Got the new Arctic Monkeys album "Whatever you say I am, that's what I
am not" today, and I've been enjoying it. It's just upbeat, jumpy,
rough-around the edges rock music with punk and ska influences. No deep
philosophical musings or pretentious lyrics, but plenty of lines that
will strike a chord with young folks in the UK at any rate ("there's
only music, so that there's new ring tones"). On first hearing their
big hit "I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor" I was a bit worried
they would have an album full of tracks that didn't live up to it, but
instead most of the tracks are actually stronger than that one. Check
out "You Probably Couldn't See For The Lights But You Were Looking At
Me", "From The Ritz To The Rubble", or "Red Light Indicates Doors Are
Secured" (a track title that will no doubt get a smile from us
gamers!), but to be honest most tracks are pretty indicative of their
style. Far from the most varied of albums, but their one slow track
"Riot Van" is probably the weakest of the lot so maybe the relentlessly
upbeat approach was a wise move!
Also got the new Yellowcard album "Lights and Sounds" a few days ago. I
really enjoyed their last and first proper album "Ocean Avenue", which
was pretty standard pop-punk with the fairly novel twist of having a
dedicated violin player in the band making them stand out a little. My
initial reaction to this new album was not being very impressed, but
while a few of the tracks really are quite dull, some of the others
have grown on me a whole lot. The title track "Lights and Sounds" is
good, solid pop-punk with a chorus thats catchy and ever-tempting to
sing a long to, and other tracks like "Sure Things Fall", "City of
Devils", and "Martin Sheen or JFK" are all great tracks for their own
reasons. Like many bands these days they have a token anti-war track
"Two Weeks From Twenty" that seems a bit too cliched and forced for my
liking, almost like they are just cashing in on the Green Day success.
Thankfully the album ends on a high note after a few mediocre tracks in
the latter half, with the really nice "How I Go" featuring orchestra
backup and guest female vocals which work nicely together with the lead
vocalist.
The new Ordinary Boys album "Brassbound" should be arriving tomorrow hopefully :smile:
[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @
Haiku Interactive |
ReNo-vation.net