Album Reviews
Trash Talk – Awake EP (4/5)
Following on from their third album Trash Talk are finding more ways to cram hooks and distinctive details into what, in the past, followed a more specific punk template. Here, the guys nail thrashing pop to their spastic hardcore without loosening the grip around your throat.
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Self-Titled (2/5)
Noel Gallagher has only ever been familiar with stadium audiences. By reminiscing over widescreen aesthetic, Gallagher provides us with choirs, strings, horns, and big choruses all in an attempt to aim for the universal. Unfortunately, he merely seems to be biding time for the third act reunion rather than breaking from the well-trod path he created.
Tubelord – Romance (1/5)
Tubelord’s sophomore record is like a spew of trashy indie, MGMT synth-work and lively pop, thrown from pillar to post by front man Joseph Prendergast’s expressive whines and moans. The never-ending keyboard gymnastics, sprawling guitars and upfront vocals incorporated into the party-vibing production are all indications of the band’s desperation for commercial success.
Radiohead – TKOL Remix 1234567 (3/5)Radiohead have always had a reputation for studio perfectionism and have been known to tinker with their arrangements on tour, but they’ve never delivered an album as obsessive as TKOL. This remix album supplies a whole miniature kingdom of grooves, textures and sensations to be explored, that their more exotically-minded fans will devour with glee.
The Drums – Portamento (1/5)
Exploding onto the scene last year with their self-titled debut, people had high hopes for the Drums’ second outing. Unfortunately it’s difficult to appreciate much when each song is so startlingly similar to the last. Renowned for their sun-soaked guitars and driving bass – the Drums fail to add anything new to what is ultimately a landscape devoid of defining features.
Mariachi El Bronx 2 – The Bronx (5/5)
After acknowledging acoustic punk sounds dope, The Bronx - declaring this Mexican influenced side project as fuelling their “second soul”, simply aren’t messing around. This second record features snapping castanets alongside some incredibly intricate violin and trumpet interplay. Each track is a generously spirited, happy-sad lament producing an accomplished success. Viva El Bronx.
