the album back down with lyrics dealing with all the dull, mind-numbing tasks you have to do to exist in society as an adult that you can't run away from. The half climaxes with soul inspired The Great Gig in the Sky, which represents death and ascending to some sort of afterlife.

Breathe is the first proper song on the record, and it sounds beyond phenomenal. The woozy, psychedelic guitar tones on the track sound so dreamlike and enveloping. The same sound and atmosphere runs through Radiohead's OK Computer, and listening to Dark Side, I can see how it Directly influenced Radiohead when making that album. Time opens with a disorienting barrage of sampled clocks ticking, chiming and alarms before settling into the same hazy atmosphere as Breathe (there's even a reprise of Breathe at the end of the track). The track slowly builds towards the introduction of vocals which build up the momentum in the song. David Gilmour sings "Ticking away the moments that make up the dull day" as the opening line and it sums up the mood of the songs perfectly; the unavoidable banality that soaks up all of your time for your whole life. The Great Gig in the Sky features no lyrics, just the emotional, soulful wails from singer Clare Torry. The track feels triumphant and ethereal, which is quite a positive spin for a track literally about dying.

The second half of the record follows less of a linear narrative, with subject matters that are more broad and grand than the experiences of just one person. Money opens the side with the iconic sounds of cash registers cashing and clicking. These layer up and morph into a mechanical drum beat as Rodger Water's bluesy bass riff combines and drives the song along. It's easily the most direct song on the record, with Gilmour's vocals howling about how money and greed drives all of society's ills. The guitar solo towards the end of the song just roars and wails. Us and Them, by contrast, is so dreamlike and foggy. A jazzy saxophone and echo-y vocal effects make you feel like you're walking around in the clouds. The nearly 8 minute song is also lyrically quite foggy and more abstract. The track revolves around the ideas of conflict and division, at the scales of interpersonal relationships, society, and at the global scale of wars between nations.

The last three tracks are a lot shorter, and flow together like a medley. Any Colour You Like is another instrumental, and features the return of the woozy guitars from Breathe and Time and represents the illusion of choice in society (the title is a reference to the Ford Model T, which only came in black to aid in mass production). Brain Damage, inspired by former member Syd Barett's drug abuse and resulting mental health issues, is about how the stresses and strains of life can be too much for some people and cause them to loose their minds. The track has a different atmosphere than the rest of the album, feeling more fairytale like reflecting the separation from reality that Syd and so many others appeared to feel. Eclipse is quite an anthemic closer, with very simple lyrics repeating "All that you... see/touch/feel/ect". It brings together all of the topics of the past 9 tracks under the final statement that 'this is life'. All of the good, all of the bad; and you can't avoid any of it.

Musically, this album is phenomenal, and sounds just as enveloping and rich as any album today. It doesn't sound like it has aged one bit. However, lyrically the record goes for a generalist approach which I find slightly stops me being completely absorbed by it. None of the tracks feel particularly personal, being sung in the second person and talking about very universal experiences. Take Brain Damage for example; the track is inspired by Syd Barett's declining mental state, but it's not about it specifically, it's about losing your mind just generally. This isn't a criticism really, just more personal preference.

The Dark Side of the Moon is a fantastic album still to this day, and it is blatant how game-changing it was when it was first released. It's so much more accessible than the band's earlier work, yet remains so inventive and incredibly well written and performed. It is such a complete experience back to front, and at only 43 mins it is really replay-able for how grandiose it is.

Top Tracks: Breathe (In the Air), On the Run, Time, The Great Gig in the Sky, Money, Any Colour You Like, Brain Damage, Eclipse

9/10

David Bowie - "Aladdin Sane" (1973)

Aladdin Sane sits in a slightly weird position in David Bowie's discography, as somewhat of a sequel to his break-out The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, but also kind of not. The titular character was originally pitched by Bowie as someone different to Ziggy, but is a lot less defined, and Bowie continued to tour as Ziggy for the live shows of this era, which has led this record to be viewed as somewhat of an extension of Ziggy (or Ziggy goes to America, in the words of Bowie himself).

Despite not having a linear narrative (or mentioning Ziggy once), Ziggy goes to America is exactly what this album is about. Ziggy Stardust was an album about the best a rockstar could be, literally saving the world through 'peace, love and rock'n'roll'. Aladdin Sane is about the worst: the sex, the drugs, the vanity. It was written on the American leg of the Ziggy Stardust tour, about what Bowie experienced there, and references many American places. The music is also jacked up to have a hard rock edge, inspired by the likes of The Rolling Stones; partly to appeal more to an American audience, partly to reflect the darker and more dangerous lyrical content of the record.

This is evidently demonstrated in the record's lead single (and one of Bowie's most famous tunes), The Jean Genie. This swaggering, cock-rock riff provides backing to the description of the person/creature/thing that the Jean Genie is. Bowie's tongue slithers around the lyrics, describing the Genie's appetite for razors and that he steals dead hair to make underwear. There's something so off-putting about this character, yet combined with the ear-wormy riff makes it so irresistible and captivating. Cracked Actor, similarly, has really overt and graphic references to cocaine, sex and prostitutes; with Bowie singing in this narcissistic snarl over roaring guitars. The track has some really tragic undertones as well with lines such as "show me you're real" and "please stay, please stay". It's as if the character Bowie is playing (or Bowie himself, it's hard to tell) has lost all feeling, and is sustaining themselves on the small amounts of dopamine that the drugs and sex give them.

Not everything on the record has the loud, swaggering rock aesthetic. There are a few slower, piano led tunes which are among the most reserved and artiest on the album. The title track introduces the character of Aladdin Sane to represent the glamour and high society of the rockstar lifestyle: the fancy hotels, the all-night parties, the adoring fans. The twinkly piano notes and gentle guitars make the track feel equally glamourous, but the song slowly descends into this hypnotic madness, climaxing in an avant-garde jazz piano solo performed by Mike Garson. It cleverly conveys the idea that this kind of egotistical lifestyle will send someone insane. The track Time personifies the concept of time as the ultimate nemesis to the rockstar-gods Bowie is describing on the record. They may think they're invincible, but time will always take everything away in the end. They will grow old and lose their sex appeal, the drugs will degrade their physical and mental health, the fans will move on to someone new. The stomping piano chords give the song a very pantomime villain vibe, alongside Bowie's overly dramatic and expressive vocals. The closer, Lady Grinning Soul, is the last of these piano tracks, and has similar moody, dramatic atmosphere to the title track. Bowie croons over the twinkly piano notes and acoustic guitar, and the way his voice builds up in intensity towards the end gives off a very bond-theme vibe to close out the album.

Unfortunately, not everything on the album works as well as these tracks. The opener, Watch That Man, is very inspired by The Rolling Stones. This track, alongside a cover of Let's Spend the Night Together, almost feels like Bowie is trying to outdo the Stones at what they do best and it just feels a bit over the top. Drive-In Saturday is inspired by 50s doo-wop, but glammed up a bit. The song has a much more whimsical nature than the rest of the record, telling the story of a post nuclear world where people have forgotten how to make love and have to relearn by watching old romantic films. While I enjoy the lyrical content of the song, the style it is paying homage to is just not something I'm all that fussed about. The Prettiest Star is also in this kind of style, but lacks Drive-In Saturday's engaging story, and so is easily the least interesting track here.

These tracks are no where near bad, they just don't quite work for me the same way the rest of the album does. I also think the album's legacy being so closely tied to The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars does it no favours, as they are very different beasts when you get to know them. Aladdin Sane is dramatic and experimental, where Ziggy is whimsical and comforting. But on it's own merits, Aladdin Sane is a wonderful, if slightly inconsistent album.

Top Tracks: Aladdin Sane, Panic In Detroit, Cracked Actor, Time, The Jean Genie, Lady Grinning Soul

8/10

black midi - "Schlagenheim" (2019)

I've been intending to talk about black midi's debut record, Schlagenheim, since last year. However, it's the kind of record that I have to be in a very specific mood for, as it is a very loud, erratic and abrasive album. When I am in the right mood for it, I have a really enjoyable time - but that isn't all that often. Schlagenheim mixes hypnotic math rock grooves with post-hardcore and noise rock instrumentation so loud and abrasive it feels like your ears are about explode; alongside experimental song structures with multiple passages and a positively deranged vocal delivery from frontman Geordie Greep.

The first thing which greets you in the opening track, 953, is a super noisy thrashing on all the instruments before the song settles into a very minimal and restrained section with the first bit of vocals on the album. Greep sounds like some sort of weird, twisted preacher talking about condemnation and sins. The loud thrashing then return momentarily before the second verse follows the first in a more restrained style. The track closes out with an even more manic instrumental section featuring erratic piano notes. The following track, Speedway, couldn't be more different. It features this really tight math rock groove that sounds really clean and hypnotic, with vocals from bassist Cameron Picton rambling about houses and building codes. It makes the track sound sort of Talking Heads-y to an extent.

This erratic nature is carried throughout the entire album, with the short, linear, pummelling nature of Reggae and Near DT, MI followed by the 8-minute multi-section Western. The gentle parts of this song are definitely the most serene the album gets, and the louder sections sound oddly triumphant. I think this is due to Greep's extremely eccentric delivery combined with the electronic swells in the background. The back half of the track gains some grit as the groove speeds up and up, before blindsiding you with a sudden switch back to the gentle first part of the song.

I do find that the album does get a bit much in the second half, with Greep's vocals becoming consistently more deranged and possessed, and the harsh, distorted loudness more persistent. The vocals on bmbmbm (yes that is the title of the track...) are something that has really stuck with me because of how insane (and frankly pretty offputting) they are. Greep repeats the line "she moves with a purpose" over and over like some sort of lunatic stalker over an incredibly tense and harsh repeated bassline. The screams and laughs at the back of the mix only add to the insanity of the track.

The closer, Ducter, is one of the most restrained and sane tracks on the album, and its one of my favourites. The track is built off this chiming, repeated guitar pattern and a rising and falling bass. Greep's vocals are a step down from the relentless insanity and are pretty intelligible. The track slowly builds up to its climax, with each element introduced one at a time; with the track never being overcome by the noise. Greep sing's "You will not break me" with the same sort of eccentric triumphance as he does on Western.

This album is certainly not for everyone, and I have to be in the right mood to enjoy it. But there is a sense of virtuosity and daringness to just how unique it is that I really respect. However I think it is just too standoff-ish and challenging for me to ever really love. To be honest, a lot of my appreciation for individual tracks on the record has been through them coming up on shuffle, where I can move onto something else afterwards so the relentless noise doesn't drain me.

Top Tracks: 953, Speedway, Reggae, Western, Ducter

7/10

Coldplay - "Parachutes" (2000)

Coldplay's debut record, Parachutes, turns 20 today (well the day I started writing this), and is an album dear to my heart despite the general consensus that it is fairly derivative of the likes of Radiohead and U2 and not even the most 'definitive' Coldplay record. There's just something I find so entrancing by the tone and atmosphere of the record, and the songwriting on here is top notch even if it is entirely straightforward and conventional.

Parachutes is one of those records that seems to work in almost any context for me. It's moody and emotional, yet its also joyous and hopeful. Its gentle and deep, but also light and summery. It works equally well on long summer evening as a cold, damp winter night. I can put it on to relax to, be uplifted by, or contemplate with. Each of the ten tracks have a darkness to them, yet they all are spun in such a way that there's always a point of hope in them. It's so incredibly cathartic and versatile. I also find the straightforwardness of the record one of its biggest strengths, maintaining this moody yet warm acoustic rock throughout with only a slight ebb and flow of more energetic electric moments. It is also a trim 41 minutes with absolutely no filler.

The record opens with the incredibly moody and existential Don't Panic. The track is just over 2 minutes and features pretty apocalyptic lyrics which I have always took to be about climate change, but like the majority of Chris Martin's lyrics (especially in the early days of Coldplay) they are general but emotive enough that they don't have to be. It gives Don't Panic, and the rest of the songs on Parachutes, so much more strength than some of the other emotional soft rock bands from the 2000's. The track, also like a lot on here, spins itself on its head in the last verse; in this case Martin sings about how everybody has someone to lean on and we can make it through together.

Following this is Shiver, which is my favourite Coldplay song across their entire discography. The track starts off very reserved and gentle, before exploding into the first chorus. Martin's lyrics about an unrequited love are so apologetically earnest yet pure and wholesome. There's no tragic angst or self loathing like in something like Radiohead's Creep, and the way the electric guitar wails at the end alongside Martin's howls that he will wait for this person, and wait for them to notice him, just really hits the mark for me. It's just one of those songs.

It is also as about as heavy as the album gets, after this point settling back into the acoustic groove with the electric guitars only really used sparingly for texture more than melody. Spies is just as paranoid as Don't Panic, although it is a more drawn out song which allows you to fall into its eery nature. It also flips itself over and picks its self up towards the end. Sparks is such a gentle piano led track, where Martin refers to 'seeing sparks' as a real special connection with the person this song is written about. He addresses past mistakes that have hurt this person, and how he wants to make things better because of how special this connection is. I remember putting it on a few years ago, as it was snowing at night outside my window. It has that warm gentle atmosphere.

There are two other piano led songs on the record, Trouble, and the closer, Everything's Not Lost. Trouble is perhaps the most downtrodden song on the record, as it lacks the positive spin that the rest of the tracks have in their closing moments. The simple piano riff sets the darker tone as Martin alludes to being caught in traps and spider's webs that he can't get out of, and that he didn't mean to cause anyone else trouble. Apparently the song is just an apology to the rest of the band about his sometimes controlling nature in the studio, but it feels much darker and more serious than that. It anchors the album in a way, showing that sometimes you can't just say "things will get better" to every problem you face. Everything's Not Lost is the opposite, and sets the blueprint for the big optimistic climax moment in most future Coldplay albums. Unlike some of those future efforts it remains very sweet and genuine with the focus remaining on Martin's vocals and the uplifting piano notes. None of the overblown production and multi-tracked choral vocals that make something like Up&Up feel pretty tacky. There is a hidden song titled Life Is For Living at the end of Everything's Not Lost and it is a nice little ditty which feels like an appropriate coda for the track and the record as a whole.

In between Trouble and Everything's Not Lost, the record becomes its most mellow and malaise like. The Title track is 45 seconds of acoustic summery bliss, and High Speed feels like speeding along in a convertible on a hot summers day. The distant atmospheric swells of electric guitar gives the song a more driving pace, despite the song being one of the most carefree on the record. This is followed p by We Never Change, a super slow and reserved song where Martin details his desire for a simple life living with his friends, free of life's troubles, but acknowledges that some things will never change, and there will always be new challenges to face.

The only song I have yet to mention is the band's breakout, global smash single, Yellow. That's because you've definitely already heard it 1000 times. Yes it is overplayed, and yes if you think about the lyrics too much it starts to feel like nonsense. But you can really feel the emotion in Martin's voice and can't help but be moved by it, and it feels far more genuine and less calculated than some of the band's future emotional singalong anthems.

Parachutes is just one of those records for me. I acknowledge that it doesn't do anything all that interesting or unique from the grand objective view of the history of rock, and that the band's follow up, A Rush Of Blood To The Head, has a more unique identity. However every single moment on the album just works for me, I can enjoy every single second of it when I'm in a variety of moods.

Top Tracks: Don't Panic, Shiver, Spies, Sparks, Yellow, Trouble, Parachutes, High Speed, We Never Change, Everything's Not Lost

10/10

Massive Attack - "Heligoland" (2010)

7 years after their last studio album release, Massive Attack returned with their most recent LP, Heligoland (named after a German Island archipelago). The record also features the return of Grant Marshall to the group and a step away from the incredibly synthetic and electronic sounds of 100th Window, back towards the more organic soundscapes of the first three albums. It's a change I welcome, as I much prefer that side of the group's sound. However it is not just a rehash of their 90s era, with the group creating an entirely different atmosphere and soundscape. In the years since the group's peak, artists like Gorillaz and Radiohead have combined electronica with mainstream rock and pop in a more immediate way, and I can definitely here that influence within Heligoland. The synth tones are sharp and colourful, and really pop out of the mix; and the guitars have a real snarl to them in places, making this the rockiest of all the Massive Attack records. Gorillaz' Damon Albarn even features as a guest vocalist on one of the tracks.

The first half of the record gives off a very hot and desert-y atmosphere. While not sonically similar to stoner rock, it has a similar feel to it. It's tense, dirty and loud. The opening track, Pray For Rain, kicks things off with a very dry, rolling drum beat and moody piano keys as Tunde Adimpe's slow and somewhat prayer-like vocals chant about 'praying for rain'. This prayer is seemingly answered by a section with much more saturated 'plink-plonk' synths and ethereal backing vocals in the middle of the track before returning to the moodier drums and piano section to pray once more. This is followed by the glitchy and dancy Babel. The track has a real propulsion to it, and also has a real juxtaposition between Martina Topley-Bird's very smooth and gentle vocals against the harsh and industrial beat. The descending melody of the hook lodges itself into your brain.

Perhaps my favourite track on the record is Girl I love You, a massive sounding tune that leans into the bands dubby side and also a bit of dancehall. The track builds off this rumbling guitar line, with the tension rising until these fat, distorted horns blindside the song and the whole track just explodes in colour. It sounds like stumbling upon a secret carnival in the middle of the desert. Horace Andy kills in on the vocals, sounding so dramatic yet keeping his cool. Towards the end of the track the horns disintegrate into a frenzy, leaving the impression that this carnival of colour might just have been an illusion, a mirage. Following this, Martina returns for the hypnotic Psyche. The track is built off a super simple, super short acoustic guitar loop and the multi-tracked vocals add to the delirium.

However from this point onward the hot desert-y atmosphere starts to boil over into heatstroke. Everything becomes a bit dour, but not in a good way. Guy Garvey is a magnificent vocalist, but he was not the right fit for the incredibly ridged and skittery beat of Flat Of The Blade. He tries his best to sound rough and gritty, but it just doesn't work. Rush Minute is honestly pretty forgettable and Saturday Come Slow is probably the most dour the record gets. Damon Albarn's performance comes across bitter and sour, as opposed to the dreamy and wistful performances he tends to give on Gorillaz' work. I see why Paradise Circus is the most played track on Spotify, it's the only track that comes close to the elegance of the likes of Unfinished Sympathy and Teardrop. However for me, the repeated piano motif is so short and simple it starts to get a bit annoying. It becomes less of a problem towards the end of the track as the song becomes less reliant on it and some soothing strings pop into the mix, but at this point it feels a little to little, a little too late.

The record does bring back some of the intensity and colour for the closer, Atlas Air. This 8 minute tune grows out of a repeated drum loop and some spooky, psychedelic synthesisers. It's simple but groovy and enticing. The synths become darker and more distorted as the track progresses like it's swirling out of control. It's a shame the record looses all momentum before this point because it is a pretty strong closer.

Heligoland is a bit odd within Massive Attack's discography, because it's the only one that isn't consistent. It has some of the group's best songs, and also some of their weakest. However the highs of this record do make me feel like I'd throw it on more than I would 100th Window, and none of the lows are particularly bad, it's just a shame they all come in the second half. It makes the album seem quite lopsided.

Top Tracks: Pray For Rain, Babel, Girl I Love You, Psyche, Atlas Air

7/10

Run the Jewels - "RTJ4" (2020)

I've known of the hip-hop duo Run the Jewels (comprised of Atlanta rapper, Killer Mike, and New York rapper and Producer, El-P) for a while by their political activism and the critical acclaim that met their previous 3 self-titled records. This is my first time ever listening to them however, and wow I wish I dived in when I first was made aware of them. This record is 40 minutes of intense, charismatic, political hip hop; paired with equally colourful and powerful instrumentals. The record just pops, it commands your attention and will not lose it at all in the whole runtime.

The duo have always made political music, yet the context surrounding the release of RTJ4 brings so much significance to this record, and is why I gave it a listen myself. Following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers and the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests across the globe, and an emotional and powerful speech by Killer Mike himself, the duo decided to release the album two days early on the 3rd of June, and for free via a download on their website. This record feels like the soundtrack to the moment, like they have captured the zeitgeist, but still stands on it's own as an excellent release outside of the current context.

I think what's really special about this album is not just that the production and beats are imaginative and varied, and the lyrics and flows are technically impressive and strikingly poignant; it's the way they all wind together and interplay off each other. Beat switch-ups and visceral sonic moments are paired with every statement of intent or punchline Killer Mike or EL-P raps, with elements introduced into these songs just for one time to match up with the lyrics at that precise moment and then done away with in favour of something more appropriate for the next mic drop moment. Most of the tracks are fairly short (10 out of the 11 are under 4 mins), and they roll up one after another without a single moment of silence inbetween. It never lets you breathe, almost as if it's telling you to think about it after the record is finished, in it's entirety, not piecemeal track by track.

Despite the serious subject matter, the record is still a very fun listen. The album is very loosely framed by the opening and closing tracks as a sort of 'duo on the run from the cops' TV show, which gives the album a slight sense of separation from reality which aids in making some of the more humorous bars work. The first few tracks focus more as an introduction to Killer Mike and El-P themselves, while still referencing the broader themes of the record. yankee and the brave (ep. 4) opens the album with an introduction to these two characters who are on the run, before ooh la la follows it up with an incredibly catchy woozy piano sample and the earworm-y hook of "ooh la la, are we wee". The flows on this track ebb and flow just like instrumental. It's easily the most chilled out of the tracks, with throwback record scratches closing it out.

As the record moves on, it dives further into the political themes, and by the time goonies vs. E.T. closes out it is fully immersed. Killer Mike's final verse on this track sees him call out the preformative activism of 'woke twitter' and the counter-productiveness of internet tribalism. Following this is the hardest hitting and probably the best track on the album, walking in the snow. Mike and guest Gangsta Boo roll out bar after bar, calling out the treatment of children at the Mexico-US border, how cages aren't built for just one group, institutional racism and police brutality, and the public's general apathy to the injustices of the world. The lyrics "And you so numb you watch the cops choke out a man like me, Until my voice goes from a shriek to a whisper "I can't breathe"" feels like a gut punch considering how George Floyd was killed. This song was written back in November, and yet feels like it could've been last week. It's genuinely moving.

It's one of a few tracks which feature really heavy, grimy guitar samples. ground below samples post punk band Gang of Four, and pulling the pin features guitar work and ethereal, psychedelic backing vocals from Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme. The track also features vocals from Mavis Staples, which gives the track a real sense of weight and urgency. It feels like the internal gut-wrench of an individual who is finally standing up against the injustices facing them and others. The back half of the record really feels oppressive and smothering, as opposed to the bounciness and stomp of the first half. JU$T rages against the systematic oppression of minorities, America's prison-industrial complex, the political elite's links to child sex trafficking and the general public's perpetuation of these systems by their willingness to play along and 'be a slave to the system'. Rage Against The Machine's Zack de la Rocha roars "Look at all these slave masters posing on your dollar" in the most direct chorus on the record.

The final track, a few words for the firing squad (radiation), switches back to the yankee and the brave characters from the start of the record, about to be gunned down police, making their last stand. The track builds and builds until its final moments, where it all comes crashing down in a crescendo of dissonant strings and wailing saxophone before the hidden title theme plays letting you know it is all over (and supposed to be a TV show fantasy, but unfortunately is the reality we live in).

This record is relentless. It is relentlessly fun and listenable, yet relentlessly heavy and profound. This record is 2020, and also can be set apart from the context and still stand on its own. The first thing I did after finishing is pop on Run The Jewels 2 because I just wanted more of this. This record is absolutely fantastic.

Top Tracks: yankee and the brave (ep.4), ooh la la, out of sight, goonies vs. E.T., walking in the snow, JU$T, ground below, pulling the pin, a few words for the firing squad (radiation)

9/10