Music RECORDS
POP LADY GAGA Born This Way (Polydor) ●●●●●
However much we snigger at the egg shell antics and purposely deranged interview technique, people gobble up everything Gaga does right now. So Gaga wins. But sticking firm to her Warhol and Bowie-inspired artistic roots and achieving massive mainstream success simultaneously is quite a feat, and has always been the ultimate critical test for the Lady’s schtick.
Live, it works – the singer seamlessly switching from raw, Liza-channelling, dazzling solo turns where you fear imminent emotional breakdown to emerging theatrically from a coffin and delivering vocally while fake pregnant in black PVC. It’s on record that Gaga’s more creative side has been a little iffy, but rather thrillingly Born This Way sweeps all of those past problems aside. Dana International meets Meat Loaf on this bonkers pop powerhouse as Gaga turns her gloved hand to everything from German language electro to opera, minimal techno, sultry cabaret, and ridiculously camp rock anthems complete with organs and church bells. Finally, we’ve got the freaky music to match the monsters. (Camilla Pia)
FOLK-ROCK KING POST KITSCH The Party’s Over (Song, by Toad) ●●●●● ROCK/ PSYCH/ COUNTRY WHITE DENIM D (Downtown) ●●●●●
To the regal ranks of Scots pop innovators King Biscuit Time and King Creosote, let us welcome Glasgow-via-London psychedelic rock tsar King Post Kitsch – alias sound engineer Charlie Ward. Ward kicks off his debut album
in style with a motley triple-header of kaleidoscopic choral-grunge (‘Portland Street Pt 2’), incandescent garage scuzz (‘Don’t You Touch My Fucking Honeytone’) and evocative indie- folk (‘Fante’s Last Stand’).
The Party’s Over is variegated yet cohesive; dreamy yet gripping – from the woozy rock’n’roll of ‘The Werewolf Hop’ to the acoustic sleigh-bell lilt of ‘The New Gang’, which pits King Post Kitsch against an upbeat Bon Iver, and wins. (Nicola Meighan)
The Austin, Texas outfit’s previous album, the fittingly titled Fits, was a brilliantly balmy rock- out that proved to be even more dazzlingly unpredictable than their debut. And when they played material from it on tour in Scotland, they ramped their aural insanity right up to eleven.
The ten tracks on D are also wildly adventurous, but they’re held together by an old school, psychedelic country vibe that recalls The Byrds, Captain Beefheart and Moby Grape. The vocal harmonies and
interwoven guitar melodies, not to mention flute solo, make D much easier on the ear. That’s not to say, however, that it doesn’t rock supremely. (Miles Fielder)
MATH ROCK BATTLES Gloss Drop (Warp) ●●●●●
INDIE ROCK DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE Codes and Keys (Atlantic) ●●●●● GOTHIC PUNK SONS & DAUGHTERS Mirror Mirror (Domino) ●●●●●
Battles feel so well-established in the innovative rock canon – so visionary, brawny and enduring – that it’s easy to forget they’ve only released one album, 2007’s thrilling Mirrored. Granted, their formation bore the legacy of a supergroup (featuring members of Helmet, Don Caballero and Lynx) – and a string of early stellar EPs, but Gloss Drop, nonetheless feels overdue. Toned-up and pared-back to a
trio following the 2010 departure of Tyondai Braxton, Battles’ techno- rock propulsions and afro-cuban wig-outs head off any sense of creative absence with cameos from the likes of Gary Numan and Boredoms’ Yamantaka Eye. (Nicola Meighan) ■ See interview, page 97 and merch giveaway, page 106.
There’s a tangible buzz for Codes and Keys, Death Cab for Cutie’s seventh studio album. It seems the cult US indie-ites are teetering on the edge of true mainstream triumph, and having hit No. 1 in their homeland in 2008, it feels like the time may be nigh (over a decade after first forming) for UK prosperity. They have the components at
least – the melodies are ripe, like in the pulsing ‘Some Boys’ for example – and whereas Death Cab are usually notoriously dour, there are traces of sunshine here, with album closer ‘Stay Young, Go Dancing’ a possible rose-tinted ode to mainman Ben Gibbard’s wife, the indie actress and ‘She’ of the musical duo She & Him, Zooey Deschanel. (Chris Cope)
It’s taken S&D five years to record their third album, but the result ensures their catalogue remains high-quality and ripe for future (re)discovery. Optimo’s JD Twitch makes his album debut as a producer, stripping things right back sonically: the opening ‘Silver Spell’ sees Scott Paterson and Adele Bethel duet over a sparse, John Carpenter-like electronic click and hum, there are hints of goth- rock in ‘The Model’ and the sharp, sparse rhythms of Liquid Liquid on ‘Bee Song’. Having Twitch’s fingerprints all over this is a good thing, but once again Bethel’s performance owns the record – witness ‘Ink Free’, sung like she’s working a sex line and majestic in its aggressive oddness. (David Pollock)
PROTEST POP ATARI TEENAGE RIOT Is This Hyperreal? (Digital Hardcore) ●●●●● Much has changed since this LP’s 1999 predecessor; internet use is up 450%, uprisings are fomented on mobiles, and social networking-addiction abounds. So the lyrical thrust here is an ambivalence towards the net’s potential for both liberation and repression. ATR’s abrasive sonic formula remains unchanged however; relentless speed metal riffs and stomach-cramping bass make for a merciless listen. Indeed, the Slayer-esque ‘Only Slight Glimmer of Hope’ would be comedic had you forgotten that ATR formed in response to neo-Nazi thuggery. As heard on closer ‘Collapse Of History’, ‘Are you going to act, or just stare at your screen?’ A compelling call to arms. (Nadine McBay)
100 THE LIST 26 May–23 Jun 2011