Issue 151

Album Reviews - Jan 2007

29th January 2007

Bloc Party – 'A Weekend in the City'

With the inevitable expectations of the follow-up to 2005's Silent Alarm gnawing at their ankles, the East Londoners have now bestowed their second album upon us with mixed results. Caught between ambition and self-indulgence, it's charged with political intrigue only to whittle away to languid and uninspiring love songs. The mellow sensibilities only serve to undermine the initial musical malice.
Released: 5 February
Label: Wichita
Rating: 3/5

Tom Leaning

Capdown – Wind Up Toys

Milton Keynes is not exactly known for being an inspirational base for creative talent, and that may explain why it's taken Capdown over five years to release their third studio album. 'Wind-Up Toys' shows an inclination by the band to deviate from their ska-punk origins to capture a crunchier, rockier approach in parts. 'Thrash Thursday', for example, is probably intended as a flexing of their new found hardcore muscle. But maybe they've just been reminded they come from Milton Keynes. It's enough to make anyone get distressed...
Released: 5 February
Label: Fierce Panda
Rating: 3/5

Pete Hayman

Cold War Kids – 'Robbers and Cowards'

On first listen, 'Robbers and Cowards' sounds messy with Cold War Kids seemingly using everything they can find to make a noise. However, after a few listens you begin to peel back the layers, listen to the lyrics, and realise those random cymbal clashes are supposed to be there. 'Hang Me Up To Dry' and 'We Used To Vacation' are highlights, although everything is worthy of mention. Cold War Kids are the most original you'll hear this year and well worth a place in your music collection.
Released: 5 February
Label: V2
Rating: 4/5

Rebecca Lamberth

Fall Out Boy – 'Infinity On High'

For anyone who was a fan of Fall Out Boy before their success with 'From Under The Cork Tree' this album will be a distinct shock to the system. With 'Infinity On High', the band have taken a decidedly more mainstream approach to their music. It is rather bland and lacks a previous energy. That is with the exception of some truly fantastic songs such as 'Bang The Doldrums', with its great pirate like chorus, and also the beautifully melodic 'Golden'.
Released: 5 February
Label: Mercury
Rating: 3/5

Roz Moger

Jamie T – 'Panic Prevention'

The debut offering from one of England's most distinctive musical talents is here in the form of 'Panic Prevention'. Armed with an acoustic-bass, this is a rough 'n' ready fusion of punk and West Indian reggae influences that so eloquently serve to serve up a glimpse of South London life through the eyes of the most modern of poets. From the urban heartache of 'Salvador' to the dub stylings of 'Alicia Quays', Jamie T crosses style boundaries almost seamlessly. If you got the money…ah well, I won't finish that pun, you know where it leads.
Released: 29 January
Label: Virgin
Rating: 4/5

Pete Hayman

Explosions in the Sky – 'All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone'

Now onto their fifth studio release, Texas post-rock outfit 'Explosions in the Sky' follow Sigur Ros in supplying the new apparent demand for music that you can immerse yourself in. There is an extraordinary organic feel to the album, allowing for a poignant escapism bred through soaring guitar-based melodies that would sit comfortably over a trailer for David Attenborough's next television project. For an album that essentially only contains five tracks, you still get 43 minutes of material. It's a bittersweet epic that will meander through a myriad of evocative sentiment and will mesmerise.
Released: 19 February
Label: Temporary Residence Limited
Rating: 5/5

Pete Hayman

Little Man Tate – 'About What You Know'

Maybe it's something in the water up there, but Sheffield has once again proved to be a hotbed of rock 'n' roll talent as Little Man Tate unleash an absolute gem of a debut album that will take some beating this year, even though we are barely a month into it. Each track seethes with a furious energy so clinically contained that it'll be demanding to be played as soon as your hands touch it.
Released: 29 January
Label: V2
Rating: 5/5

Pete Hayman

Mika – 'Life In Cartoon Motion'

Leading with the awesome single, 'Grace Kelly', Mika's 'Life in Cartoon Motion' is one of the big hopes for 2007. Combining modern musical techniques with seventies disco and catchy piano-based melodies, this really is something different to what is in the charts today. 'Grace Kelly' is by far and above the most brilliant thing about this album, but it seems that the rest of it measures up quite nicely
Released: 5 February
Label: Island
Rating: 5/5

Amy Wilkinson

The Decemberists - 'The Crane Wife'

Building up an extensive fanbase and building up huge critical acclaim, The Decemberists release their seventh eagerly anticipated album. Somehow managing to stay off the mainstream music radar, this American band really have released a series of beautiful albums. Perhaps not to everyone's tastes, this band blends all kinds of genres that end up in a kind of upbeat Thom Yorke record that will keep their huge fanbase happy.
Released: 29 January
Label: Rough Trade
Rating: 4/5

Amy Wilkinson

The Shins – 'Wincing The Night Away'

"I swear, this track will change your life" says Natalie Portman, in 2004's cult film 'Garden State'. She is, of course, talking about 'New Slang' from The Shins' 2001 album 'Oh, Inverted World'. After another studio album ('Chutes Too Narrow') they follow with 'Wincing the Night Away'. Album highlights include 'Australia', 'Turn on Me' and the debut single release from this album, 'Phantom Limb'. The album is perfectly arranged, beginning with the beautifully sublime 'Sleeping Lessons' and then building up to the more upbeat and brilliantly lyrical 'Red Rabbits'. This latest album may not change your life, but it'll certainly give it a go.
Released: 29 January
Label: Transgressive
Rating: 4/5

Amy Wilkinson

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