ALBUM: Jonsi & Alex - Riceboy Sleeps

There are many words that spring to mind around this side-project of Sigur Ros' lead singer Jonsi Birgisson: Ambient, Ethereal, other-wordly and erm... bindun?

While admittedly the compositions are more stripped back than the full band, they feature Sigur Ros' string section Amiina, the occasional choir, and a penchant for the epic. A return to Sigur Ros pre-Takk without any of their darkness. But the overall sound is pretty darn similar, complete with twisted pianos and rewinded reverb.

That being said, it still is an amazingly beautiful and intimate record, whose only real reference points being the aforementioned Sigur Ros, undisputed kings of their own "Slow-motion Rock" as well as the softer ends of "post-rock" veterans such as Explosions in the Sky or Godspeed You Black Emperor. But even Godspeed's quietest lolloping is much too busy being grand and epic to be compared to the sonic beauty on display here.

While songs by other artists seem to have been made longer in the name of being "EPIC", these songs, with many clocking in over 8 minutes, are long because that's exactly what they need. A record made by lovers, but not necessarily for them.

For those already fans of Sigur Ros, there's not huge amount of new ideas here, yet what is here is still extremely enjoyable. For those who aren't yet acquainted with those Icelandic masters, this is another example of how you are really missing out.

8/10

Riceboy Sleeps is out now in Europe on EMI/Parlophone.

ALBUM: Double Dagger - More

At first listen, Double Dagger's music is easy to place: Washington DC, 1992. But there is a depth to this garagey post-hardcore that goes beyond the first listen and the easy comparison to Fugazi. There's also a bit of Q and Not U in there, albeit with a bit more bass.

In fact, its all bass, but pleasingly the sound is ultimately filled by the distorted bassline or the contorted chanted vocals, coupled with the frantic drumming of a man possessed. They have more than a passing resemblance, probably through common influences, with our very own Dananananaykroyd.

Those common influences, apparently, besides The Dismemberment Plan, are clearly the discography of the world (in)famous Dischord Records, invoking the attitude of Fugazi beside the rhythm of Q and Not U.

While this album is not perfect, and other preferred bass/drum/vocal combinations are out there (See: Death From Above 1979), it is certainly somewhat of a hidden gem that fans of noise and American Indie in general should check out.

My personal favourite tracks are opener "No Allies" and the first track that I listened to "The Lies/The Truth".

7.5/10

More is out now on Thrill Jockey Records.

ALBUM: Magic Arm - Make Lists, Do Something

Magic Arm is the solo project of Manchester's Marc Rigelsford, who while big in Indie circles, has yet to hit the bigtime himself. He travels the musical world from early Blues to the Beta Band, sounding like all of them and none of them at the same time.

"Widths and Heights" opens like the themetune to the gameshow of the future, albeit a cheap future built in the 80s, but quickly comes back to ballady singer songwriter-ness. Sounds a bit like if Beck wasn't so crazy and I'm not sure that's a good thing. Its certainly lively, livelier than "disco-folk" like Whitest Boy Alive. "Bootsy Bootsy" certainly has the same feel to it, and the same drawbacks. Both the lyrics and melody are somewhat contrived and not particularly original, denying the true power that this music can have.

But thats not to say that the rest is as bad. Former single "Outdoor Games" is certainly more of a chilled acoustic number, luckily one thats way more Bon Iver than James Blunt. The mechanical drums also seem to touch upon Death Cab For Cutie and its side project The Postal Service, if they'd spent more time listening to Lemon Jelly and less time being all mopey in the middle of nowhere in the American Northwest.

"Move Out" is pure Hot Chip, whereas "Coach House" goes back to finger-picked acoustic nonsense, this time touching gloves with Scandi-poppers Kings Of Convenience whilst also serving as a relatively welcome musical interlude within the album itself.

The second half of the album, featuring an improved combination of lyrics and music, sees Marc finally find some form and emotion, on the tracks "Getting The Way" and "Slates On A Roof", both of which I feel would be much better in place of the actual album openers "Widths & Heights" and "Bootsy Bootsy", simply because they are miles better.

While the inclusion of covers on an album of original material is one that is hotly debated, there is ammunition for both sides with two of the tracks here. "Six Feet Cold In The Ground" is a track by highly influential, yet tragic Leroy Carr, who died at the age of 30 in 1935. Magic Arm have made the track a brand new entity which I'm sure pays an apt tribute to the original.

However, why the amazing (and recent) LCD Soundsystem track "Daft Punk Is Playing In My House" needs to be included I'll never truly know. Perhaps he wanted it on there. Perhaps the label wanted another track and he couldn't be bothered to write one. Perhaps friends and fans insisted that what is surely be a live favourite should be included? Unfortunately its lazy and barely pays lip service to the original, sounding like Bedouin Soundclash on a live lounge session trying to reference a band that were way cooler than they were. Whatever the reason, its inclusion on the album sticks out like a sore thumb.

"Sound Of The Night" is a complex album closer that references classic rock in a way only bands like this one and The Beta Band can, but the inclusion of a "hidden track" on a debut album on an independent label does seem to smack of self-importance, moreso than it would for a band on a larger label.

While Marc is clearly very talented, it is not entirely clear what he's set out to achieve with this album - it's merely the sum of its parts and apparently a collection of what has been done to date. Unfortunately this means that individual songs do not fit well together, and some not even so well on their own. However, this is indeed a good thing. For starters, it means that Magic Arm's second album will be all the better for it, with Marc having the experience from this album to learn from his mistakes. Hopefully the second album, which I eagerly await, will be released to a far greater audience than this one. I've certainly heard debuts that are a whole lot worse.

7/10

Make Lists, Do Something is out now on Switchflicker/Peace Frog Records.

ALBUM: British Sea Power - Man of Aran

After the flurry of interest surrounding BSP after their Mercury-nominated third album Do You Like Rock Music?, a veritable Arena-sized barnstormer, it seems odd that this release is so low-key and under-billed. But of course, this isn't your regular BSP album.

74 minutes in length, it is meant as a "re-imagined" soundtrack to 1934 documentary film Man of Aran that was performed live at the BFI accompanying the film. Despite containing some re-imagined favourites, this is about as Hollywood as these guys get.

So of course, like most soundtracks, devoid of visuals this is unfortunately pedestrian at best, and is a demonstration instead of their own seld-constructed scene of the cultured and the twee. To my mind, the only band to have been nominated for a Mercury Prize and have appeared on Countryfile. Twice.

So for those of these seeking their follow-up, this isn't it. This is a record for the fans, the completists and the curious.

6/10

Man of Aran is out now on Rough Trade.

ALBUM REVIEW: Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion

Their second album on a major (Domino), but their ninth full length overall, the prolific New York based Animal Collective have finally made their "pop album".

But why has this taken so long? Strawberry Jam was a culmination of their demented folk beginnings, their fascination with loop pedals and more musical equipment than most of the top 40, but still didn't quite deliver as much as you knew it could.

Merriweather Post Pavillion has definitely had the edges sanded down compared to its predecessor, and perhaps the band have been reined in slightly, but not enough so that you can't hear the band past the heavy handed A & R man, but just as a case in point, this is their first album to have no songs over the six minute mark, yet it still their longest album since their debut.

However, for the first three songs at the very least, it seems as if the album is one long composition on its own, a la Campfire Songs, an early album by the band recorded in one take back to back on a screen porch in Maryland.

If anything, MPP is the logical follow on, with more sophisticated beats and pads, lyrics that are intelligible and songs that aren't so long that you chew your own ears off*. But it leaves you constantly looking for where you've been shortchanged elsewhere. "Bluish", although not really a standout from the album, has all the correct ingredients, driving percussion, digital filters and a childish sense of wonder.

Even the cover, which unfortunately, is not as psychotic in reality as it is above, perfectly sums what you're going to be hearing. Amazingly infuriating, and infuriatingly amazing.

If anything, its a grower simply because you can't appreciate it in just one listen. Three or four listens in and I'm still not positive on which track I like best. Its a competition between "Summertime Clothes", "Also Frightened" and the awesome "Lion In A Coma".

Certainly a great start for 2009.

9/10


*(incidentally, for the final track on the Liars' album They Threw Us All In A Trench And Built A Monument On Top, "This Dust Makes That Mud", I did chew my own ears off. 30 minutes of looped noise was totally not worth it.)

ALBUM: Deerhunter - Microcastle

Okay, so this reviews a little late, but I'm a little late onto this one. I recently (i.e. a couple of months back) listen to Cryptograms and was stunned. It was brilliant.

Then, yesterday I read a review in my student paper about their latest effort Microcastle, clearly written by a new fan of theirs, literally gushing so much with praise it seemed hard to believe that the pages weren't sticking together.

So I decided to listen to the album myself and give it a quick review. So here it is.

Microcastle both starts where Cryptograms left off and completely destroying any memory of it. The opening duo "Cover Me (Slowly)" and "Agoraphobia" help kick start and set the scene of the album in the way every opening track should - by yanking the listener by the scruff of the neck and saying "this fucking album starts right here, listen to all of it right now or piss off".

"Little Kids" insteads takes the old lo-fi touches, with hint of Pavement and Guided By Voices, and constantly builds texture and layer before wandering off into nowhere, possibly never to be seen again. However everything here seems at once so monstrously delicate and intentional that it would take a lesser person to attribute any of this to laziness.

I can't help but be reminded of having to pore over poetry at school and focus on how the "poet's cunning use of a repeated vowel sound to convey their emotions" when it was clearly just dumb luck on their part. However, with this album I can start to see the point. Using somewhat cheesy guitar lines and effects on tracks like "Microcastle" juxtaposed with Bradford Cox's gentle and unconventional vocals is nothing short of genius.

If anything, the one genre which shines through here is clearly shoegaze. Microcastle is basically Loveless with the guitars turned down a bit. Cox's voice is an instrument itself, becoming part of the background and drawing you even further in.

In the words of the review I read, it really is an album to turn up loud an enshroud yourself in.

8.5/10

Microcastles is out now on 4AD records in the UK.

ALBUM: Feeder - Silent Cry

Let's be honest here, ever since their landmark album Echo Park, Feeder have become more and more of a guilty pleasure. It's not that they are particularly bad - not at all - their brand of post-grunge anthemic arena-pop-rock remains as infectious as ever, it just that they have never really broken a huge amount of new ground in front of their competitors, but then again, no one ever asked them too.

If nothing else, this album demonstrates how Feeder are the strawberry jam of the British music world. It can pretty much be put on anything within reason, be it on toast, porridge or the line-up of Download Festival. Some may prefer blueberry jam or marmite, but no one can really say they don't like strawberry jam. Strawberry Jam is also simple, sweet and one third japanese.

But before I over-stretch an already straining metaphor, Feeder's latest album, and their first full album of new material since their Singles album and re-issued B-Sides compilation Picture Of Perfect Youth, has all the hallmarks of what has come before. The anthemic lyrics, the less-than-subtle loud-chorus, quiet-verse formula that they have used in almost every song, and the general feeling that these tracks were made to be blasted out into an arena-sized auditorium full of teenagers.

Opening track "We Are People" starts out like Weezer before Nichols and a frankly epically-proportioned drumbeat drive the track on. "Itsumo" follows a similar formula, but with an intro more in tune to Coldplay's "Fix You". "Fires" is unashamed pop with its ballady yet driving intro and verse, countered with the somewhat inevitable guitar crescendoes for the chorus. "Heads Held High" is an acoustic number that would not have been out of place on Pushing The Senses.

For a while in the development of this album, there was rumoured to be a return to the old Feeder sound that many fans had been asking for, and this is present in a couple of cases, but the tongue-in-cheek joviality of Feeder's early albums Swim and Polythene is gone in favour of the "emotionally availiable" sound of their most recent albums. At the time of their last album, the band were roundly criticised for apparently being influenced by both the fashionable misery-mongers of early 00s bands such as Coldplay and Travis, as well as trying to satisfy the softer end of the emo-market.

However, throughout Silent Cry, it is difficult not to notice how much of a mark that the somewhat softer Pushing The Senses has made, and while it's unlikely for Feeder to be placed in the same sentence as pop-emoers 30 Seconds to Mars, it would not be a massive leap of imagination to link the two, insulting as that is to Feeder.

Rather ironically, even though the album resembles the poppier edge of their countrymen Lostprophets, it contains fewer hooks than any of their previous singles, despite what greatest hits single "Lost & Found" appeared to be alluding to, instead favouring power over precision, blasting every song to within the very inch of their lives. Basically - it all sounds a bit samey, but still good enough to put on your toast.

6/10

Silent Cry is out now in the UK on Echo records.

ALBUM: Born Ruffians - Red, Yellow & Blue

These genetically-generated scamps seem to have made themselves known to me through adverts, tv appearances and blog hype. Like any other band really. These guys, in particular featured in the american episode of Skins (the one where Cassie goes mental and fucks off to New York) and a mobile phone provider advert. Actually, there's nothing stopping me saying who it is, its Orange, and despite them not being my provider, the person who decides the soundtrack to the adverts has an awesome taste in music.

But I digress.

Having heard only "Hummingbird" and their take on Grizzly Bear's "Knife", my hopes were very high. I was expecting something that was both unashamedly poppy and energetic, yet with enough ragged fuzzy bass and strained guitar that I wouldn't feel too guilty about it.

I wasn't really expecting this.

Opener and title track "Red, Yellow and Blue" has the same afrobeat air of Vampire Weekend, yet lacking its pretension and soul-sucking precision. Lalonde's voice reminiscent of Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Josh Grier of Tapes n' Tapes, and eventually so does the rest of the band. Struggling for an original sound, only "Hummingbird" immediately stands out and is clearly and somewhat predictable the best track of the album.

The mood is often lethargic despite the upbeat tone and tempo, and the band all too often descend into Jack Penate style guitar wankery that takes away so much from the often delicate chaos of the subtle guitar and bass interplay.

What does happen when the band slow down for the second act, is that their somewhat timeless influence does shine through, showing a pleasant mix of the contemporary and the classic.

But, to be honest, its just all a bit samey. The same tricks are pulled out of the bag in every song and the singer's voice soon becomes wearing (again bearing similarity to Alec Ounsworth) on an album that is not nearly as fun as "Hummingbird" suggested. It's not a horrible listen, and is a bit of a grower, really, except that that's not what I wanted. Its horribly reminiscent of being told I'd have to clean my plate of horrible vegetables before getting any chocolate ice cream - and then finding that these disgusting carrots have filled me up already.

I'm pretty these guys weren't Canadian I would have hated it even more.

6/10

Red, Yellow & Blue is out now in the UK on Warp Records

ALBUM: The Futureheads - This Is Not The World

I've been a fan of The Futureheads since a friend lent me a copy of their debut album shortly before that Kate Bush cover sent them towards stardom and became their biggest hit, and somewhat ironically, their most well known song. Since then, success has been few and far between, culminating in their removal from 679 recordings (now "re-branded" as the hypercool "sixsevennine"), but I'm almost pleased. Don't get me wrong, I like them, a lot. But I would hate any Johnny Kooks-lover to pick up a copy of News & Tributes and play it at their local NME-sponsored indie-disco. But, of course, they never would.

Apart from the aforementioned Hounds Of Love, The Futureheads eponymous debut was full of immediate, punky songs that wore their hearts on their sleeves while still being humourous and engaging. About what We Are Scientists are try (and fail) to accomplish in their songs (although WAS win the prize for the funniest mailouts and videos for a bantamweight Indie band). News & Tributes was, the more mature and gentle second album, featured some songs that followed the pop-punk family tree from Fugazi to Fall Out Boy, and unfortunately fewer of the close harmonised post-punk that made their debut so comfortable.

Clearly unable to repeat their original plan, and surely not wanting to repeat their sophmore mediocrity, the Sunderland four-piece went back to their own studio, and promptly plotted their revenge on 679. This Is Not The World is the result.

Opener "The Beginning Of The Twist" shows that through their label drop they haven't skipped a beat - a Futureheads classic in the making, and straight back to what they are good at - Anthemic songs with choruses that make you want to scream along. "Walking Backwards" seems to start as a bastardised version of "A to B" but quickly rises to a chorus all of its own.

By track three, the Jam-esque "Think Tonight", it seems as if they've realised their perfect formula. Take a few parts of their revivalist debut, throw in a few more classic post-punk leanings and then simmer all the parts together for over three minutes. But that's the problem - it seems that they now feel the need to make tracks that you actually start to get bored of. Past the three minute mark and each song starts to wear a bit thin. This is a new problem, as on The Futureheads, none of the songs lasted three minutes, and on News & Tributes not many of the songs were that interesting to begin with.

Take for example, the single "Radio Heart". The title phrase is sung exactly 17 times in the 3 minute course of the song, and the word "Radio" is used a further 6 times. And this is pretty much what every song is like - as if - dare we say it - they've run out of ideas.

However, latest single "This Is Not The World" and "Broke Up The Time" are two songs where the formula almost works to perfection, reminding the humble listener that The Futureheads always sounded a little bit like The Jam, really, and they always repeated their lyrics a lot. Still I can't help but think that a lot of these songs could benefit from being trimmed back by a solid minute.

Ultimately however, the tracks are all of a similar standard, and there isn't a lot to pick out of the crowd, but the result is a solid album that builds on, if only slightly, their previous body of work.

My favourite tracks: "Broke Up The Time", "Sale Of The Century" and "The Beginning Of The Twist"

7/10

This Is Not The World is out now on nul records.

You might also like this live review.

ALBUM REVIEW: Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles

They've been around a little bit, the electronic duo of Ethan Kath and Alice Glass, and have split opinions for almost as long.

Tied inexplicably to the "new-rave scene", these guys are way more rave than the noisy art-punk of Klaxons et al, complete with a DIY punk ethic and the drugged-up pretention of a band who think they are better than everyone else.

Recent heavy promotion, including a small cameo part on Skins and an NME tour headliner slot means they are certainly being pushed for the big time. But make no mistake, this is Ethan's band.

Take "Alice Practice", which is the song they played on Skins and arguably their biggest track to date. The story goes that 18 year old vocalist was testing the mic and recording equipment by shouting obscurely worded lyrics and had no idea she was being recorded. Ethan then fitted a backing track around et voila, a song is born. In a recent interview in respected and hate-filled paper The Stool Pigeon showed that the relationship between Alice and the significantly older Ethan is a strange combination of Woody Allen and his "muses" and a twisted familial relationship of older brother and fightened younger sister.

Alice is not allowed to talk, and presumably is allowed little creative control over this album, which incidentally is the sound made by a dying 90s video arcade as the last forlorn teenager runs out of pound coins for the Street Fighter machine, and promptly kicks the shit out of it. Even the band is named after an old Atari game (that Wikipedia will lead you too should you search for "Crystal Castles").

Unsurprisingly, the album also contains "chipped" remixes of some songs, but under different names. "Crimewave" is creditted as "Crystal Castles vs. Health", "Vanished" samples Van She and opening track "Untrust Us" heavily uses old DFA1979 track "Dead Womb" (itself based on some sampling).

However the standout track for em, alongside a few slightly weaker ones, is former Kitsune maison resident "Knights", featuring Alice's despairing vocals, for once not distorted as much as on the rest of the album, where they are altered to the point that Ethan truly does exercise total control over the album.

What shocked me the most about this post-apocalyptic Arcade Fire (event, not band) is how fun it is. I can't listen to the retro stylings of "1991" without being reminded of the similar nostalgia-synth of Chromeo and just grinning. "XXZXCUZZ Me" (a remix of one of their own tracks) is literally the sound of a SNES being born, not from a factory, but screaming from the pregnant cartridge slot of another Super Nintendo.

It's not all great, and tracks like "Love and Caring" are an aural air strike of beeps and bips. But there's more than enough good stuff here to make up for it.

I expected pretention, and there is a fair heap of that, but on the whole what struck me is that past the polished, even hostile exterior of the band, and many of the tracks, Ethan and Alice are having a massive laugh with what they are doing.

8/10

Crystal Castles is out in the UK on the 28th April

ALBUM: Blood Red Shoes - Box Of Secrets

Having seen (and reviewed them in the previous post) them last week, I was very eager to get the album, as 40 minutes of Blood Red Shoes is about as most as the body can stand before it all starts sounding a bit more White Stripes and little less interesting.

Opening two tracks "It Doesn't Matter Much" and "You Bring Me Down" set the course out clear from the start - Blood Red Shoes don't do quiet. While they touch on melody, the focus is on rhytm, tempo and repitition. To say Blood Red Shoes are formulaic would be insulting, but unfortunately justified. Their Boy-Girl dynamic works much better than a lot of contemporaries. Both Laura-Mary and Steven are stars of the show, each bringing what the other needs.

They harmonise and back each other perfectly vocally, and Steven's drums are energetic, driving Laura-Mary's ceaseless attack of overdriven guitar noise. In a music climate where bands with two guitarists and a bass, the music can sound empty and lifeless (see: The View), BRS manage to more than compensate for the lack of two members and fill out the sound completely.

Fan (and personal) favourites "ADHD" and "It's Getting Boring By The Sea" get the re-recording treatment, at the expense of former single "Stitch Me Back", which is not featured. The production is generally superior to previous singles, with equal weighting given to both members, and Steven's frenetic drumming actually recorded properly

As I said before however, Blood Red Shoes do tend to get a little bit tiresome after 40 minutes or so, which is lucky as that is about the length of the album and its difficult to see where else they could really take their ideas, without drastically changing their sound. Don't get me wrong, it's pleasant, original up to a point and has worked for them for the last couple of years, but doesn't leave much space for new work. Even the songs that feature on this album are all cut from the same mould - so much so that changing the order of the album would be pretty futile, the songs all sound the same anyway.

It's almost unfortunate, and I'm being overly picky, as this album, as a stand-alone piece of work, is actually a fantastic listen. Its the result of years of hard touring and work for this band, and is not just a collection of previous singles and releases that some bands would be tempted to release. My only fears are whether or not Blood Red Shoes can actually go the distance.

7.5/10

Box Of Secrets is out now on V2 in the UK.

ALBUM: Foals - Antidotes

After the brass band intro to "The French Open", its pretty much business as usual for the Oxford quintet. Most recent single "Cassius" follows next, beginning a group of songs both old and new. Which begs the question, why isn't "Hummer" on this?

Foals' math-rock leanings and guitars that never seem to slip below the 7th fret worked well on a number of singles to date. However the aforementioned "Hummer", possibly their most well known song thanks to a certain Skins, and "Mathletics", their second single, do not feature apart from on the special edition bonus disc. Which seems a bit silly. Especially as they would be the best tracks.

However, that isn't to say that whats left isn't any good. Forthcoming single "Red Socks Pugie" starts off like Battles with clean vocals and soon continues in a much poppier vein. "Olympic Airways" starts with the same Battles-esque avant-garde guitar shapes that eventually come together later on, as if guitarists Yannis and Jack want to introduce everyone to all the notes they'll be using in that song.

It seems as if Foals are some sort of "gateway" band, channelling the spirits of their math-rock heroes (Wikipedia says Yannis' favourite band are cult math-rock outfit Sweep The Leg Jonny) and making the music poppy and accessible.

To a point.

There's not really a bad track on the album, but it gets to a stage where the formula, which appears so complex at first sight, becomes so easy you could probably predict the next instrument to enter the fray, the point where the chorus will drop in, when that quiet bit they always have in the middle is going to end or which note the guitars will choose to repeat over and over next. Some would say this is a good position to be in, but I disagree. Although admittedly the end results of each song is of similar quality - they're all pretty good - the album suffers.

"Balloons" and "Two Steps Twice" stand out for me, but only because I remember hearing them live. They are probably the most danceable on the album, but every other track sounds like them. "Electric Broom" and closer "Tron" are a happy experiment with synth noise, but still with the same Foals cliches.

Ultimately Foals have made an album that they wanted to make. On one hand I respect them for that, they haven't churned out some filler nor have they stuck their biggest tracks in the album just because. On the other hand, the album doesn't flow particularly well either, and the tracks that have made it on can't really replace those that were sacrificed.

If you do get a copy of this album, make sure you get the bonus disc, which not only include Hummer and Mathletics, but an early Foals set from The Liars Club in Nottingham and a couple of B-sides.

7/10

Antidotes is out now via Transgressive in the UK on April 8th via Sub Pop in the USA.

ALBUM: Does It Offend You Yeah? - You Have No Idea What You Are Getting Yourself Into

Often sitting uncomfortably between the sound of a post-apocalyptic rave and some kids playing football with a dustbin, DIOYY?'s debut has all the ingredients of a great album, but does the sum live up to its parts?

With the obvious influence of Daft Punk's Discovery and its imitators and followers (both of which DIOYY? can apply themselves to), coupled with the indie-dance sensibility of their contemporaries in the form of Klaxons and Hadouken!, its almost as if the album tries too hard to satisfy every camp at once. Indeed, tracks "Let's Make Out" and "Weird Science" could be Daft Punk singles. Poorly charting, limited release ones, but singles none the less.

Past the superb opening track "Battle Royale" (although the version formerly availiable on their myspace complete with dialogue from the film is better) and the DFA Dance-punk stylings of "With A Heavy Heart (I Regret To Inform You)", as well as the aforementioned "Let's Make Out", the album doesn't have too many high points.

Any pace that the album had built up is quickly lost with "Dawn of The Dead", a misplaced Hot Chip-esque ballad so despairingly dull even Boy Kill Boy fans couldn't sit through it more than once. "Doomed Now" is one of a number botched concoction of poor Daft Punk imitation and shameless laziness. All too often beats and riffs are repeated too within an inch of their lives until it becomes Human After All by numbers, but with the talent replaced with forgettable beeps and guitar noise.

While the interlude that is "Attack of the 60 ft Lesbian Octopus" fits in well enough, and appears, ironically, to be the most thought out track on the album, "Being Bad Feels Pretty Good"'s feeble handclap driven beat coupled with some equally weak-willed lyrics is another poor excuse for sub-par indie-pop.

Overall the album reflects the bands own arrogance in believing that they could do something new and different, whereas in fact it points out actually how good Klaxons were. Any originality is lost in the complacency of drum machines and heavily repeated sampler tracks. What is left is an album, that attempts to reach for the heights of Discovery and Myths Of The Near Future, but instead is even more boring and forgettable than Civilian.

5/10

You Have No Idea What You Are Getting Yourself Into is availiable now via Mute.

ALBUM: Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward

Kicking off straight from where they left off, Get Awkward follows the same garage-punk formula as this four-piece's eponymous debut, but why would you want to have it any other way?

The songs are all between one and three minutes long and are largely noticeable by the path of destruction they leave behind them. Although the songs are more violent in the way that a toddler is violent, than in the way some have interpreted them*. BYOP aren't breaking any barriers down, musically at least, but no one ever expected them too.

While Jemima Pearl Abegg's vocals are angrier and snarlier than ever before, as exemplified by album opener "Super Soaked" and UK single "The Kelly Affair", she appears to be the only things between the band and mediocrity, as BYOP side-project Turbo Fruits easily proves.

Their influences are obvious, and the songs occasionally derivative; "Twisted Nerve" is straight from the classic '77 punk playbook of The Damned, whereas "Heart Throb" is Minor Threat attempting to play a pop song. But Jemima really is the difference. Her vocals, a mix of Riot Grrl, Karen O's sultry sexiness and Paramore's Hayley Williams. But better than all of these. Especially Hayley Williams.

In the Robocop themed "Bitches Leave", possibly my favourite song title ever, Abegg attacks "the hottest chick on the scene" in an poorly-veiled attack on certain Hollywood socialites and their unfortunate imitators. Although clearly the funniest line is "I know you're lying that you take it in the rear". For this alone, this is possibly my standout track, and could not be more obviously aimed if it was called "Song For Paris".

"You're A Waste" exposes the softer side of Be Your Pet's repertoire, and sits comfortably alongside the Garage-punk of most of the album, sitting between "Bummer Time" and "Food Fight", both sub-two minutes and the most like those songs found on Be Your Own Pet.

This is followed by another George A. Romero themed song (after "Ouch" on their debut) "Zombie Graveyard Party", another lighthearted look at Zombies, this time from their point of view.

The album closes with "The Beast Within", featuring the band chanting "Free the beast" over an increasingly chaotic cacophony of snare drums, guitar noise and shouting, until finallybeing overpowered and succumbing to awkward silence.

Overall, Be Your Own Pet have only get better for their sophmore album, and despite this album being heavily edited by lawyers*, which should never be allowed to happen, what's left is music more fun and more chaotic than wrestling in ice-cream with Jemima. What is surprising is why more don't feel the same way, preferring the vacuous pop-metal of Paramore's Riot!, immediately compared to BYOP as contemporaries because of the similarities in their line up and styles. Be Your Own Pet are infinitely better.

7.5/10

*The US-version of this album, which this review covers, has three tracks removed compared to the UK version. "Black Hole", "Becky" and "Blow Yr Mind" were apparently removed at the last minute by the distributing label, Universal, for being "too violent". Although, admittedly, what they left in is noit exactly a walk in the park, it's not as if BYOP are preaching "death to the west" or promoting beating up a policeman. The band have said they will release the removed songs on an EP in the summer.

Get Awkard is out now on XL in the UK and USA. Try and get the UK version with the extra tracks.

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

Availiable on Import since January, and just out properly in the UK today, MGMT's David Fridmann-produced debut album is an epic work of electro-rock in the traditions of bands such as Grandaddy, The Flaming Lips and Of Montreal. In similar traditions, the duo make more than enough noise between to make up for their lack of members.

Opening with the bubbling and churning "Time To Pretend", with one of the most whistleable melodies since Young Folks, its not a big surprise that this is their biggest and most well known song. This scathing attack on the record industry and the stars within it, yet this cliche is well executed and stands them in good stead for the rest of the album.

While "Weekend Wars" is a half-hearted attempt to keep up the standard, "The Youth" definitely falls flat on its face. Luckily, by the time "Electric Feel" and "Kids" rolls out, all is forgetten and forgiven. "Kids" especially, is an epic mini-album in itself, full of reprising hooks, and an overall aura of melancholy and existential confusion.

Its annoying how much the notion of "Space-rock" is blasted about as if to describe some quasi-futuristic epic noise. Its a phrase that long dogged Grandaddy and has been attributed to Muse and The Flaming Lips in the past. But all it reminds me of is that terrible Babylon Zoo song that I thought had long since been confined to the bargain bin of eternity. But with MGMT, you do really get that sense of what it really is. Although in fairness, they owe more to more traditional American Indie, with a hint of Blur's Britpop years.

"Piece Of What" sounds as if they were making a late claim for triute album to Ziggy Stardust, while "Of Moons, Birds and Monsters" and "The Handshake" are interchangeable with anything off The Soft Bulletin.

Album closer "Future Reflections" starts as the closest American thing to "new rave" but soon fizzles into an organ driven slow burner that ends this weird trek across the unknown.

This is one of those albums that really depends upon what you bring to it as the listener. It's not simple background music, and if you treat it as much it will soon merge into a single mess of noise and beeps, and not in the good Crystal Castles way. Yet, take it too seriously and you can almost see straight through the delicate fabric that binds the whole album together. Certainly, it is unsurprising to know that David Fridmann has also worked with the Flaming Lips, nor is it a shock to know that they have toured with Of Montreal both as a duo and with their current 5-piece set up.

Certainly an interesting, if imperfect beginning.

Oracular Spectacular is out now in the UK on Sony BMG.

ALBUM: Hot Chip - Made In The Dark

Most of the tracks have been availiable on the internet for weeks, but Hot Chip's third album is the eagerly awaited comeback for the band that made you sing "Over and Over"... erm... again and again?

Where The Warning was more refined than their debut Coming On Strong, the same is also true of Made In The Dark. Opener "Out At The Pictures is reminiscent of "Careful", but... better. Similarly the next track and previous single "Shake A Fist" is more danceable and more fun than "Boy From School", with an impromptu game of "Sounds of The Studio" thrown in after a quick game of Sonic The Hedgehog. It kicks this album screaming into life with a somewhat grimey video game beat alongside some Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard's hypnotic vocals.

By the time "Ready For The Floor", obviously this album's "Over and Over" and soon-to-be-classic Hot Chip, beeps into life, you start to wonder why on Earth it took them three albums to make this one so good.

Then after what sounds like Rolf Harris' heavily distorted vocals for the intro of "Bendable Posable", the album starts to take a bit of a downward turn. Slow ballad "We're Looking For a Lot Of Love" sits uncomfortably in the album like the only sober one at the party who has to drive the others home. As does title track "Made In The Dark".

"One Pure Thought" starts out with a guitar intro that Orson would be proud of, it soon becomes a cross between Grandaddy and The Go! Team. It is a definite example of their apparent "rockier" sound, as is "Hold On", which sounds like what LCD Soundsystem would make if they didn't take themselves so seriously. However, it comes off less as a change of sound, and more of a redundant gesture about what could have been.

"Don't Dance" is another throwback to the barely danceable quirkiness of The Warning, while the final two tracks "Whistle For Will" and "In The Privacy Of Our Love" seem half-arsed attempts at making a point that Hot Chip can write serious love songs.

What you get then, is an album that builds on the band's previous work, but not in one complete direction. While the more layered sound and production works better with the sound than the sparse chip-tunes that featured on "The Warning", at times the songs become overloaded and seem to lose focus. A good group of songs, and chock-full of possible singles, this album doesn't flow particularly well as either a dance or indie album. Too quirky to dance to and to dancey to quirk to, it instead straddles both genres uncomfortably with some old fashioned R&B papering over the cracks.

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ALBUM: Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

As the latest American hype-band, they are in the same vein as all those that have come before, but with the added effect of strings and a small nod towards world music that arguably makes them stand up above the rest.

Former single and arguably the best track of the album, "Mansard Roof" starts this self-titled album on exactly the right chilled-out and minimalist note, and the sparse snare drumming that drives throughout the whole album begins almost as soon as the song does, and doesn't really finish until the end of closer "The Kid's Don't Stand A Chance".

While obvious similarites with Paul Simon's Graceland and even a hint of the Beach Boys on a couple of the tracks, as well as the afrobeat of "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa", it seems as if they've made an obvious effort not to be lumped in with your average Spinto Band and are intent on making themselves stand out.

Unfortunately piano-led stormer "Walcott" brings them straight back down to New York with a bump, yet the album is all the better for it. The subtle mix of contemporary Indie alongside a wealth of mostly neglected musical styles leads to an album that almost borders on the chilled-out genius of The Shins.

Alas, a couple of tracks let them down, most notably Strokes b-side material "I Stand Corrected" and what sounds like what should be the theme to the Grand National and/or a BBC costume drama, "M79".

Similarly "A-Punk", while a good track in itself, never really goes anywhere, and is fairly demonstrative of this album, which while seeming to promise so much for each song, never really delivers that final master-stroke that would make it a great album. Instead what it becomes is a pleasant, yet mediocre 35 minutes from a band who could definately do a lot better.

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ALBUM: British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?

From orchestral introduction "All In It", straight from the songbook of The Arcade Fire, it's clear that British Sea Power haven't spent the last three years resting on their laurels for their third album. It soon becomes apparent that this will be par for the course.

From the anthemic probable single "Lights Out For Darker Skies" to the ballad of Bird Flu, "Canvey Island", whats good to see is how well these songs actually fit together. The coherence and consistency on show here is definitely what was lacking on their previous album, although this comes at the price of perhaps a lack of craziness when compared to Decline Of...

Instead, the album dips its toes into both and ends up with a sound almost retrospective of their career to date. The storming "No Lucifer" complete with Soccer AM chant wets the appetite to what should be another live BSP show, but that should not take away from the value of this work recorded.

For it seems BSP have been experimenting with a much more North American sound, ditching the "Post-punk" style of The Futureheads and moving onto a much more traditional Indie Rock sound, but still very much of their own style, in their own way. Still including obscure references to Football Teams and historical events, such as on lead single "Waving Flags", but now also with a slight post-rock feel. None of this is unsurprising with the involvement of Godspeed You! Black Emperor's Efrim Menuck, who reportedly worked with them in Montreal, as well as former Arcade Fire drummer Howard Bilerman.

And while the album has its more mellow moments, such as instrumental, almost post-rock track "The Great Skua", which serves as a rough interlude, and semi-acoustic "Open The Door", these tracks work much better next to the more frenetic moments than they did on Open Season.

The first interesting album of 2008 has certainly kicked it off to a great start, and while this album takes a little bit of getting used to, it has raised the bar somewhat for British Indie bands, that desperately need to up their games this year.