Ryan’s January album roundup
January 13, 2010 by hype_admin
Filed under Main features
Open your arms and give a warm virtual hug to one of the new members of the hypeaddict.net team – Ryan Cook. To kick things off, he’s reviewed a few of the latest albums that are begging for your attention.
Royal Bangs
‘Let it Beep’
This album hops around like a 1 legged hopscotch professional, not being able to decide if it’s a balls to the wall rock out indie album, a synth tinged dance floor filler or a late night lovin’ boudoir record, that said the pace of some of these songs would see your little fellow worn down to a nub if you tried to keep pace with them!
Its pretty easy to hear where they take some of their influences from, with Tiny Prince of Keytar and 1993 taking a large slice from all 3 Strokes albums, My Car is Haunted with twinges of The Rapture, in all their cowbell glory or Crystal Antlers to name but a few.
That said it is quite a good, cohesive album, with some good highlights, and a few low level anthems to be found, the problem is that there are so many bands around at the minute pumping out these types of similar sounding albums that it doesn’t really matter which one of them you buy as generally there all pretty much of a muchness. Although this would be on the top of that pile.
I don’t think I’d part with my hard earned pennies after a tough week down the pits for this but its deffo worth waiting for a mate to buy it, and then stealing it off them!
6.7 out of 10
Vampire Weekend
’Contra’
Since hearing some of the songs previewed at WoW festival this summer, I have had quite a crotchal bulge in anticipation. They are so summery they make that big ball of yellow stuff up there (sorry, not seen in England since summer 1963, I mean the Sun) seem like a 2 week caravan holiday in Weston-Super-Mare, in the middle of January.
This album is anything but a disappointment, sounding more like Vampire Weekend that Vampire Weekend do. While sitting there listening you can just imagine them in their preppy chino shorts and boarding school shirts complete with boating shoes, guitars up around their nipples and side partings blowing intelligently in the wind.
It kicks off with Horchata, a song which would not sound out of place on an electro version of Jungle Book. California English is an indecipherable backwards lyrics sounding song that you would have trouble keeping up with while shaking your limbs on the dance floor at your local youth group or discotheque. The same can be said for Cousins which is such a fast passed song it would make Usain Bolt look like he was cruising around on a Stannah Stairlift.
Since their first album, they have obviously been given the key to the boarding school music cupboard as there is a bigger inclusion of synths throughout the spine of the record. There’s even a hark back to 19th Century period drama music, Taxi Cab, though you’d be more likely to hear it in Plunkett & Macleane than Pride & Prejudice! Still.
This is very much a Vampire Weekend album and is a wondrous continuation from where their debut left off and although this has been released in the middle of the coldest snap since Mammoths were hanging out with Sloths and Sabres (if Disney films are factually accurate) this will still be the sound of this year’s rainy season, that’s summer to you and I.
8.2 out of 10
The Drums
‘Summertime!’
They’ve been bummed by literally every muso journalist and mag this side of Narnia (figuratively speaking of course), im not suggesting some ‘sleep with the powers that be to get ahead’ type of conspiracy!’
And so it was that they were recently featuring in the BBC’s Sound of 2010 list, it would appear that a bright future lays ahead for this US band. Previous bands to feature in the list include La Roux, Florence and the Machine and, ahem…Mika, prestigious company indeed!
Despite hailing from the other side of the pond this EP couldn’t sound more Scandinavian if it was recorded in a sauna whilst they were eating meatballs and putting together some flat pack furniture. It has all the hallmarks of a band that really could produce something to get the loins stirring.
Theres nothing particularly new or innovative on here, but hey Oasis have done alright by releasing the same song on 57 consecutive albums, so I for one am rather looking forward to the release of their first full LP, let’s hope it sounds nothing like Mika!
7.5 out of 10
