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Record review: Billie Joe + Norah – Foreverly (2013 LP)

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Wow. I mean holy crap. I mean huh? Take a quick look at the basic ingredients of this album and something doesn’t seem to add up from the off. A somewhat off-colour-of-late pop-punk legend teams up with a jazz-pop Grammy-magnet to record an album of lesser-known Everly Brothers tunes; surely this has got to be a total stinker? Not even close; this unlikeliest of albums works a treat and the most amazing thing here is that it’s Green Day frontman Armstrong’s vocal performance that makes it work. The execution of the rootsy ballads and country numbers from 1958’s Songs Our Daddy Taught Us isn’t as major a departure for Norah Jones as it is for the perennial punk brat, and it’s hard to connect the smooth and intimate vocals Armstrong displays here with the same voice that sang songs about going blind from too much masturbation on 1994’s ‘Longview’. “I am a roving gambler, I’ve gambled all around, whenever I meet with a deck of cards, I lay my money down,” they sing in perfect unison on opener ‘Roving Gambler’, and I’ll be damned if they don’t make it sound entirely believable, and not unlike a latter day Gram Parsons/Emmylou Harris number. While Armstrong is a revelation throughout, Jones is an understated triumph, and apparently masterminded the intimate feel by making Armstrong sing facing her so they could synchronise their vocals perfectly. While it’s more likely to appeal to Norah Jones fans than the average punk bonehead, there’s something more than decent going on here that’s well worth checking out. (Reprise)

Record review: Robbie Williams – Swings Both Ways (2013 LP)

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Eyebrows were raised in 2006 when Robbie Williams split from his long-term song-writing partner Guy Chambers and uncharacteristically started rapping on his polarising Rudebox album. Since then his career has been somewhat unsteady, with a Take That reunion and a Greatest Hits release showing no real musical progression by a man who has sold over 70 million albums world-wide and still packs out stadiums across the globe. Swings Both Ways could be seen as another sideways step, given it’s a return to a genre he first visited with 2001’s Swing When You’re Winning, but Williams seems so naturally suited to this sort of stuff that it should only be seen as another ace move by the 39 year-old. The quality of writing is undoubtedly improved by the return of Chambers, and big name contributors like Lily Allen, Michael Bublé, Kelly Clarkson and tour buddy Olly Murs make this a smooth and varied collection originals and covers. Renditions of Cab Calloway’s ‘Minnie The Moocher’ and 1930s classic ‘Dream A Little Dream of Me’ sit well next to the Williams/Chambers-penned ‘Shine My Shoes’ and ‘Snowblind’, and a Rufus Wainwright collaboration on the cheekily-suggestive title track. The inclusion of crooning muppet Bublé certainly wasn’t a good move, but will no doubt help the album find an audience in the North American market. He has built almost his entire career on his endlessly boyish charm and ability to endure, and Williams will no doubt nail the Christmas market with this release. (Universal)

Record review: Keane – The Best of Keane (2013, Compilation)

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English soft-rock quartet Keane have reportedly sold over ten million albums since their 1997 formation. I say again: ten million bleedin’ albums. Rarely has such a baffling music-related statistic been committed to print, but luckily I’m more energetic than confused as that’s a lot of slaps to hand out. But seriously, who buys this interminably bland dross? Surely Keane can’t have built their entire career on their ability to sell CDs as Christmas stocking fillers? It’s time to own up if you are one of those ten million. The fact that these hopeless dullards have had enough ‘hits’ to warrant a best-of suggests that many of you are probably repeat offenders, but it’s okay; we all make mistakes. Use this compilation as a tool with which to re-evaluate your music tastes, and move away from the Coldplay-on-a-bad-day ‘Everybody’s Changing’, headache-inducing ‘Silenced By The Night’, and uncomfortably dour ‘Somewhere Only We Know’. They may be serial music media whipping boys, but this twenty-track album shows exactly why; if it were named The Worst of Keane the effect would be exactly the same. The fact that the majority of songs are drawn from their first two albums – 2004’s Hopes and Fears and 2006’s Under The Iron Sea – suggests that even the band members themselves realise that their day has passed, and hopefully now they have a ‘greatest hits’ under their belts they’ll do the right thing and disappear to somewhere only they know. (Island)

Record review: Jeremy Neale – In Stranger Times (2013, EP)

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Jeremy Neale

Brisbane indie-pop troubadour Jeremy Neale must be one of the hardest-working musicians plying his trade today. Not satisfied with being a member of rabble rousers Velociraptor, surf-rock piss-takers Teen Sensations and space-noise act Tiger Beams, as well as being support act of choice for the likes of The Preatures and Surfer Blood, he’s now releasing a long-awaited debut EP under his own name. It’s reasonable to think that having fingers in so many pies might mean In Stranger Times would be a patchy affair, but in reality, it contains some of the Queensland Music Award winner’s best musical output to date. Giving generous nods to sixties lo-fi garage-pop and classic girl groups of the same era, it’s a fun and catchy breath of musical fresh air from start to finish. Neale’s innate ability to write three-minute pop gems and his soulful garage croon are his strong points, most notably on latest single ‘Swing Left’, which manages to mix clap-along pop with ominous piano-led despondency. The title track is another highlight, as Neale joins forces with Brisbane’s favourite all-girl guitar band Go Violets to run through a perfectly-rounded pop song with instantly catchy guitar intro and boy-girl harmonies to die for. ‘A Love Affair To Keep You There’ is a darker effort; the inevitable break-up song that’s in contrast to the previous lyrical content. It will be interesting to see if Neale continues with his solo ventures in the near future, or whether he’ll be happy to remain as frontman and song-writer for Velociraptor or one of his other acts, but on this evidence the path to take should be pretty clear. (Create/Control)

Record review: Paul McCartney – New (2013, LP)

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PM

Oh dear. This isn’t good. Here we have one of the greatest song-writers and musicians of all time releasing his 24th studio album since being in The Beatles, and the result is an instantly forgettable set of songs that sound anything but ‘new’. It’s not that there’s anything particularly wrong with this album as a whole, and the 71 year-old member of music royalty can do whatever he wants and people will lap it up in droves, but McCartney has missed the mark on so many of the tracks here. Production duties are shared between Mark Ronson, Giles Martin (son of George) and others, contributing to the disjointed feeling throughout, and most of the songs float by unnoticed. He’s still going on about bloody buses on ‘On My Way To Work’; a song which wouldn’t sound out of place on Magical Mystery Tour, and the title track has too much of the annoyingly bouncy and whimsically childlike song-writing elements that have peppered some of his less celebrated tracks. ‘Appreciate’ is a fairly drab attempt at an ‘urban’ track, and ‘I Can Bet’ desperately lacks bite. It’s not all bad of course; ‘Early Days’ is an acoustic coming-of-age tale with the right amounts of nostalgia and restraint, and ‘Everybody Out There’ packs a bit of a punch, and while it’s probably a bit unfair to compare McCartney’s solo work to that of The Beatles, it’s pretty hard to connect this music to that of one of the coolest and most influential bands to ever pick up guitars. He may be a Sir, but this is pretty low-class stuff. (Virgin)

Record review: Busby Marou – Farewell Fitzroy (2013 LP)

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Busby Marou

With their 2011 self-titled debut album and lead single ‘Biding My Time’, Rockhampton duo Thomas Busby and Jeremy Marou announced their arrival onto the music scene with a uniquely Australian take on the folk and country genres. Now, after two years of playing shows up and down the country several times over, it’s time for their so-called difficult second album, and it’s a task they take in their stride with total ease. Singer-guitarist Busby is the primary songwriter of the pair, while Marou provides backup vocals and impressively quick-fingered guitar licks, despite apparently never having had a guitar lesson in his life. As you listen to their tales of leaving home (Fitzroy being the river on which Rockhampton lies), being on the road, and of broken relationships, you can’t help but think of classic Australian troubadours like Paul Kelly; such is the evocative power of Busby’s lyrics. Anthemic folk number ‘Luck’ is a major highlight, while ‘Heard It All Before’ shows they can rock hard when they want to. Second track ‘Get You Out Of Here’ is another peak while ‘Over My Dead Body’ begins as a slower and more melancholy affair, before Marou unleashes a devastatingly fast solo. This album’s generally bright and breezy vibes make it perfect for a summer’s day, and the down-to-earth appeal of Busby Marou’s songs mean they can be appreciated just as much in the local pub as they can on the country’s biggest stages. (Footstomp)

Record review: Lorde – Pure Heroine (2013, LP)

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Lorde

“And we’ll never be royals… ROYYYY-ALLS!” Yes, we’ve all heard that song what seems like several thousand times in the past couple of months, and the singer responsible is sixteen year-old New Zealander Ella Yelich-O’Connor, a.k.a. Lorde. Much has been made of the fact an artist of such tender years has made big waves in the American and Australian charts, but this is a surprisingly mature album and deserves the attention it’s been getting. Filled with dark but generally upbeat subject matter and shadowy synth loops to match, Pure Heroine recalls the sounds of the likes of The xx and London Grammar, and as you listen to the album, the expected slump in quality or the dreaded mid-album filler just never comes. Single ‘Tennis Court’ is a good way to start and shows that there’s a pop sensibility to what she does, to go with lyrics like “We’re so happy, even when we’re smiling out of fear.” That single features in third spot, and while it possesses the catchiest chorus, it’s not overly representative of the album as a whole. Closer ‘A World Alone’ confirms the singer’s vocal prowess, and when coupled with a mesmerising guitar line, makes for possibly the best song here. The star of the show throughout is the singer’s voice; it switches from smouldering to soaring and back with apparent ease, and should be the element that ensures a long career. Having been signed to Universal since she was thirteen, Lorde isn’t the overnight sensation that she might appear to be, but this would be an impressive and accomplished album even if it were made by a seasoned pro, never mind someone still at school. (Universal)

Record review: The Walking Who – Mansions (2013, EP)

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The Walking Who

Sydney-via-Wollongong trio The Walking Who don’t seem like the type of band to stick to traditional methods. Take making a record, for example – the house for which the EP is named (and in which it was recorded) is a now-demolished old dwelling previously occupied by an eccentric theatre owner who died in the master bedroom, and in recent years became somewhat infamous locally for the strange and supposedly spooky goings-on there. Clearly the band weren’t put off, as this second release – after their 2011 debut Candy Flu – is a cool mix of psychedelic space jams, summer-y rock wig-outs, and indie-fuelled guitar fuzz along similar lines to parts of Pink Floyd’s career and compatriots Tame Impala’s last record. You can almost smell the incense and rollies in the air as the tracks go by, starting with opener ‘Rita’; a cool, calm, but not altogether collected track that ambles along at a casual pace. The heavy use of swirling organ and twangy guitars coupled with Rohin Brown’s deep vocals make single ‘Have You Seen The Colours?’ the most psych-rock track here, while ‘Pollen Of The Hour’ has a mystical vibe to begin with before breaking into shoegaze territory. Angus Stone makes a cameo on jointly-penned final track ‘Dead Man’s Alter’, and brings a dose of his folk sound to proceedings, complete with ominous undertones and brooding lyrics. They haven’t reinvented the wheel and it’s hard to pin-point exactly what it is they’re trying to do here, but The Walking Who have definitely got something good going on. (Independent)

Record review: Placebo – Loud Like Love (2013, LP)

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PLACEBO_LOUD-LIKE-LOVE

They may have been around since 1994, but Loud Like Love is – somewhat surprisingly – only Placebo’s seventh studio album, and first full-length record in four years. So, are the English alt-rock veterans growing old gracefully, or making musical fools of themselves? The answer is a little bit of both, as this ten-track album has some good moments, and some pretty bland filler. In the first few years of their existence the band had an edge that quickly smoothed out after the turn of the millennium, and they haven’t again hit the heights of tracks like ‘Pure Morning’ or ‘Teenage Angst’. In saying that, there are some solid tunes here; the title track and piano and strings-led closer ‘Bosco’ being good examples, but for every good song, there are two bad ones. Lines like “My computer thinks I’m gay, I threw that piece of junk away, on the Champs Elysées” on ‘Too Many Friends’ show that frontman Brian Molko is still primarily milking the subjects of blurred sexuality and alienation for lyrical content, and his flat attempts at social commentary on tracks like ‘Rob The Bank’ leave him wide open to criticism. His addition of spoken-word lyrics on ‘Hold On To Me’ seems like an attempt at some sort of Tolkien-esque middle-earth fantasy, and the electronic elements on ‘Purify’ are a little grating. Die-hard fans of the band might find a fair bit to like on this latest addition to Placebo’s catalogue, but it’s not an album you’ll likely to still be spinning in the coming weeks and months. (Universal)

Record review: Palms – Step Brothers (2013, LP)

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Palms

Not to be confused with the Los Angeles-based Deftones-affiliated band by the same name, Sydney quartet Palms have taken a refreshingly traditional route by opting for a full-length debut recording with Step Brothers, and not the three-EP-and-four-singles approach that many new bands seem to be going for recently. If, like me, you enjoy the simple pleasure of hearing three or four raggedy chords being battered out of an old guitar with a hint of a pop melody, a smattering of punk venom, throatily-screamed vocals, and a heap of clanking and bashing noises in the background, then you’ll like what’s going on here. The band’s Facebook page lists their genre as ‘shredding’ and their sound as ‘strum, strum, bang, wah, wah, wah, strum, boom, crash, strummmmmmmm,’ and that’s a pretty accurate description of what’s to be found on this instantly appealing, eleven-track record. Second track ‘Love’ is the obvious highlight; singer-guitarist Al Grigg’s howling during the chorus sounds like recording it probably shredded his vocal chords, but the results were well worth it. ‘You Were Mine’ is another peak, as torrents of youthful angst and desperate longing come pouring out of the band in a series of scuzzy, scratchy, and catchy riffs. Single ‘Summer Is Done With Us’ sees Grigg barely containing his aggression in another savage outpouring of emotion, and downbeat closer ‘Far Gone’ provides a quieter, almost soulful finish to a more-than-promising album. (Spunk Records)

Record review: Belle & Sebastian – The Third Eye Centre (2013, LP)

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belle and seb

Belle & Sebastian could never be accused of being attention seekers. Ever since their 1996 debut, they’ve flown distinctly under the radar in terms of self-promotion, but have somehow still managed to gain a fiercely devoted following of mostly pale and lonely Smiths fans. Newest effort The Third Eye Centre is less a bona fide album, more a collection of EP tracks and B-sides from the Glasgow band’s Rough Trade career, a sort of companion piece to 2005’s Push Barman To Open New Wounds, which featured a similar collection. Drawing songs from such a wide range of origins means this release has inevitable peaks and troughs, but unfortunately the troughs far outnumber the peaks. ‘I’m A Cuckoo’ is an aimless opener that takes too much from Jethro Tull’s baroque-rock nonsense. Second track ‘Suicide Girl’ is more cheerfully up-tempo, yet with miserable lyrics, while ‘Love On The March’ sounds like a twisted Brian Wilson B-side that didn’t make the cut. Dreary remixes by the likes of The Avalanches and Miaoux Miaoux come infused with the unmistakable whiff of filler, and will probably offend more than one of your senses. Under the pretentious façade of a few of the later tracks lurk the bones of some good songs; ‘Blue Eyes Of A Millionaire’ being a good example. Despite this, there comes a point early on when all their whimsy and effete dreaminess has never seemed so obsolete. (Rough Trade)

Record review: Bloods – Golden Fang (2013, EP)

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bloods

If you’re a fan of pop, punk, garage, rock, girl bands, catchy two-minute guitar songs, or any combination of the above, GET EXCITED – Bloods will make you want to jump around and forget about all the things you probably should be doing with your day. Golden Fang is their debut EP, and with a slew of catchy singles already under their belts, the Sydney pop-punk trio have left behind the days of doing Spiderman theme covers and beefed up their sound, as well as recently signing to Shock Records. While their outer veneer might make them seem a like a trio of snotty kids sticking a middle finger up at the idea of getting a real job or any of that ‘square’ sort of stuff, there’s serious power and musical ability strewn between the bubblegum punk-pop choruses and sneering lyrics, not to mention a solid dose of reckless abandon and a sense of forgetting about tomorrow, or “living for the take” as singer-guitarist MC says in ‘Bodies’. They’re not a one-trick pony though, being just as adept at the slower love song-type stuff too; ‘Back To You’ having the type of direct “You’re the one that I want” chorus that has reverberated through all the best love songs in pop history. The sugar-sweet vocal interplay between singer MC and bassist Sweetie Zamora is what make Bloods so special though, and when fused with instantly catchy punk riffs and a cut-the-crap approach to song-writing, makes their music feel like some of the most essential of recent months. (Shock Records)

Record review: Mac Demarco – 2 (2013, LP)

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mac demarco

Regular listeners of Triple J (OK – I’m referring solely to myself here) can sometimes grow a bit weary with the constant stream of poor indie-rock and questionable cheese-pop transmitted into the world by the various – admittedly well-meaning – hosts on that particular radio station, but there are always diamonds in the rough, and twenty-three year old Canadian Mac Demarco is most definitely one of those. Despite being relatively unknown in Australia, the young multi-instrumentalist has already self-released several records under the moniker Makeout Videotape, using almost solely the cheapest of equipment, including a guitar he bought for $30 when he was sixteen. The music on 2 is a mix of lo-fi rock, off-kilter pop melodies, and wonderfully random lyrics, and while most of the songs sound almost exactly the same, the quality is good enough to be acceptable. ‘Freaking Out The Neighbourhood’ is the most recognisable tune here; it’s jangly surf-pop riff as catchy as it is simple. Under the scratchy, lo-fi veneer there’s some seriously good song-writing and cool, laid-back vibes, with Demarco’s delivery mostly coming across as lazily brilliant or brilliantly lazy, I’m not sure which (‘Ode to Viceroy’ being the best example of this). In a recent interview, he spoke of not being able to find steady work as a musician until a couple of years ago, but with a reputation for wild and goofy antics in his live shows, and now a stand-out album to boot, that shouldn’t be a problem for Mac Demarco any longer. (Captured Tracks)

Record review: The Preatures – Is This How You Feel? (2013, EP)

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The Preatures’ unique blend of pop, rock, and soul has been making waves nationally for the past couple of years, and the Sydney quintet have been the support band of choice for the likes of San Cisco, Deep Sea Arcade, and Haim, but their third EP should be the one to earn them attention of a more global kind. Unashamedly retro-sounding, the five track Is This How You Feel? plunders the best of ’70s radio rock and ’80s pop rhythms, and when added to the vocals of Isabella Manfredi and Gideon Bensen, makes for one of the most anticipated and stylish releases of recent months. Opener and lead single ‘Is This How You Feel?’ takes the band’s previously diverse musical output and filters it directly through the ’70s rock sound, with an extra dollop of the ‘sex factor’ for good measure. When added to the guitar heroics of Jack Moffitt, Manfredi’s Stevie Nicks-esque vocals on ‘Manic Baby’ seem like they could have been lifted from any of the classic Fleetwood Mac albums, while ‘Revelation (So Young)’ sees her in more of a soulful Chrissie Hynde mood, as on previous EP Shaking Hands. Benson takes the lead vocal on the final two tracks, the melancholy and brooding ‘All My Love’ and the excellent closer ‘Dark Times’; a Bob Seger style rocker and possibly the best track on the EP. The band have apparently signed a five album deal with Mercury, so the only question this EP throws up is when will fans get a full-length release from The Preatures? (Mercury)

Record review: The Love Junkies – Maybelene (2013, LP)

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Love Junkies

The Love Junkies have been plying their trade in and around Perth since 2009, and with an EP and a couple of singles already under their belts, it’s finally time for a full-length record. With eleven tracks clocking in at around the thirty-five minute mark, this is a direct, in your face rock album, and takes no prisoners from the start. With influences ranging from grunge, blues, and classic rock, the trio waste no time in stating their intentions with opener ‘Heads Down’; a straightforward rock song that could have been lifted from any number of ’90s grunge bands. Similarly to recent records by fellow Perth acts Emperors and Young Revelry, the ’90s alt-rock vibe flavours almost everything on Maybelene, which in this reviewer’s opinion is almost always a good thing. Single ‘Oxymoron’ is a catchy blast of Nirvana-esque grunge that leaves you thinking that these guys would be awesome to see live; all frenetic rock energy and big riffs. ‘Hurt You’ is the token mid-album slow number and veers a bit too close to Britpop territory for comfort, but ultimately only serves to make you more grateful for ‘Black Sheep Blues’; a riff-and-handclap-laden Led Zep-like blues-y number with just the right amount of sleaze. The Love Junkies seem to be flying a bit under the radar with this album, but rock fans will want to check it out, as the loud, raucous, and loose tunes sound like they’d be a lot of fun to get sweaty to. (Independent)