>>Nostalgia For Infinity

I’ve got a longstanding policy of not posting press releases or otherwise doing any kind of PR on this blog: I review stuff or otherwise indulge in creative or critical writing. That’s what I do.

However, I’m going to make an exception for Next Biggest Thing. I’ve a few reasons for this. Because it’s a newly-launched music club run by nice people. Because they send out a free digital single to subscribers every month. Because they put on free shows in London. Because, when I was looking into how this could be funded, I discovered that it’s an initiative by earMusic, the rock/pop/indie/metal subsidiary of Edel Group. Do you know who earMusic and Edel have put out? Fucking Gamma Ray. That’s right, cheesy as fuck German power metal. I used to love Gamma Ray and still stick them on occasionally for some lulz and nostalgia.

So anyway, yeah, it’s a cool initiative and whilst there’s no such thing as a free lunch there is such a thing as getting free tunes and shows from a subsidiary of a subsidiary of a group of medium-sized international record labels.

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There are times when cultural differences, no matter how small and minor, seem signficant. It’s my conclusion that Steep Bay by The End of America suffers from these – from my perspective, at least. But Steep Bay is an album that remembers the expansive landscapes of North America rather than the cramped rural countryside of England; that hearkens back to a different folk tradition and different national memories and histories.

But let’s start at the beginning: this album is a concept album that takes as its inspiration a very simple, earthy desire. The three members of the band set out to escape the distractions and trappings of modern society, to head out into the isolation and remoteness of the wilderness, and then to record music exploring the inspiration they derived from the environment and from their friendship and shared love of music.

This is a lovely idea, and I wish that what it had produced was something I found more engaging. Alas, the small and subtle differences I mentioned above may have been enough to throw a chasm between what inspires me and what inspired Steep Bay. But with the possible unfairness of my criticisms set aside, here’s why the album didn’t work for me.

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Even after years of listening to and reviewing music it’s great that there are still little things that can surprise or impress me – like just how much sound and intensity can come out of a three-piece lineup.

After The Fall (or Afterthefall?) hail from Albany in the state of New York, the capital city of that state – a fact which makes no sense to this non-American. Thus, I choose to believe that this example of political incoherence was the driving factor behind the band’s politicisation. Well, that or the rampant economic and social injustice that plagues the entire world, even the world’s richest, most culturally and militarily powerful country.

But this aside is a bit of a red herring, because on closer inspection After The Fall’s lyrics are more focused upon the personal political than larger, often abstract concepts. Take, for example, ‘Cents Less’: “Remember when you said ‘you have no fucking clue about this business?’ Well sorry to say I proved you wrong,where were your interests?” Break-up songs about collapsing record label relationships aren’t new but they are rare, and certainly a song that criticises ‘business values’ and lauds personal integrity and self-respect stands out.

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Chock full of additives and artificial flavourings: Nostalgia For Infinity!

I’ve started posting the occasional piece on Saturdays in addition to the usual Tuesday/Thursday review schedule and Sunday link round-up. I’ve got a buffer of two months of reviews now and have decided to step up my posting schedule.

There are a few reasons for this, the first of which is that there are some records I’ve been wanting to write about but have been sitting on for a while, the second of which is that I’m being sent more material for review these days, and the third is that I’m considering posting more opinion-style pieces about this and that (e.g. the I Live Sweat highlight I did a few weeks ago).

With that said I’m pretty busy these days between the day job, writing reviews for NFI, writing for and running Arcadian Rhythms and playing in Wrecktheplacefantastic, so please forgive me if I miss a Saturday or two. Those Tuesday and Thursday reviews are going to keep on coming the foreseeable future, though, you can be sure of that.

And yes, in case anyone wasn’t aware, it is just me who writes for NFI. A one-man band if you will. Oh, and I still write about books and film occasionally, just less often these days…

As always, readers: thanks for reading!

Del.icio.us links for April 20th through April 22nd:

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I’ve previously written about Fortune Favours the Brave, a free single from this album which was released last September, describing it as an uplifting and earworm-hooky piece of indie-pop that should’ve been a dancefloor hit. I’ve rarely got the patience for clubs these days so I don’t know how accurate that prediction turned out to be, but I stand by my thoughts on the song as it’s still irrepressibly cheery and addictive.

Strike a Match opens with ‘Coffee Shop’, which hits a lot of the same notes as the aforementioned single. It’s catchy and chirpy with an honest tinge of struggle and limitation; the lines “the city’s mine to explore, but then it ends and I want more” highlight the lyrical motif of aimless exploration, of wandering and wondering and observing the city one calls home. It’s a great opener, and that it’s followed by ‘Fortune’ gives the album a strong start. Unfortunately it’s a pace the album struggles to hold consistently.

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Diamonds (“The Band”) are a four-piece outfit from the Black Country, composed of members of regional mainstays like Mothertrucker, The Shoguns Decapitator, The Hubble Constant and Fawks. I’ve heard of Mothertrucker but not the other outfits, but then it’s a long time since I lived in the North or went to Birmingham, so that doesn’t mean much! Diamonds themselves are a relatively young band, forming just last year initially as a trio. This is their first release, hence the title.

Apparently Diamonds started off as a grind band but after adding a fourth member went off in a different direction. There are still elements of those grind origins here, but they’re just a small part of a whole that draws on funk, disco and “spazzcore” (work with me here), with all this meat packed around a skeleton of post-punk and hardcore.

First impressions on ‘Incinerate the Incinerator’ are indicative: nonsensical, self-reflexive title; production that sounds a little tinny and cheap but simultaneously quite polished – perhaps a deliberate conceit; top-heavy drums rapping on the cymbals, yelped vocals and speedy funk-inspired guitar riffs in the verses, significantly bass-heavier drums and fat chuggy riffs in the choruses with screamed vocals. Halfway through the song changes pace into a third pattern: slower, more thudding drums, plenty of trem guitar and stripped-down basslines. Yep, it’s experimental hardcore party time!

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‘South’ is the first single from Pilotlight’s debut album, The Post War Musical. I’ve not heard the album but according to the press release accompanying this digital single it’s built around a solid theme. Bear with me, for no readily apparent reason I can’t copy and paste text straight out of it…

The Post War Musical, a project introduced by the British government after the Second World War in order to boost morale, brought hope to a landscape devastated by loss.

It’s a nice historical reference and an unusual one to see an album based around. Having not heard the album I can’t comment on to what extent the title informs the album’s thematic matter, however, this single doesn’t appear to engage with it to a great extent. Rather, ‘South’ is equal parts love song, giving thanks for friends and family, and a gentle farewell – perhaps to the same. In a very abstract sense I can see some association there, but there’s not much to it. I have to say I hope the album as a whole makes a bit more of an effort to engage with the source of its name, else it might seem a bit emotionally cheap to use it.

Happily, ‘South’ the song is a good tune: it’s built around simple piano work, guitar picks and gentle vocals sung softly and placed high in the mix. As its four minutes wear on the song builds, with the drums increasing in intensity and the vocals in force – until at points they’re being belted out with throat-straining emotional power. A multi-tracked tremolo guitar solo even makes an appearance to spice things up a bit. Overall it’s a good, solid tune, initially a little pedestrian but which wins you over as it grows and grows on you. Alas, there are no b-sides so I can’t draw more of an overall picture of the band – hence my above reservations concerning the album as a whole – but as a single, ‘South’ is a pleasant and heartfelt offering.

MySpace | Facebook | ‘South’ video | Glasstone Recordings

Del.icio.us links for April 11th through April 17th:

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When Here We Are Tomorrow first came to me for review I had a strong sensation that I’d heard Annabel before. Although I think this wasn’t the case, and I was actually suffering from a bit of ‘music geek’s name confusion’ and thinking of Annalise, alongside recognising their name from their record labels websites, I think that deja vu-ish sensation is a fitting intro for this review.

What I mean by that is Annabel are a nostalgic pop-punk outfit, one of those bands I love to love and haters to hate. It’s right there in plain view on the EP’s cover: simple presentation, an old photo of kids playing in the sea. I wouldn’t go so far as to claim Annabel are saying how much better things were back then – a moment’s thought on anyone’s part is usually enough to dismiss that sort of bullshit – but you can still look back and remember all the little moments of joy and sadness that led you to where you are today.

Or possibly I’m projecting my own thoughts and opinions onto the band, in which case I’ll shut up and get on with talking about the music now.

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