Album Reviews.
One of my favorite things in the world is finding new bands to love, and when I find a band to love, I love hard.
One year I was lucky enough to work with Elon's Pendulum and write about some of my favorite albums when they were released.
Below are the results.
One year I was lucky enough to work with Elon's Pendulum and write about some of my favorite albums when they were released.
Below are the results.
On 'Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action':
Franz Ferdinand Comes Back Swinging
September 18, 2013
“Come home, practically all is nearly forgiven.” The first words on Franz Ferdinand’s new album, “Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action” are pulled straight from a postcard that frontman Alex Kapranos found at a flea market.
Delving through strangers’ private correspondence is in no way out of character for the deceptively fresh-faced Scotsman. Kapranos is equal parts unquenchable curiosity and unstoppable passion, a combination that gives him an unabashed and indiscriminate interest in the world around him. Love, heartbreak, religion, death; Kapranos turns his unflinching attention on each in turn, never satisfied with an easy answer. It is this sense of perpetual restlessness which permeates Franz’ new album.
In an August interview with SPIN, frontman Alex Kapranos gave up-and-coming bands advice: “A band should aspire to be that pivotal point where everything changes.” “Right Thoughts…” is an album about questions, both unanswered and unanswerable. Kapranos doesn’t believe in easy answers and he certainly doesn’t hand any out to his listeners. The singer makes it a point to never discuss his private life to the public, leaving the stories he weaves wide open for anyone to step into. The songs from “Right Thoughts…” become collaboration between artist and audience to cobble together a deeper significance, the listeners adding feelings and experiences to Franz Ferdinand’s excellently turned phrases. Anyone listening can so easily become the smiling madman asking for a manual to life, the forlorn wanderer looking for something to hold onto, the “proudest man in the world” who can’t admit he’s wrong to the one he loves the most.
Luckily for listeners, “Right Thoughts…” is also an album about dancing. Franz Ferdinand has proudly stuck to its dance rock roots, brandishing its live instruments in a world turning ever-increasingly to the electronic. The album shows progress without losing any of the frenzied energy from previous work. There are still a few pleasant surprises; “Fresh Strawberries” is an existential crisis swathed in a sweet little retro-pop wrapper. Other tracks fizzle with ominous lyrics, accompanied by coolly sinister melodies that are unsettling in the most deeply satisfying way.
Franz manages to wrap the album up at exactly the level of morbidity you’d expect from a band that once used human bone as an instrument. “Goodbye Lovers and Friends” is framed as a set of rather finicky dictations from a dead man at his own funeral, set to a tune I’d like to call “a peppy dirge.” “Right Thoughts…”closes with the line “This really is the end.” As the last chords fade out, I find myself hoping that’s not the case.
Franz had a lot to prove 10 years out from the success of their last studio release, and as far as I’m concerned, the band outstripped every expectation. Franz Ferdinand is still very clearly capable of turning out its distinct brand of discordant love songs, electrifying dance tunes and everything in between. Franz Ferdinand tackles “Right Thoughts…” with the same passion and ingenuity that put the band in the public eye years ago, and it proves that they deserve to stay there for some time to come.
Originally published in The Edge, 9.18.13
“Come home, practically all is nearly forgiven.” The first words on Franz Ferdinand’s new album, “Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action” are pulled straight from a postcard that frontman Alex Kapranos found at a flea market.
Delving through strangers’ private correspondence is in no way out of character for the deceptively fresh-faced Scotsman. Kapranos is equal parts unquenchable curiosity and unstoppable passion, a combination that gives him an unabashed and indiscriminate interest in the world around him. Love, heartbreak, religion, death; Kapranos turns his unflinching attention on each in turn, never satisfied with an easy answer. It is this sense of perpetual restlessness which permeates Franz’ new album.
In an August interview with SPIN, frontman Alex Kapranos gave up-and-coming bands advice: “A band should aspire to be that pivotal point where everything changes.” “Right Thoughts…” is an album about questions, both unanswered and unanswerable. Kapranos doesn’t believe in easy answers and he certainly doesn’t hand any out to his listeners. The singer makes it a point to never discuss his private life to the public, leaving the stories he weaves wide open for anyone to step into. The songs from “Right Thoughts…” become collaboration between artist and audience to cobble together a deeper significance, the listeners adding feelings and experiences to Franz Ferdinand’s excellently turned phrases. Anyone listening can so easily become the smiling madman asking for a manual to life, the forlorn wanderer looking for something to hold onto, the “proudest man in the world” who can’t admit he’s wrong to the one he loves the most.
Luckily for listeners, “Right Thoughts…” is also an album about dancing. Franz Ferdinand has proudly stuck to its dance rock roots, brandishing its live instruments in a world turning ever-increasingly to the electronic. The album shows progress without losing any of the frenzied energy from previous work. There are still a few pleasant surprises; “Fresh Strawberries” is an existential crisis swathed in a sweet little retro-pop wrapper. Other tracks fizzle with ominous lyrics, accompanied by coolly sinister melodies that are unsettling in the most deeply satisfying way.
Franz manages to wrap the album up at exactly the level of morbidity you’d expect from a band that once used human bone as an instrument. “Goodbye Lovers and Friends” is framed as a set of rather finicky dictations from a dead man at his own funeral, set to a tune I’d like to call “a peppy dirge.” “Right Thoughts…”closes with the line “This really is the end.” As the last chords fade out, I find myself hoping that’s not the case.
Franz had a lot to prove 10 years out from the success of their last studio release, and as far as I’m concerned, the band outstripped every expectation. Franz Ferdinand is still very clearly capable of turning out its distinct brand of discordant love songs, electrifying dance tunes and everything in between. Franz Ferdinand tackles “Right Thoughts…” with the same passion and ingenuity that put the band in the public eye years ago, and it proves that they deserve to stay there for some time to come.
Originally published in The Edge, 9.18.13
On 'AM':
Rainy Sheffield Meets Sun-Dried LA
October 13, 2013
When Arctic Monkeys’ latest album dropped last month, they’d captured the attention of everyone from Elton John to Robert Pattinson. In the ten years they’ve been together, each of Arctic Monkeys’ five albums has taken the number one spot on the UK charts, something that’s never been accomplished by any band on an indie label before.
The new album, “AM,” has become the second best selling record of the year, right after Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories.” It’s currently in the running for a Mercury Award, competing in the category with heavy hitters the likes of David Bowie.
It’s undeniable that Arctic Monkeys are a success. But sometimes it’s hard to tell whether anyone’s told them that.
As the recognition and accolades pile up, the Arctic Monkeys maintain their dreamy placidness, perpetually appearing to just have been shaken awake. They seem no more preoccupied with their external appearance than they were ten years ago when they were still playing small, dingy Sheffield pubs. If anything, the success has enabled them to be as meticulous as ever when it comes to how their music sounds.
If there’s one thing the Arctic Monkeys cannot abide, it’s a stale sound.
They approach each album as a chance to try something new, to expand their reaches into new areas and to make something that’s fun to play.
So, what was the recipe for “AM?” The Arctic Monkeys started with a strong base of hip-hop influences, mimicking the heavy beats and rapid-fire lyrical delivery of artists like Dr. Dre. They’ve added to the mix lyrical references from Coldplay to Dusty Springfield to Jane Fonda, melodic influences from Lou Reed to Outkast and guest performances from Elvis Costello’s drummer and Coral’s guitarist, not to mention a sample from Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing.”
To top it off, they’ve given the whole thing a liberal dusting of California desert, using alternative rock group Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme for backing vocals on more than one track. The Arctic Monkeys are insatiable when it comes to variety, and they’ve done a masterful job of mixing the flavors here for something wonderful and unique.
The result is an album of anthems for the modern rebel without a cause. It paints a world that only exists between the hours of midnight and sunrise, against a backdrop of seedy clubs, crowded flats and dark street corners.
According to frontman Alex Turner, the goal of this album was to manufacture an energy so compelling that it’s impossible to turn off, and I think it’s safe to say that’s exactly what they’ve done. Combined with Alex Turner’s well-penned nonsense lyrics, the songs of “AM” project the right amounts of both drive and aimlessness.
With its gritty rock guitar parts and electrified beat, “R U Mine?” is the song to wear a leather jacket and ride a motorcycle around to. The restlessness and call to wander on tracks like “One for the Road” and “I Want It All” are perfectly in balance with the hopeless fixation and longing found on “Arabella,” “No. 1 Party Anthem” and “Snap Out of It.”
Overall, “AM” is the culmination of a decade of growth and exploration, the result of a relentless passion for making music with true voltage behind it, music with enough energy that it’s nearly impossible to turn off.
With each album, the Arctic Monkeys have become more and more adept at conveying their thoughts and ideas through an ever-shifting array of musical languages. Just like its self-referential title, “AM” conveys everything that Arctic Monkeys have become: a force to be reckoned with.
If you want to get a handle on the feel of the album, a great place to start is “R U Mine?,” “Do I Wanna Know?” or the slower and sweeter “No. 1 Party Anthem.”
Originally published in The Edge, 10.13.13
When Arctic Monkeys’ latest album dropped last month, they’d captured the attention of everyone from Elton John to Robert Pattinson. In the ten years they’ve been together, each of Arctic Monkeys’ five albums has taken the number one spot on the UK charts, something that’s never been accomplished by any band on an indie label before.
The new album, “AM,” has become the second best selling record of the year, right after Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories.” It’s currently in the running for a Mercury Award, competing in the category with heavy hitters the likes of David Bowie.
It’s undeniable that Arctic Monkeys are a success. But sometimes it’s hard to tell whether anyone’s told them that.
As the recognition and accolades pile up, the Arctic Monkeys maintain their dreamy placidness, perpetually appearing to just have been shaken awake. They seem no more preoccupied with their external appearance than they were ten years ago when they were still playing small, dingy Sheffield pubs. If anything, the success has enabled them to be as meticulous as ever when it comes to how their music sounds.
If there’s one thing the Arctic Monkeys cannot abide, it’s a stale sound.
They approach each album as a chance to try something new, to expand their reaches into new areas and to make something that’s fun to play.
So, what was the recipe for “AM?” The Arctic Monkeys started with a strong base of hip-hop influences, mimicking the heavy beats and rapid-fire lyrical delivery of artists like Dr. Dre. They’ve added to the mix lyrical references from Coldplay to Dusty Springfield to Jane Fonda, melodic influences from Lou Reed to Outkast and guest performances from Elvis Costello’s drummer and Coral’s guitarist, not to mention a sample from Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing.”
To top it off, they’ve given the whole thing a liberal dusting of California desert, using alternative rock group Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme for backing vocals on more than one track. The Arctic Monkeys are insatiable when it comes to variety, and they’ve done a masterful job of mixing the flavors here for something wonderful and unique.
The result is an album of anthems for the modern rebel without a cause. It paints a world that only exists between the hours of midnight and sunrise, against a backdrop of seedy clubs, crowded flats and dark street corners.
According to frontman Alex Turner, the goal of this album was to manufacture an energy so compelling that it’s impossible to turn off, and I think it’s safe to say that’s exactly what they’ve done. Combined with Alex Turner’s well-penned nonsense lyrics, the songs of “AM” project the right amounts of both drive and aimlessness.
With its gritty rock guitar parts and electrified beat, “R U Mine?” is the song to wear a leather jacket and ride a motorcycle around to. The restlessness and call to wander on tracks like “One for the Road” and “I Want It All” are perfectly in balance with the hopeless fixation and longing found on “Arabella,” “No. 1 Party Anthem” and “Snap Out of It.”
Overall, “AM” is the culmination of a decade of growth and exploration, the result of a relentless passion for making music with true voltage behind it, music with enough energy that it’s nearly impossible to turn off.
With each album, the Arctic Monkeys have become more and more adept at conveying their thoughts and ideas through an ever-shifting array of musical languages. Just like its self-referential title, “AM” conveys everything that Arctic Monkeys have become: a force to be reckoned with.
If you want to get a handle on the feel of the album, a great place to start is “R U Mine?,” “Do I Wanna Know?” or the slower and sweeter “No. 1 Party Anthem.”
Originally published in The Edge, 10.13.13
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