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the first place. Top-of- their-game stuff this; just try to keep up. (Camilla Pia) AMERICANA THE AVETT BROTHERS I and Love and You (Sony) ●●●●●
The Avett brothers Scott and Seth have been making music since 2000, but this is their major label debut. Produced by Rick Rubin, whose input guarantees a certain level of success, it’s an excellent collection of songs – an example of Americana hitmaking par excellence – even if it does lack the wayward, ragged charm of previous efforts.
The democratic split of vocal and songwriting responsibilities throws up a curious but entertaining amalgam of influences ranging from bluegrass and straight- up country to 60s beat pop and indie rock. The title track is superb: a gut-wrenching, dynamic piano ballad that hurts in all the right places. (Rachel Devine)
ROCK LOVE & DESPERATION Sweet Apple (Tee Pee) ●●●●●
COLOURFUL HOUSE ELECTRO CARIBOU Swim (City Slang) ●●●●●
Canadian dance-floor explorer Dan Snaith, alias Caribou and formerly Manitoba, recently amassed a spectacular live backing band for the New York leg of All Tomorrow’s Parties. It was at the behest of the Flaming Lips, and counted Four Tet, some Junior Boys, some Born Ruffians and the Sun Ra Arkestra’s Marshall Allen among its number. The pedigree and diversity of these aural voyagers illustrates the breadth of forms that Snaith commands and forages in the name of electronic music. Caribou’s last album, the otherworldly Andorra,
received Canada’s Polaris Prize in 2008 (the equivalent of our Mercury) and with good reason: its hazy terrain of 60s pop, fuzzy electronica and dreamy psych-rock was distinctly ambrosial – and arguably paved the way for myriad Brooklynite synth-boppers hence.
Swim is a considerably more spacious,
focused and mercurial affair, in which clarion electronic compositions and wilfully misshapen dance templates have prominence. The instrumental roll-call, meanwhile, is polychromatic, and global: Tibetan bowls, steel drums, cowbells, saxophones, guitars, horns, harps and sleigh bells feature. The record is regularly augmented by unlikely orchestral flourishes and syncopated percussive exotica. Back-loaded with elated floor-fillers – and
opening with the well-hyped crystalline disco of ‘Odessa’ – Swim variously plunges into glacial ambient techno (‘Bowls’), propulsive club-land jazz (‘Hannibal’), acid-house reverie (‘Kaili’), and primordial electropop (the hair-raising magnum opus, ‘Leave House’). Yet Snaith’s latent characteristics – his congenital melodic impulse, his reedy, size-zero vocals, and his way with a flute – remain evident. They distinguish a singular, innovative and consistent – not to say loveable – creature indeed. (Nicola Meighan)
POP-ROCK ADMIRAL FALLOW Boots Met My Face (Lo-Five) ●●●●● Let’s celebrate it from the rooftops: the Deacon Blue revival is finally upon us. If The Last Battle (and of course Frightened Rabbit) herald a renaissance in melodic Scottish rock, then leading the charge are
Glasgow pop heartbreakers Admiral Fallow – formerly Brother Louis Collective – a six-piece who harmoniously conflate male/female interchange, choral bombast and grey-blue Scottish imagery (the sea, the sky, our tears, the rain). From soaring
anatomic nocturne ‘Dead Against Smoking’ to combative folk-rock symphony ‘Subbutteo’ (which unleashes a delirious and unexpected final nigh-on minute of prog), Admiral Fallow are set to soundtrack our forthcoming festivals,
fireworks and Hogmanays. (Nicola Meighan) INDIE ROCK THE FUTUREHEADS The Chaos (Nul Recordings) ●●●●●
When your average indie band reaches record number four, you can usually expect a slowing down of sorts
(blame the sex and drugs) as they bloatedly lose the hunger for hot riffage and instead explore experimental noodling, epic concept albums or even worse, all manner of ill-advised world music/ classical/ jazz fusion. Not so The Futureheads, who sound as brimming with boundless energy throughout The Chaos as they ever did. In fact perhaps even more so, as the opening title track gives way to eleven tracks of the breakneck speed, sing-along post punk brilliance that made us fall for the Sunderland foursome in This doesn’t quite qualify for supergroup status, with Dinosaur Jr’s J. Mascis drumming away behind some guys from Cobra Verde and Witch (nah, me neither), but it’s refreshingly unreconstructed rock ‘n’ roll with enough originality to keep it interesting. Scuzzy indie and 70s stadium rock are the main sonic touchstones, and when it works, like on blistering big-chorused opener ‘Do You Remember’ or the
ALSO RELEASED Sparrow and the Workshop Crystals Fall (Distiller) ●●●●● Americana-tinged debut using powerful vocals, drums and stormy guitaras to fantastic effect. Malachai Ugly Side Of Love (Double Six) ●●●●● A mixed bag. Movie-sampling ‘Warriors’ and Finlay Quaye-but-good ‘Moonsurfin’ are great, but break- beats and psych- edelica clash horribly elsewhere, lowering the tone. Music Go Music Expressions (Mercury/Secretly Canadian) ●●●●● With Kate Bush and The Shadows as apparent influences, MGM could’ve been uber-cool Tarantino soundtrack material — yet a hipsterish desperation lurks within. Ash A – Z Vol. 1 (Atomic Heart) ●●●●● More perfectly-crafted pop rock from Ash, with added Muse-esque pianos and the odd 80s synth part. Officer Kicks Citywide Curfew (We Make Things) ●●●●● Throbbing bass and snarling Subways-style riffs differentiate these punky upstarts from the four-man-guitar- band crowd. Forever The Sickest Kids The Weekend: Friday (Universal Motown) ●●●●● Mini-album fluff from FTSK, who blend with the rest of the emo horde with sporadic keyboard effects and some 3OH!3-lite krunk- pop. Less ‘catchy,’ more ‘grating.’ Cypress Hill Rise Up (Priority) ●●●●● Seriously. Although this is Snoop’s record label, even the Doggfather takes a break from the chronic sometimes. Despite (uninspired) contributions from Tom Morello and Daron Malakian, this is a one-note affair, too addicted to weed to let in any rock. (Niki Boyle)
15–29 Apr 2010 THE LIST 65