ALBUM REVIEW: Benjamin Gibbard - Former Lives (City Slang)

Originally published at Middle Boop Mag: http://www.middleboopmag.com/music/music-news/benjamin-gibbard-%E2%80%93-former-lives-city-slang

Benjamin Gibbard has been the lead singer of the American indie rock band Death Cab For Cutie for the past 15 years, as well as his part in his other band The Postal Service. He was also married to indie pinup Zooey Deschanel, but they have recently had an uncomfortably public breakup. Former Lives if his first album released under only his name.

Usually when someone decides to go solo, it carries separatist connotations. Be it breaking free of the restraints and inevitable negotiation of their band mates, a craving to create a sound or message that won’t sit well with said bands adjusted style or just plain boredom. Typically, the person in question mixes it up to some extent. Think Kele Okereke a la Bloc Party – he went from indie rock to house music, a complete u-turn.

Gibbard however seems content with releasing a full length solo homage to his days with Death Cab For Cutie and The Postal Service. On the surface, it sounds very similar. He has though stated that Former Lives is, “a side story, not a new chapter.”

For fans of Death Cab you will no doubt like what you hear. Inspirations include three relationships, living in two different places and drinking and then not drinking.  It is like his personal narration of his time in the bands, a place where he can execute something wholly personal – sadly it fails to connect.

A man famed and loved for his cutting and cruel lyrics, this is very safe. It sounds ‘nice’ and all that, but is rather uninteresting. ‘Teardrop Windows’, ‘Dream Song’ and ‘Bigger Than Love’ are worth adding to the record collection, but that’s really about it.

ALBUM REVIEW: Allah-Las - Allah-Las

Originally published at Notion Magazine: http://www.planetnotion.com/2012/11/22/album-review-allah-las-allah-las/

Allah-Las are a psych rock band who formed in Los Angeles back in 2008, priding themselves on their LA-centric, geographically enhanced laid-back style. Having released their debut EP Tell Me (What’s On Your Mind) earlier this year to rave reviews and the impressive approval of Patrick Campbell-Lyons, Allah Las are in a great position to release a full-length album. They also gathered masses of interest from the trendier American blogs and some UK ones after they turned heads at this year’s FYF Fest hosted in LA.

One wonders why it has taken the four-piece four years to collect up the tracks for their debut, but as the album unfolds it is clear that many a heartbreak has been woven into each track, carefully crafted with love and longing.  The record teems with nostalgic jangle-pop, hints of garage, psych and groove. The fuzzy, harmonised backgrounds and sundrenched guitars wash over you in a haze of blurry dream rock.

Allah Las are a band that wear their influences on their sleeve, with hints of Byrds, Love, The Kinks and even The Rolling Stones. They have that expansive sound that instantly draws the listener in, much like the more recent Tame Impala. The album has such classicist influences that one could be forgiven for mistaking it for an old dusty LP from the ’60s dug out of a record store.

Opener ‘Catamaran’ instantly transports you to a chilled out day on the LA sea front. The band are surfers as well as musicians, an obvious sway over the tone of their music on tracks like ‘Busman’s Holiday’ and ‘Sacred Sands’.  This album begs to be enjoyed in a social setting and is perfect background music. ‘Ela Nevega’ is an ambient grooving instrumental, a necessary break between the other more vocally led tracks.

There is nothing avant-garde about this record – it is more a loving homage to LA and it’s dusty pavements and gleaming seascapes, attributes that make it one of the most alluring places in the world. The album blurs through expressively and is nothing short of spectacular, unionising the bright sunshine and waves with the inevitable heartbreak that even the enviable setting of LA can’t quite soothe.

NEW MUSIC

This is good too...

Oh and this, words escape me.

ALBUM REVIEW: Vitalic - Rave Age (Different Recordings)

Originally published at Middle Boop Mag:  http://www.middleboopmag.com/music/albums/vitalic-rage-age-different-recordings

This is the third LP from French musician Vitalic, titled rather awkwardly Rave Age. Now 37 years old, and 12 years on since his debut album Okay Cowboy – has much really changed? Each song thrown out over any dance floor would no doubt cause mayhem, but set aside one another in an album format it makes little sense. ‘Rave Kids Go’ is interesting, and perhaps the only glimmer of something new. ‘Fade Away’ is his finest hour, sounding slightly 80’s with a throwback vocal effect. 

The French are superior providers of dance floor bangers - think Daft Punk, Justice or more recently David Guetta (before he sold his soul to ‘the man’). Vitalic is no different; however, Rave Age is in no way daring, just more of the same formula repeated to a rather stale effect.