CDs 2003 (3)

Pernice Brothers : Yours, mine & Ours. Well, I think we’ll have to go through at lot of these records : nice, melodic guitar pop-rock. Very pleasant, but ultimately missing any kind of (cutting) edge. Unlike their previous album, no real stand-out song. It’s all very well, your record collection is all the better with a Pernice Brothers album. But if you’ve already got one, you just don’t need two! 7/10

 

The Raveonettes : Chain Gang of Love. Now excuse me. It’s very nice to try to sell a band as ‘not just a bunch of Mary Chain copyists’, but I don’t exactly see how in any way this whole albums sounds any different from anything by the (admittedly great) Jesus and Mary Chain. I mean, this sounds even more like JAMC than their first Mini-LP !! Maybe a hint of latter days Primal Scream here or there, but then Bobby Gillespie used to be the drummer in the Jesus and Mary Chain. But then again, this sounds great. If the Reid brothers hadn’t been there before, I’d be very impressed. Nevermind, it’s 2003, so maybe we can forget about the brothers. Novelty is not high on the agenda then, but intrinsically, this is a great piece of music. So I’ll forget my memories (be honest and admit that I only learnt about the JAMC 10 years ago after all), and give it the 8/10 it deserves.

 

Spiritualized : Amazing Grace. The orchestra’s gone, and this feels a bit like a mix of everything Jason Pierce has done from Spacemen 3 to more recent Spiritualized albums. Stripped down in places then, but overall still beautiful and filled with lush harmonies. This mixes straight (good) old rock’n’roll, a few gospel-y numbers and more quiet moments in equal numbers. But I think I’ll forever prefer when Jason Pierce warned us he was floating in space (1997). This won’t change your world but is in itself still a great record, earning a masterful 8/10.

 

The Cooper Temple Clause : Kick up the Fire, and let the Flames break Loose. Now that’s what I call a great album ! Probably more focussed than their first effort, this one’s hardly got a weak track. From opener ‘The same mistakes’, starting slowly before exploding, to the closing ‘Written Apologies’, this is enjoyable all throughout. Great guitars, and the singing’s got a real quality going for it. Only possible complaint : ‘Music Box’ seems to be building to some sort of heavy guitar climax only to suddenly stop then start again, indeed sounding a bit like Mogwai, but really, they should have made the simple thing and gone for it at the right moment, rather than try to be too clever. Just for that, and maybe the uncalled for noodling at the very end of the album, I’ll be extremely harsh and give it ‘only’ a 9/10. Yes, it’s that good.

 

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club : Take them on, on your own. Well, I’m only halfway through track 2 of this one, and I’m really excited. This rocks like a fucking beast! And in the end, even the quieter moment fit in absolutely seamlessly. Best Rock’n’Roll album of the year bar none. Well, this year and maybe others. Just put it on and turn it up. A rock solid 9.5/10

 

Elbow : Cast of Thousands. This year’s Doves ? I think not. Apparently I’m very not in tune with the critics there, but I find this rather boring and not that much emotionally engaging. Yet again, a second or third listen just tells me that this is just not an easy album. It’s one you can only listen to on a quiet evening. It’s not that bad, particularly track 6 ‘not a job’, despite its chorus being melodically ripped off Midnight Oil’s ‘Beds are Burning’ (possibly). Yesterday it felt like 5/10, today it’s more a 6.5, I’m really confused. I’ll give it 7/10 for now, just in case, who knows, it may be worth a good 8 someday. But I’ve got a feeling I won’t really bother listening to it again much...maybe I’m a soulless bastard after all!

 

The Wannadies : Before & After. They’ll never top the amazing ‘You and Me song’, one of the most exhilarating songs ever written. But then they’ll also never let you down. Damn reliable guitar pop. This time it’s supposed to be split into a ‘happy’ (before) and ‘sad’ (after) side. Unless it’s the opposite. I mean, there’s a song called ‘happy’ that’s located in the middle of the ‘slow’ section. So the first part is just happy-clappy riffs and yeahyeahs and fun lyrics all around, that’s what they really do best, brilliant ! After that, the downtempo piece bears a few pleasant ditties, but really struggles to engage you. At about 36minutes overall, you can’t really blame them. That’ll be 8/10 for the fast songs and just 6.5/10 for the slower numbers.

 

Serafin : No Push Collide. Your average rock band. Generally enjoyable. And also instantly forgettable. It’s alright. But I’ve got many others like that already, thank you! So the ‘usual’  6/10

 

Client : Client. The return of Sarah Blackwood (of Dubstar fame), still singing in that impeccable northern accent. The idea there is some kind of minimalist electroclash. As a result, half the tracks sound like half-arsed boring babble over an uninteresting beat. The other half however (that’ll be the singles then), when they bother about tunes and rhythm and actual singing are really pleasant and made this record stay on my stereo for a little longer. 7/10 and rising.

 

Starsailor : Silence Is Easy. Oh yeah ? So why don’t they just leave quietly ? Vastly boring and less tuneful than their first album. A step forward ? Don’t think so. Even the voice doesn’t save it, I’m really not impressed (I did love their first). Only spot of interest, the discoid ‘Four to The Floor’, but then maybe that’s because they nicked the rhythm off Tupac’s ‘California’ (nah! I’m being harsh, it’s a good song, there’s only about 2 that make you stop and listen on this record!) After a further listen, yeah OK it’s not that bad and it does sound confident, triumphant maybe at times. But I don’t know, maybe it’s the weather or something, but this doesn’t really do it for me. Disappointing, 6/10 on a good day.

 

The Coral : Magic and Medicine. Another second album I was initially disappointed with, but further listens really made me appreciate this one more. Maybe less hectic than their first, but these tales of zany characters still wear their charm handsomely, Bill McCai being my absolute favourite here. Inventive yet easy on the ear, pastoral, yet not stuck in muddy waters. A very valuable 7.5. Or maybe 8/10. It’s a grower.

 

Super Furry Animals : Phantom Power. Talking about zany people, what about this bunch? They may be very different from the previous lot, but somehow I’ve got the same opinion on this album : very pleasant, entertaining pieces about ‘golden retrievers’,  ‘cityscape skybaby’ and the gorgeous, er, ‘Venus and Serena’. What ? Yeah, pet turtles they are! What did you expect??? Cool stuff, maybe a bit too long, but well worth its 7.5/10

 

The Sleepy Jackson : Lovers. More genius from down under. Classic rock thing, glides effortlessly on the ear and stays in your mind. Listening to it again, I can’t really put my finger on why I like it (bits of Bowie, bits of this and that), but this already sounds like a classic. I remember they were playing the album before the Thrills’ gig, and I thought ‘I know this’ but couldn’t put a name of it before I’d heard 3 or 4 tracks. Oh, and they also manage to use children’s voices, proof that this trick doesn’t need to be used only for rubbish cover versions in mineral water adverts. 8.5/10.

 

Kings of Leon : Youth & Young manhood. This year’s  Strokes. Not in sound, but in terms of ‘hyped-up new band’. And as such, hard to judge on its own merits. Rock’n’roll no doubt, efficient, but you know, sometimes the record collection is growing so big, that this, while still being very good in its genre, doesn’t really seem to cut the mustard. I agree it’s very good, but today it doesn’t make me want to dance enough. So I’ll give it only 7/10.

 

Magnet : On Your Side. I don’t know if it’s due to global warming, but it seems like Scandinavian bands are on a roll. Great albums by the Cardigans this year (Sweden), brilliant debut from Mew (Denmark), so what about Norway ? Well, here we go. At least, this does evoke a northern climate. Simply beautiful and hushed, something that you may love even more when the first snowflakes start to settle on the ground. Absolutely lovely, charming. OK, it tails off a wee bit in the end, maybe it’d have been better as a slightly shorter LP to stop you from contemplating the ‘wonder if that wasn’t that a bit boring after all ?’ stage if you’re in too buoyant a mood. But then, if you’re feeling quiet...So I’ll be nice, maybe there is something to look forward to this winter after all : 8/10.

 

Canyon : Empty Rooms. The dreaded P-word (prog). Sounds like old 60s or 70s acts that I’ve never heard of probably. But then the Americans used to be quite good at that I reckon, and it just gives you a very decent atmospheric rock album here. And that’s cool, dude ! 7.77/10