Fat White Family - Songs For Our Mothers Review

“Champagne Holocaust” seemed to surge to prominence on a wave of sheer irreverence and social outrage.  It was steeped in all the politically dissenting anarchy of the Sex Pistols, packaged in the

sexually depraved antics of “Venus in Furs”.  I was completely unsure of what to expect from a band as volatile as Fat White Family, but “Songs For Our Mothers” surpasses the debut in it’s maturity and wit if not it’s shock value.

Opening with “Whitest Boy on the Beach”, a rattling post punk banger fitted out with an 80s synth sensibility.  Lias Saudi’s vocals are often triumphant and forward enough to be compared to many of the New Wave bands of the same decade, namely Tears for Fears.  “Satisfied” takes the sound back to the tortured debauchery of the debut, but with an electronic danceable twist. 

“Lebensraum” is perhaps the most misleadingly named song on the album, conjuring expectations of the kind of shock inducing content the debut was full of.  It is however, a rather tame vintage pop track, and something of a low point on the album.  Things quickly improve with “Hits hits hits” and “Tinfoil Deathstar”, although the latter does sound uncannily like “Whitest Boy on the Beach”.  “When Shipman Decides” is another nostalgia trip, this time in the form of a psychedelic waltz, kitted out with a cartoonish brass bass line.  The album ends on a high with “Goodbye Goebbels”, a lo fi acoustic ballad which showcases Saudi’s vocals more openly.

If everything you loved about “Champagne Holocaust” was tied to the depravity of the whole thing, then “Songs For Our Mothers”.  If you appreciated the wit, charm and humour more, then you’ll like the electronic spin they’ve put on their sound.  I recommend purchasing this album in hard copy.

Charlie McCartney

Death Grips - Hot Head - Track Review

Reviewing anything by Death Grips is a difficult task. Are they good? Are they bad? Are they music?

A new track from the only group to stretch LCD Soundsystem's definition of a breakup even further and a typical jutted out release from the group that stretch what it means to create music for commercial release.

 

Presumably the first single from their upcoming album "Bottomless Pit" the track "Hot head" unsurprisingly does not see the band explore some latin soul. Death Grips know exactly what they are great at which is making the undisputed most unique, innovative and exciting music out today.

 

This track has a couple of elements in its stramash that on the third or fourth listen show you how great they are if you weren't already aware. That guitar which weaves its way through this track coupled with the oscillating beat throughout create a sound which challenges and battles with the crass, foreboding vocals of MC Ride.

 

There is however a bit of a same old feel from this track. It would be even more exciting to see them expand their horizons even further, sure MC Ride will sound like a homeless man screaming at society and the music will sound like a synthesiser getting kicked down a flight of stairs but that doesn't mean that there couldnt also be something else occuring. Although saying this I really don't know if I want something else from Death Grips. They are a constant and before their branch of mayhem is discovered by the genre of music that so desperately needs a shot in the arm from hearing it (cough...metal...cough) I would be so happy to see them ride their glorious chaotic wave.

 

So to answer my questions, are they good? Yeah of course. Are they bad? Probably that as well yes. Are they music? Who gives a fuck?

 

Dominic Allan.

Ty Segall - Emotional Mugger Review

Whether it’s as a result of some deficiency in creative thought or his frankly unnecessarily regular output, Ty Segall’s latest album is somewhat lacking in originality.  Were I not reading the track listing as I write this, I would scarcely be able to name a single song from the whitewashed fuzzy soup of an album that “Emotional Mugger” is, and this surely poses a problem given the quality and memorability of recent albums in this field.  The indie slacker has grown a sense of wit and humour since the release of Segall’s eponymous debut album, a development he seems to have missed, leaving him in lyrical purgatory.  There aren’t any shockingly bad lines, but it might have made them more memorable if there had been. 

“Squealer” is a 90s nostalgia trip that’s as forgettable as it is tuneless.  The whining guitar on the title track is as grating as nails on a chalk board, a trope that’s all too common across much of the album.  The creeping sense that the distortion has been utilised as a way of masking the general lack in ingenuity in the instrumentation manifests itself, and lingers in the mind until the closing noisy barrage of “the magazine”. 

There are certainly certain songs that pack a significant enough punch to avoid some of the criticism I’ve levelled here however.  The high intensity squalls of “diversion” are an appropriate marriage for the abrasive guitar tones that were insufferable on slower songs. 

While Ty Segall probably doesn’t need to prove anything at this point, it disappoints me that I couldn’t find much to like about this album.  I struggled to enjoy huge chunks of it, the screeching guitars really doing very little for my enjoyment.  I can’t recommend you do anything other than stream this album.

Charlie McCartney

Dizzy Bats - Until We Die EP Review

The term “Pop-punk” has always been a fundamentally flawed one in my eyes.  Punk is essentially the term used to describe any art or media that subverts mainstream cultural norms, and pop is quite literally the antithesis of this.  Even the majority of the usual adages associated with the genre (whiny vocals and lyrics, simple musical structures) annoy me.  Having said that, Dizzy Bats negate much of my usual criticisms, using a mixture of deeply charming humour and wit. 

The opening song “With You I’m Dead” opens with the kind of lyrics that I imagine could genuinely improve the entire genre were they widely noted.  I have a theory it’s perhaps a step too far for Billy Joel Armstrong to come up with a lyric as darkly humorous as, “You’re a ten and I’m just a Chinese six, what a masochist”.  I genuinely laughed out loud at that line.  It’s an absolute subversion of perhaps my main grievance with pop punk – self-deprecation that is utterly devoid of introspective depth or intelligence.

Title track, “Until We Die” actually puts me more in mind of The Fratellis than any pop-punk band I can name, with a catchy Brit-pop guitar tone making up the main riff.  The lyrics here are either, from what I can deduce, a rather nihilistic deconstruction of family life or about growing up in general.  Lines such as, “Pour it out, no more weed” find Connor Frost bemoaning the new found maturity being thrown upon him, and the trials being an adult leave him facing.  The perceived negativity stems from the repeated phrase “When we start to count down”, which, when paired with the title, implicate a deeply pessimistic view of the ageing process. 

The pace is at its most exciting on the final track “Count My Sheep”.  I was actually most impressed by the intricacy of the guitar passages on this track, as towards the end it rattles and soars above the main melody. 

Dizzy Bats have certainly proven me to be wrong in generally going into any album that describes itself as pop-punk with low expectations.  The facetious dark wit on display here is something I’ve admittedly never associated with this genre, but I welcome it as a positive component to throw into the mix.  I can certainly recommend that you stream this EP, and maybe even download it when it’s available, this band deserve your support.

Charlie McCartney

Cutters - both // neither EP Review

Self-described ‘ambient punk’ four piece ‘Cutters’ have brought a fairly unique release to the table with their rather solemn 3 track EP. Built around some rather personal trials, an integral part of the album’s structure is clearly focused on the vocals, a feature that at some points risks drowning out the potential creativity of the instrumentation.

Opening track ‘List of People Buried at Arlington National Cemetery’ is, and it’s clear from the first few seconds, an extremely fast paced angst ridden anthem. It's easily as punk as this album gets; the following two tracks slow in pace and just don’t have the same punch that is most recognisable as punk. Absolutely not a criticism, however, as if anything this opens their EP up to a wider audience and doesn’t make the mistake of constraining it to a narrow genre with a finite fan-base. Although they deal with various related themes a combining feature is the lead singers struggle with gender-identity fairly prominent in the first track with its opening line “I was born right in between, both and neither, king and queen”. I’m sure many interpretations could be drawn from the song and its lyrics, as is the nature of music, but personally I picked up on the unusually long title’s reference to the respect and grandeur regarding people who have fought physical battles. Perhaps highlighting the discrepancy in how people fighting internal battles are treated and in a community where depression and suicide is prevalent simply pointing out the abhorrent and often needless loss of life. Whether my interpretations are accurate or not, it does show that the author of this song has done a large part of his job in at least making me think.

Neither of the following tracks gave me the same desire to ponder their deeper meanings but second track ‘Wicked & Divine’ is my favourite track from a strictly musical perspective. Where the opening track’s aggressive vocals did perturb me, ‘Wicked & Divine’ provided a more pleasing tone and I genuinely enjoyed the vocals in this song. At less than two minutes long I do feel it could have been longer as the only acceptable reason for a song to be as short as this is when an upbeat anthem leaves you so physically drained from dancing it has to cut itself short. This clearly isn’t the aim of this song and I’d have been capable of enjoying it for twice the time it actually lasted.

Third and final track ‘Fade to Black’ is a slow song with more emphasis put on the instrumentation than either of the other tracks giving some credence to their description of ‘ambient’ but rather uncharacteristic of ‘punk’. Its melancholy tone is quite different to the opening track of the EP and as mentioned, but worth repeating, ‘Cutters’ avoid constraining themselves to a pre-defined genre and this gives them the potential to progress with any future releases.

‘both//neither’ does risk turning away some listeners with the acquired taste of its opening track but I definitely give the track merit for having depth. The following songs are much more easily accessible so I feel most people will garner some enjoyment out of them even if their length is lacking. I do recommend you give their EP a listen at the link provided and make your own mind up on whether it’s something you enjoy enough to buy. Maybe one to watch for future releases and see if they make something of the potential they’ve shown.

Nathan Beck

https://cuttersmusic.bandcamp.com/album/both-neither

The Libertines - Anthems for Doomed Youth Review

The context of this album is perhaps as important as any of the actual music. That context is of course the Libertines legacy up until this point, which I would describe without a modicum of irony or sarcasm as the most romantic, yet tragic, in recent British indie music. It was comparable to a fire work display, an explosion of heat and light, eventually extinguished by its own uncontrollable energy.

 Add to this the single released by Pete Doherty earlier this year 'Flags of the old Regime', a contemplative ballad dedicated to the late Amy Winehouse, an unfortunate victim of the kind of lifestyle Doherty bemoans in the lyrics. It's melancholy, truly thought provoking and an insight into the mind of a man with intense inner turmoil. It questions the mentality of youth distorted and poisoned by fame and drugs, the destruction of relationships and friendships, and it's exactly the kind of material the Libertines should be producing.

 Which is why it pains me to say that the Libertines have missed a significant opportunity to allow their music to develop or reflect a more mature approaches to song writing and life in general. The album name suggested this would be the predominant theme, 'Anthems for Doomed Youth', and in all honesty the title track isn't substandard by any means. While fairly simple instrumentally, the lyrics seem completely irrelevant at times. Bar, of course, the strangely knowing lyrics 'they thought that they were brothers, then they half murdered each other, they started karaoke and murdered half their songs'. Whether this was an unkind insight into the reunion as a whole of another off hand rhyming couplet is something I can't speculate one, but this song could have been so much more enhanced and astute.

 The first single 'Gunga Din' seems to almost revel in the kind of substance abuse that has damaged them and their loved ones so much. It's ska inspired riff is simply too slow to be exciting and and the lyrics are actually particularly awful at times. 'Im going to write, because I've got the right' is clunky, badly written and so far below the standard Pete and Carl are capable of.

 The classic Libertines fire and affection is present on several songs however, the latter on 'You're my Waterloo', unsurprisingly as it's one of the most aged songs on the album, and the former on 'Glasgow Coma Scale Blues'. The highlight for me being the catchy and irresistibly Babyshambles-esque 'Heart of the Matter'. But these songs can't salvage an album that feels like the Libertines are just too tired to yell or swear the way they used to. 

 The album is perfectly functional, at times even particularly heartfelt, but I can't say I'm not disappointed by the lack of insight and thought provoking lyrical or thematic content. When this is coupled with an aging weariness looming over the entire project the result is the equivalent of being dragged back to the firework display over a decade later to stare at the burnt out husks.

 I can't recommend you buy the album, but it is worth listening to, even if you just stream it.

Charlie McCartney