The Acid // Liminal - Review

The Acid are a band that are subscribed to the rather popular belief, or rather rule, that 'less is more'. This is in both their music, and promotion of their music. Hearing very little from the band publically can work well, or well, not so well. Luckily, this band has all the right parts to succeed. Los Angeles singer-songwriter Ry X usually creates laid back songs with little electronic edge to them; but with Steve Nalepa and British grammy nominated Adam Freeland, they produce a very different sound. Whilst you may not have heard of these names before, you'll be hearing a lot from The Acid in the coming months.

Their anonymous appearance definitely mimics Alt-J, joining a group of invisible bands that neither care for this title or actively try to change it. The media present it; they ignore it.

'Basic Instinct' served as the appetizing starter for the band, with over a million plays on SoundCloud providing a good base for support to release this album. The haunting lyric of "coming up for air" is delicate and piercing at the same time, with distorted vocals and guitar later on releasing an edge not known to Ry X on his own.

Other tracks on the album lean heavily on the 'less is more' approach that bands like 'xx' have reigned in. The opener 'Animals' follows this principle to the letter, and is beautifully executed. Light and airy, with hints of an explosion of noise that never quite comes. A weak opener, maybe a better closer.

Elsewhere, you can find urban electronica on the definitely-not-a-Bowie-cover 'Fame', and the whisper quiet, guitar laden 'Veda'. If you're looking for music to keep you awake, you are in the wrong place. If you're looking for music to night drive to, high on acid or something less strong, this is the album.

Whilst the album has it's highs (literally), it can be a bit too minimal. Very similar to the second 'xx' LP, which was expected to heavily feature Jamie xx's work that had excelled in between albums. The fruits of their labour are evident, but perhaps not all they have to offer is quite there yet.

Who cares if they're invisible, if they make great music like this?

7/10

H x

Alexei Crawley // Liars EP - Review

Alexei Crawley has been working on his debut solo EP outside of Abodes for around six months now. I had the unexpected privilege of receiving a preview link from Alexei a couple of weeks ago - having been a rather public fan of his work - and have been listening to the EP for a while now.

The first track starts of unexpectedly. Adding keys to the mix adds another layer to the music, making the mix deeper and helps definitely with the lack, for the most part, of drums. The chorus is catchy, and nothing like the recent collection of "Stay With Me" lyric inclusive tracks. The harmonies are a bold choice. Often broadening and thickening the vocals like adding chorus to guitar, and at times doing what chorus can do to a guitar and sounding like half a step down or out of tune, but it is simply another little touch among many on the EP. The riff that comes in later in the song glides between the left and right channels of your speakers, and whilst it could be argued to be too harsh of a tremelo, it doesnt matter. It adds once more to the song, variety that often is missing in first efforts.

The second track, previously previewed live and in demo form, starts of with a slow build up before the acoustic kicks in. Production values are high here, with echospheric (sorry, who uses that word?) sounds in the slow build up before the acoustic kicks in. More upbeat than the last one, despite the subject matter - which is another positive point for the album. The lyrics are woven and do not sound formulaic in structure or choice. Repetition is a theme on the album, in a good way, and is triumphant again once more. I can't quite pin the guitar that comes in later in the song - is it reverse reverb, or just high overdrive? Whatever it is, it sounds all rather lovely.

The two tracks that follow display yet more variety to fill your cheeks with, and catchy low volumed lines. Very much suicide inducing if you were annoyed at the recession crisis and your lack of a job, but stick with it and look past the pills. The keys this time sound like something the xx would like to steal, and the almost rambling lyrics are a marked change from the other two tracks.

As first EPs go, this is very well done. As far as I am aware, he is the sole producer too - which I can tell you is not easy. Yeah, there may be a crackle here or there in the first 10 seconds of 'Stay With Me', but where's your debut EP without it's faults?

Try to not get any of these songs stuck in your head, I dare you.

8/10

You can listen to the EP on Alexei's SoundCloud, here. By can, I mean 'will'. I insist.

H x

George Ezra // Wanted on Voyage - Review

Having been included in the list for BBC Sound of 2014, it was clear that George Ezra would be a hot topic this year. His track 'Budapest' caught the ear of indie lovers, and is a favourite of many radio stations now. It's been streamed 15 million times with YouTube and Spotify combined - that's pretty incredible considering the song has been out six months, and came out of nowhere.

Source: Culturefly.co.uk

His whisky-deep soulful voice fills many a room on this debut album, as it did on the earlier tracks released prior to this album, on the 'Did You Hear The Rain?' EP. Now, he's just filled a tent at Glasto. Whilst many have done this before him on the eve of an album release, no-one has quite as silently as he has. No magazine cover, no startling news pieces or interviews. Just music. Which is great to see in a culture fascinated by arguments and controversy.

There's promise on this debut album, with velvet acoustic guitars, and creamy vocals from both George and the choir on 'Leaving It Up To You'. Whilst the album definitely fades towards the end, the mood changes. With it, a display of variety too, not often found on indie debut albums. If he has a good festival season, I can see big things happening for Ezra. Very big.

8/10

H x

Linkin Park // The Hunting Party - Review

Fuck, they were not lying when they said this was heavier.

I LOVE it. I always was going to though, but there is little denying that this their best album since "Meteora". The synths are nearly all gone, and guitar is at the front of the mix again, along with screaming galore.

"Keys To The Kingdom" kicks off the album, with an uncompromising scream from Chester. Aggressive, distorted, and pure rock. The guitar that follows is distinctly heaveir than anything off their past three albums. "All For Nothing" has a fabulous feature from Page Hamilton, with an old school chorus from the band that first hit the main time with hits like "Papercut" and "In The End". The previously released "Guilty All The Same" is gloriously heavy, with a fantastic display of the bands confidence.

They had confidence to refine their sound for the mainstream over the previous two albums, to much critical and commercial success. Personally, I loved these albums as much as the others, as it revealed a different side to the band that no-one would have seen or argued for in their earlier days. Cheers, Rick Rubin.

But now, Mike talks slicker, the riffs are quicker, screams are louder and they rock harder on this latest effort, "The Hunting Party". This is a highlight for their gitarist Rob, who has in recent years been stuck in the background, rocking out every couple of minutes. Now, he is in the sights of the public, for everyone to see. There are more solos on the first half of this album than there have been in their first five albums. They are bloody good ones, too.

For a comparison, Serge's solos on their stupidly titled... whatever it is, they sound like he has just picked up the guitar. Noticeably lame compared.

If you thought Linkin Park were lying when that they were going to go heavier, you were wrong. They asked their teenage selves whether they would be happy with their last two albums, and they said no, so went about to adjust that. If you are undecided about the album, listen to their earlier stuff and then this.

This, is a true successor.

Enjoy the ride, it's bumpy, and refined.

9/10

H x

Arctic Monkeys // Finsbury Park, London - Review

The Arctic Monkeys stormed Finsbury park on both Friday and Saturday of the late May bank holiday, with an impressive stage set to boot and a very loud 70,000 ensemble of true fans.

The bill suited them perfectly. Royal Blood were absolutely rocking, and are definitely less like the White Stripes then The Black Keys are. These two boys don't muck about, they don't have anyone else on stage. "Let me introduce you to the rest of my band" singer Mike Kerr announced proudly, "this is Ben Thatcher". Ben is one of the hardest hitting drummers I have seen, nearly always breaking drum sticks - and they only play 5 songs at a time. Mike, somehow uses just a bass to create that wall of noise. Pretenders they are not. They will be big as soon as they get around to releasing that album of hits. I did hope for a July release, who knows maybe they will announce it soon after the two biggest gigs of their careers?

Miles Kane followed and was as always full of confidence, cheekiness and smiles all round. I particularly loved him toying with the camera and visibly having a laugh with the drummer whilst doing so, announcing to the crowd "that isn't loud enough Finsbury" slyly into the overly-fixed camera. The drummer as always is phenomenal, and looks amazingly like Arshavin and about 14 years old, still. His ability to have a joke with the band and keep the beat to 'Rearrange' is astounding. He still needs to have another album of hits behind him, lest we not forget most of the big hitters on the first were written with or by Alex, and the second with Paul Weller.

Tame Impala were... tame. They did not suit the barmy crowd. Musically talented, and the absolute tunes that are 'Elephant' and the Beatles-esque 'Feels Like We Only Go Backwards' doesn't make up for a lack of enthusiasm, and doesn't create an atmosphere of euphoria in the company of thousands of northerners. Let's leave it at that, shall we.

Then the main entertainment arrived, after 20 minutes of very odd choreographed collection of animated clips. One included wax brides you'd find on a cake slowly burning over a minute whilst Bowie played in the background. Pretty damn odd. What was not odd however was the mammoth noise level when the now accustomed intro to their gigs rang out. What was unbelievably classy was as soon as the beat kicked in, it was revealed that the stage span round, with the band in full swing with 'Do I Wanna Know?'. Very cool.

Alex Turner was quite visibly pissed out of his face, but rocked a Dracula look for some reason. Not sure on that, maybe one of his Sheffield mates told him it looked good?

The setlist was a bit odd for the band. They only played two songs each of their first  and third albums, with only three from their second. Humbug is an era I really crave to hear again, but they were not in the mood to hang on nostalgia. 'AM' was played in full minus one song, which is pretty much a non-issue considering its strength, but considering they had brought back older hits recently into their set like 'Dancing Shoes', it would be nice to see a few more. 21 songs is not enough songs for a band whose songs are not particularly long, and only play their biggest headline set yet for an hour and a half. Less cocaine, more songs. I know the mixture hits him hard brick by brick, but snap out of it and play some more hits, and less practicing of those lines, please.

The gigs were a resounding success, and they proved that they have nothing left to prove to their fans. Now that they've achieved that, they can next time release new music and start playing *finally* a longer set, and they'll be hailed as Jesus figures by NME. Then they'll be a bank holiday for their birthdays, if they got their petty ways.

Alex played an acoustic version of 'A Certain Romance' on the Friday, instead of The Last Shadow Puppets performing on stage to play 'Standing Next To Me' on Saturday. It was accompanied by some funny interplay between Miles and Alex: "What should about the solo Milesssss", "I'm not sure, maybe sing some French? (sings French)". Hilarious and brilliant - oddly, Miles did not come on for '505'. Can't wait for their next one together, despite no-one around me knowing any of the words. 'Fans', eh.

You can see the setlist they played on Friday in full below:

1. Do I Wanna Know? 
   (Began whilst turning 180 … more)
2. Snap Out of It 
   (Extended Intro)
3. Arabella 
   (with snippet of "War Pigs" by Black Sabbath)
4. Brianstorm 
5. Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair 
6. Dancing Shoes 
7. Library Pictures 
   (Extended Intro)
8. Crying Lightning 
9. I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor 
10. She's Thunderstorms 
11. Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High? 
    (Extended Intro)
12. Fireside 
13. No. 1 Party Anthem 
14. Cornerstone 
15. Knee Socks 
    (Extended Intro)
16. Fluorescent Adolescent 
17. 505 
18. Encore:
18. Standing Next To Me 
    (The Last Shadow Puppets cover) (with Miles Kane)
19. One for the Road 
    (Extended Intro)
20. I Wanna Be Yours 
21. R U Mine? 
    (Extended Outro)