Album Reviews – Page 74 – The Light Appears

Simple Minds – Life In A Day (1979)

Posted on July 20, 2014July 20, 2014 by Michael

The story of Simple Minds is generally regarded by most as a story of two halves. The trendy, cool sound of their first five albums before their spiky/angular sound gave way to 80s arena rock bombast. Truth is, I love the massive 80s hits of “Sanctify Yourself” and “Alive and Kicking”. I was always curious about their earlier sound so last year picked up the Simple Minds X5 album pack that collects their first five discs (includes Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call double as well as bonus tracks).

The first release from the Glaswegians was Life In A Day released in the post punk world of 1979. There is a giddy rush to first track, “Someone”. The slight rest before the chorus amps its impact and you can picture the band jumping up and down while playing the track in pubs around the UK. That rush is continued with the handclaps in “Sad Affair”. Non charting single “Chelsea Girl” takes the foot off the gas with a cascading keyboard line from Michael MacNeill. A key song in their early live shows, the track slows to just bass and background cymbals for the final minute while the chorus is sung over and over again. The title track, and lone charting single, features the synthesizer more upfront and has Kerr really going for it in the vocal. Is this a precursor to what would come in the 80s?

The album generally gets middling reviews and the band themselves aren’t overly fond of it. Jim Kerr has expressed disappointment in some of John Leckie’s (!!) production which does make the band sound more like a really good bar band rather than young world beaters. However, to these ears much of it fits in very nicely with classic tracks from that era such as Squeeze’s “Cool For Cats” and the horn driven punk of X-Ray Spex. There was plenty more to come from Simple Minds in future years but this was a damn fine start.

8/10

Album Reviews

St. Vincent – St. Vincent (2014)

Posted on May 25, 2014July 20, 2014 by Michael

Back in 2009 I bought Annie Clark’s, aka St. Vincent, second album Actor. Even with many positive reviews, I just never really got into it. Perhaps it was because I was going through a relationship break up at the time, it didn’t make a huge impression on me at first and I never got back around to it. I had moved on, I had a condo to decorate. From that time, I admired St Vincent from afar but didn’t hear much of her music for several years.

Released in late February, St Vincent’s self-titled album brought me back into the fold. I wanted to get back into her so picked it up… well, ordered it and it took well over a month to receive. Even after making the decision to come back to her, I was late in doing it. I’m glad I did though, St. Vincent the album is a spiky triumph.

In 2012, St Vincent released an album with David Byrne. A Talking Heads influence permeates through, “Digital Witness”. All herky-jerky funk with synthesized horns. “Prince Johnny” has the feel of a torch song with an electronic choir humming just beneath the instruments. However, lyrics about “the time we went and snorted” and “holding court in bathroom stalls” suggest something darker is on Ms Clark’s mind.

“Birth In Reverse” sizzles with angular beats and guitar riffs. “I prefer your love to, Jesus” opens the ballad “I Prefer Your Love”. With a mournful synth carrying the track, it comes across as an updated version of Sinead’s “Nothing Compares 2 U”. The album ends on a high note with “Severed Cross Fingers” – “We’ll be heroes on every bar stool when seeing double beats not seeing one of you”. Of everything released so far this, St Vincent is a wondrous album that stands taller than most.

9/10

Album Reviews

Kevin Drew – Darlings (2014)

Posted on May 20, 2014July 20, 2014 by Michael

On Fox drama, Party of Five, one of the best posters I’ve ever seen appeared on the bedroom wall of Neve Campbell’s character. It was the cover to Lush’s Split album. Four lemons featured on the left and the lyrics running down the right side. I’ve looked for that poster for years. While not as great, another standout rock poster in a TV show is on the Mindy Project. Pop culture loving Mindy for whatever reason, other than it fits the décor, has a Broken Social Scene poster in her living room. While it’s been a long while since Broken Social Scene have released anything, they live on every week on a lowly watched but otherwise clever show.

Because of this, I’m reminded of Kevin Drew nearly every week. Earlier this year he released his second solo album, Darlings. Preceded by brilliant single, “Good Sex” (included here), Darlings hums along right from the get go. Most of the tracks lean toward mid-tempo, synth driven variety. “You Gotta Feel It” shines as does “You In Your Were” (featuring backing vocals from Feist). Throughout, Drew sings mainly about love and sex, first track here is called “Body Butter”, but it never veers to being crass. There is a warmth to the sound that makes this second solo album sound both personal and intimate, with far more winners than losers.

7.5/10

Album Reviews

The War On Drugs – Lost In The Dream (2014)

Posted on May 20, 2014July 20, 2014 by Michael

The War on Drugs’ 2011 sophomore release was as slow burner. Slave Ambient is one of those albums that you put on in the early afternoon and hours later realize you’ve listened to it ten times in a row and still want to hear it again. After receiving quite a bit of critical acclaim and a successful tour, Adam Granduciel (The War on Drugs’ main man) spent fifteen months at home in Philadelphia crafting its follow-up, Lost In The Dream.

The basic sound of Slave Ambient is still intact, Tunnel of Love era Bruce Springsteen with Bob Dylan vocals and a splash of Tom Petty, but the songs have grown longer with half of the ten tracks going over the six minute mark. Opener “Under the Pressure” is a marvel. A piano twinkles in and out before a mid-section breakdown of layered guitars and synthesizers, a drum then kick starts the song back alive. “Eyes To The Wind” turns up Granduciel’s Dylanesque vocal inflections when he sings, “I’m just a bit run down here at the moment, yeah I’m all alone here, living in darkness”. “Burning” contains a piano line that is an absolute dead ringer for Rod Stewart’s “Young Turks”… and is all the better for it.

In the hands of lesser talent, longer tracks can easily lose focus but here that really only happens with the meandering “Disappearing”. Lost In The Dream was crafted in the city but it is the sound of prairie skies, dusty roads and pick-up trucks. Tim Riggins and Lyla Gerrity would surely approve. This is already one of the best albums of 2014. Pennsylvania forever.

8/10

Album Reviews

Angel Olsen – Burn Your Fire For No Witness (2014)

Posted on April 27, 2014November 12, 2016 by Michael

It’s not often a love song can be described as ferocious, but it seems an apt description for Angel Olsen’s blinding single “Forgiven/Forgotten”. Hearing Olsen shout ”I don’t know anything, but I love you” through a haze of vocal and guitar distortion is mesmerizing. Olsen then taps into her inner Hank Williams for the punk-country twang of “Hi-Five” where she pleads, “I’m giving you my heart, are you giving me your heart?”

And this is how Angel Olsen’s second album, and first for Jagjaguwar, Burn Your Fire For No Witnessstarts out. As you get deeper into the album, Olsen, along with producer John Conglton favour minimal arrangements, letting the vocals mingle with spare instrumentation. The hushed lament of album closer “Windows” and acoustic “Iota” are great examples. But both contain subtle power, the percussion swell in the former and a bass drum that sounds like bombs going off in the distance on the latter. Burn Your Fire… is beautiful, angry, loving and sad all at the same time. This range of emotion makes Angel Olsen’s first full band release, a very compelling listen.

8/10

Review also found at UMFM.com