New for 2007!
Reverend and the makers – The state of things (Wall of sound / PIAS)
Intro – Move over Arctic Monkeys The Reverend is here and ready to steal thy crowd as Sheffield’s premier left field music maker. But for John McClure, the self styled Reverend music is only half of the equation he’s a poet, a lyricist and social commentator. Reverend and the Makers have been kicking around for Sheffield bidding their time, supporting Turner & friends and just waiting to strike. That time is now, since ‘Heavyweight champion of the world’ was unleashed it has just gone mental for the Reverend and indeed his merry makers, top ten hits and sell out shows to great acclaim has build up ‘The state of things’ to one of the most eagerly awaited debut albums of recent times. The Music – There’s element of pop, beats, old fashioned indie guitars, electro pop and a big dose of singalong lyrics. First off McClure makes no bones about what he’s about in the opener and title track ‘The State of things’ – ‘I’m the Reverend and I’m going to tell you the state of things’. From the off he’s slagging this and that off, proper social commentary with one hell of a message. In fact come to think off it in the very next song ‘The Machine’ one of the main lines is ‘Get born, get stupid’! Here’s one for the trainspotters he’s joined by everyone’s favourite monkey Alex Turner on backing vox. When the mega, monster ‘Heavyweight champion of the world’ kicks in it actually goes down a peg in tempo, the album really sets off at quite a rapid rate of knots. There’s plenty been written about ‘Heavyweight champion of the world’ and by gods it’s all-true, just an absolute blinder of a song. It has everything; catchy as hell, singalong lyrics, the Reverend’s message and a cracking beat, just has the full set, pop perfection with an edge. McClure can ‘sing’ about almost anything he sees or hears, the simplistic ‘Bandits’ tackles down to earth life ruining gambling (we seen it happen as much as McClure has, it’s just a fact of working class life). ‘Open your window’ is the ante love song, growing apart and having to let go. It’s effective stuff without having that killer impact of a ‘Heavyweight champion of the world’. The way McClure writes and his delivery is similar to that of Sheffield’s old skool finest Jarvis Cocker, just can take everyday life, the northern way of life and make it sound so damn real. ‘Sex with the ex’ actually is a more ‘real’ song, stripped bare without electro beats and his vocals actually sound pretty damn good, almost in the vein of Noel Oasis. ‘18-30’ makes the jump from b side to album track with ease, a nice tune sees the Reverend take a pop at the Brits abroad sub culture (nobody is exempt from the Reverends sermons). ‘He said he loved me’ actually sounds better on the album (we were a little critical upon it’s release) it has that real poppy edge and some cracking lyrics about the old teen mum situation. ‘What the milkman saw’ is probably the tune that has the easiest comparison to Cocker’s Pulp, it’s a bit of a comedy dig at the old northern tradition of being a rite gossip monger! ‘Sundown on the empire’ is a bit of an oddball, it has the sound of a beefed up massive attack (messing with The Specials by the end) which actually suits McClure’s vocals. And then comes the beast, it’s a monster live and is as great here too, ‘Miss Brown’ is a bit two tone by feel with a rip roaring beat and the chorus to die for, sorted. ‘Armchair Detective’ finishes off proceedings in considerable style, ‘Just cause you shoot loudest don’t mean you’re right’, how very true! It has to be said that the sleeve is the business too. There’s manifesto style write ups for each track and a cracking Pulpesque photo. Just one thing John ‘ But like the coach who never played or the failed musician come reviewer, our hero feels compelled to offer his opinion of things he has no knowledge’ – Armchair Detective sleeve notes. I never bothered trying to sing or play guitar as I know I’m shite, my failed A level English Literature exam suggests I have no knowledge of writing either. However, I am compelled to air my opinion that this is the best album of the year, is that okay John?! The Verdict – Eargerly awaited albums have the tendancy to let down the listener but there’s no such problems here, this is a blinding debut right out of the top draw. It’s one of those albums that works on a number of levels, if you want an easy listen then it’s great but if you want to delve deeper it’s got great depth. The Reverend has opinions and views on just about everything but a bit like that Arctic Monkeys debut the stories told are brightly coloured and damn compelling. He may well be a latter day poet but The Reverend is a damn fine writer of songs and ‘The state of things’ is packed to the brim of them. Just simply a great album. File under another album of the year heads north to Sheffield! 

Amy Macdonald – This is the life (Melodramatic Records / Mercury) Intro – So where do we start with Amy? Well she’s pretty young and err pretty and comes out of Scotland armed with an acoustic guitar and eleven beautifully sang songs to melt our stone hearts. The Music – Shall we dispense with the phrase folk at the off, we prefer to avoid that phrase as it still conjures up visions of bearded forty year blokes in bad jumpers singing even worse songs and Amy Macdonald is a damn sight better than all that. Amy is particularly good at either belting out a decent peppy tune or getting down and dirty with a slow burner that with her lovely distinctive vocals can easily gets the hairs on the back of the neck standing on end. Title track ‘This is the life’ has a bit of an alt country edge with the vocals sounding like they lived more live than Amy’s years, it’s one of those that will have your foot tapping before you even know it. ‘Let’s start a band’ is a glorious strum and picks up to showcase the accent in Amy’s vocals. Single ‘LA’ is more conventional and uptempo, it’s quite a nippy little song and well suited to a nod along to on the wireless. ‘A wish for something more’ is up there too, a bit KT Tunstall but a bit of a stomper all the same. ‘Footballer’s wife’ may have a rubbish title but the song really showcases Amy’s vocals, it’s stripped down and a neat slow pace with the vocal the star of the show. Then ‘The Road to home’ is simply beautiful, it’s understated and Amy’s gentle vocals are just lovely, a great way to end an album (I’ll forget the hidden track as it’s a bit like an song for the scottish tourist board!). Verdict – For a debut album this is quite the gem. It’s peppered with some fine songs all underpinned by the vocal talent of one the finds of the year. File under from Scotland with love!

Soulwax- Remixes (Parlaphone / EMI Records) Intro – We’ll leave this up to Soulwax themselves. “Most of the remixes we’ve made for other people over the years except for the one for Einsturzende Neubauten because we lost it and a few we didn’t think sounded good enough or just didn’t fit in length wise, but including some that are hard to find because either people forgot about them or simply because they haven’t been released yet, a few we really love, one we think is just ok some we did for free, some we did for money, some for ourselves without permission and some for friends as swaps but never on time and always at our studio in Ghent”. So that’s that then! Well no not really we’re really dubious about remixes, surely it’s best to listen to a track how the artist intended and we’ve really viewed them in the past as a means of filling some space as b side fodder. Can Soulwax and their 14 mixes prove otherwise? The Music – The first track up is their take on the legendary Gossip track ‘Standing in the way of control’. Now lets be right this is a killer tune and it has to be one fucking good remix to improve on that, but by golly I think they just about pulled it off. They have kept the finest, strongest Ditto vocals and blasted in some beats that The Chemical Brothers would love to call their own, spot on. The Klaxons ‘Gravity Remix’ is quite refreshing too, the vox are left pretty much alone but the music is brighter. On the flip side to the pro’s come some major con’s, their take on Kylie’s ‘Can’t get you out of my head’ is dreadful with reving heavy music that drowns out Kylie’s vocals, this proves the mixes can ruin a bloody good song argument. Soulwax don’t really add much to Gorillaz ‘Dare’ neither, the original couldn’t get a lot better and this rather plain bleepy mix confirms it. So it’s a bit of a mixed bag, pardon the pun and it finishes off in rather surreal style, Sugababes ‘Round Round’ followed by Muse ‘Muscle Museum’ now you don’t get that very often! To be perfectly honest the single mix of ‘Round Round’ is a million times better than this, they have stripped the song of all the energy, it’s now just a bit dull. Muse fair slightly better as it has a better pace about it but still it ain’t nothing spectacular. The Verdict – I’m sure if you like a beat or two you might find this the perfect album and no doubt you love the 16 track mix disc too. That’s another thing why bother, surely tracks have a start, middle and end? Why on earth would you want to feed Gossip seemlessly into LCD Soundsystem or have you so little spare time in your life you cannot a few second gap between songs! So really it’s alright but still I’d rather find the original Gossip track rather bother putting this on. File under remixing hasn’t killed the radio star. 

Babyshambles – Shooters nation (Parlaphone / EMI)  Intro – Let’s see the headline, ‘smackhead spends enough time out of court to record new album’. Is that fair! Is he trying to be funny naming the album ‘Shooters nation’? And that artwork is that supposed to be cool? In any other walk of life this bloke would be seen as a fucking dirty good for nothing smack head and would actually spend most of his life at her majesties pleasure but for some reason he’s held up as a genius, well come on genius show us what you got! The Music – It don’t take long before the shocking realisation dawns, Pete Doherty can’t actually sing! It happens in the first track ‘Carry on up the morning’ and carries on throughout the whole album. Probably his premier vocal performance is on ‘Delivery’ which actually is an excellent song, it has some excellent retro guitars, mean keys and the aforementioned Doherty in singing in tune shocker. ‘You talk’ however has dreadful cringe worthy vocals, the delivery of ‘You talk’ will have you hiding behind the sofa and the rest of the song is really nothing more than a watered down Libertines b side at any rate. ‘UnBiloTitled’ is a good comedown song (and no doubt he’s had plenty of those moments) but ‘Side of the road’ is a bit of a drab punk by numbers run through with shot to fuck vocals and piss poor guitars. ‘Crumb Begging Baghead’ has a cracking retro guitar intro; in fact it has a rather neat backbeat running through it, a bit Doors, which is never a bad thing. ‘Unstookie Titled’ is another low key track but it is best suited to Doherty’s vocals, even when he ups the ante half way through he just about manages to keep it together, some more good guitar work too. On the other hand ‘French Dog Blues’ is pretty rubbish and the rockabily fused ‘There she goes’ quite plainly doesn’t work. Doherty’s vocal jinx hits again during ‘ Deft left hand’ but it fits in well, as it’s a messy unforgettable song anyway. Doherty tries to get acoustic on ‘Lost art of murder’ but his voice just can’t cut the mustard with just a guitar for company. The Verdict – This ain’t no work of genius, we admit there’s a few decent tunes on here but some truly stink and Doherty’s vocals at times are nothing short of dreadful. Thanks to the tabloid fascination with Doherty’s love life and the music press arse licking this will no doubt shift massive units but if it had anyone else’s name on the cover it would get a luke warm reception and deservedly so. File under everyone says it’s good so I’ll have to buy it but it’s clearly over hyped and a bit average!

My American Heart – Hiding inside the horrible weather (Bodog music) Intro – My American Heart are from San Diego, like rock and have spent time on the Vans Warped tour, now do we need to say more? The Music – What are you expecting? It’s American indie rock of the pop punk variety that said it’s actually quite good! It has a refreshing air and the vocals although a tad obvious are very palatable. Opener ‘Boy! Grab your guns’ sets the stall out with its up guitars but behind it all is quite a serious story. It’s quickly followed by another slice of likeable American pie, ‘Speak low if you speak love’ is another that fits the formula of say a Fall Out Boy but it’s too well done to be bothered by easy comparisons. That’s the thing with ‘Hiding inside the horrible weather’ there is a bit of déjà vu but it’s so likeable it’s forgiven and you move onto the next track almost knowing what it’ll be like but also knowing you’re going to like it too. Indeed title track ‘Hiding inside the horrible weather’ a glorious guitar fuelled, energy driven pop rock classic. ‘There are more frightening things’ sees them head into more rock infused territory but that’s counteracted by ‘Dangerous’ that sees them via down the soft and sensitive cul de sac. Normal service is resumed in the shape of ‘Moving on’ which know what pace is needed and gives it some. Finale ‘All my friends’ ends on a bit of a downer but does show that My American Heart aren’t one dimensional and also know what an acoustic guitar sounds like! Verdict – These aren’t going to win any prices for originality but it’ll win plenty of plaudits for it’s no nonsense approach and selection of damn fine songs. Again like so many bands of their ilk listen to the lyrics, as they are as daft as this genre is portrayed. All told then a pretty good listen. File under obviously American but with plenty of heart!

Stephen Fretwell – man on the roof (Fiction / Polydor) Intro – Fretwell’s debut long player ‘Magpie’ showed that the Scunny lad cum born again Manc showed that he had the ability to pen a bloody good song. At his best with an acoustic guitar his err rather distinctive vocal style meant he avoided the Blunt comparisons. ‘Man on the roof’ is his follow up and we’ll be looking for some more of the same please. The Music – It starts off badly, no I mean really badly. We’re not sure where Fretters is coming from with ‘Coney’ it sounds like pissed off (or indeed pissed up) Chas n’ Dave singing steptoe and son…. next! Fortunately there’s a skip button on the remote and ‘Darlin’ don’t’ is back right down to business. There’s the formula of voice, melody and guitar done to a tee. And then there’s ‘She’ which is magic, echoes of solo Lennon both in vocal delivery and music, the great man would no doubt approve. Lyrically the album is on the money too except for maybe titling a track ‘William Shatner’s dog’! There’s also a couple of cringe worthy lines scattered around the place, most notably in ‘Dead’ the worse ‘Thirteen red roses that soon will be dead, should I box them up for you darling, perhaps make a hat for your head’ bit cheesy that! On the flip side the story in ‘Funny Hat’ is incredibly well written and makes an excellent song. As you get further into the fourteen tracks it actually gets better and better. ‘Scar’ ups the pace and with its mixture of alt country, folk and rock is a blinder. But it’s downbeat that he scores best with and ‘Now’ then ‘ Sleep’ both truly are great examples at what Fretwell is all about. ‘The ground beneath your feet’ continues the quality with acoustic strumming to accompany Stephen’s voice. The second mistake on the album although not as spectacular as ‘Coney’ is ‘Saturday’ with intentionally gruff vocals it just doesn’t really work. What does work is ‘San Francisco blues’ which is a belter, it’s got the full band and a melody to die for. The Verdict – It’s an album that gets better the more you listen to it. Fair enough there isn’t much wheel re-inventing but Stephen Fretwell can’t half write a cracking tune and his unique vocals are pretty compelling. Just a shame about that bloody first track then! File Under acoustic bliss par excellence.

The Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare (Domino) Intro – It’s more than well documented the cosmic rise from South Yorkshire teenagers to world music leaders so we won’t bother retreading old ground. Suffice to say their second long player falls squarely into the ‘eagerly awaited category’ so does it live up to that debut? The Music – ‘Brainstorm’ is one hell of a signal of intent, it’s obvious really early doors that The Arctic Monkeys haven’t dropped the baton, it’s clear it’s business as usual. ‘Teddy Picker’ has some real dubious lyrics but it’s one hell of a tune, quite rightly it’s a favourite of fans already. So anyway where have the Monkeys gone to? Well not a great distance from the debut but they have upped the ante, sounding more mature, a bit harder, brasher even with distorted vocals entering the fray too. ‘Flouresent Adolescent’ does hark back to the stunning debut, pretty accessible and an obvious choice for a single too. The thing that perhaps impresses most is the maturity issue, Alex Turner has shown ability beyond his years. A lot of people can write a decent enough tune but Turner’s lyrics and compositions are simply stunning. That debut showed Alex Turner to be no ordinary lyricist and this follow up continues the trend of simple yet splendidly effective lyrics, ‘Do me a favour’ and especially finale ‘505’ are excellent examples of the art. ‘This house is a circus’ is another success, with a beast of an ending and feeds nicely into the bastardised guitar intro of ‘If you were there, beware’. For great bass and guitar combo check out ‘Old yellow bricks’ with again ace lyrics and vocals. A true gem ‘505’ is simple, has stunning lyrics and just sounds like a band truly on top of their game. Highlights and lowlights – There ain’t no lowlights, no dodgy filler tracks, it’s a real power house of an album. No longer does Alex sound so regional (not that was ever a problem for us local lads) what they do sound is just so damn cool, calculated and blindingly effective. As with all great albums and remember this is a great album it’s difficult to pick stand out tracks but it’s hard to go far with ‘Brainstorm’. ‘Teddy Picker’ is a bit off the wall but in a good way but saying that ‘505’ will take some beating; the lyrics breathtaking, infectious as hell even though it starts at a low tempo before blowing the lid off, just awesome. Verdict – Try beat this! File under perfection with guitars. 

Damien Dempsey – To Hell or Barbados (IRL) Intro – Irish singer songwriter blah blah brought up singing blah blah. No wait take a proper look at this man, he looks like he’s hard as nails and the album title actually relates to little known forced Irish slavery where Cromwell and his troops sent up to 50,000 from the Emerald Isle to the Caribbean as slaves. Worth a further look then? Well yes, as it happens as this is actually Dempsey’s fourth studio album (there is a live lp too to be completists!) and he is one of Irelands most successful singers whose fans include Sinead O’Connor, Shane McGowen and none other that that charming man Morrissey. The Music – Having said all this we fear the worst as the intro to the opener ‘Maasai’ sounds like it’s going to be an overblown folk ‘epic’ but fears are dispelled as it turns into a fine tune. ‘Kilburn Stroll’ shows the vocal talent of Dempsey, powerful but not overblown with that strong (but not over powering) Irish lilt. The song has a folky edge but cannot be described merely as a folk song if that makes any sense! ‘How Strange’ has the sensitive music of really early Cranberries which suites the sensitive side of Dempsey’s vocals but he is able to up the ante and power at any point which shows great versatility. ‘Chase the light’ does drift into folk territory, perhaps the kind of inhabited by The Levellers mixed up with Irish soul. It shouldn’t surprise that Dempsey has traditional Irish musical roots and they do re-appear on ‘Your Pretty face’ but it is a nice ditty and a pleasant enough tune. Actually if you check out musicians that appear on the album it provides evidence that traditional influences are brought up to date as whistle, flutes, pipes, mandolins, accordions, fiddles feature along side moog and Hammond keyboards. This conflict is no more evident that in the real highlight of the album ‘Serious’. Not a track you’d expect to be magical as it is a drug song, smack in fact. It’s as much a story as a song but musically it all comes together in fantastic fashion as the lyrics tell of a man fighting the temptation of the drug. Strangely after this intense highlight comes the albums lowlight, ‘Teachers’ is great in theory showing Dempsey’s Bob Marley and world influences but it just sounds dreadfully out of place. ‘Summers in my heart’ sounds more like it, lovely lyrics show the beauty that lies in Dempsey’s vocal. The albums namesake ‘To Hell or Barbados’ is a real powerhouse of a song, the lyrics hard hitting but actually painfully subtle, personal and sensitive. Like any good song it not only sounds good but it drags you into the meaning of the lyrics, the shadders team listened to this album shortly after returning from South West Ireland where much is made of it’s emigration to the USA. But we felt a lot of it was insincere as it looked like it was put on purely for the American market ‘searching for their heritage’ this song does more to bring alive Irish suffering and history than anything we saw or heard. ‘The City’ finishes off the album on another tact, it has a more up tempo feel and uses modern technology to pretty neat effect and is a homage to the city in which Dempsey was raised, Dublin. Strangely should you not understand what the hell Damien Dempsey is singing there is a full glossary on the album sleeve, including the story of Cromwells Irish slaves and what a Eejit is, that’s an idiot! Verdict – Not 100% perfect but ‘Serious’ alone is worth seeking this album out. Demspey may be a huge figure in his native land and with albums like ‘To Hell or Barbados’ he’s bound to hit the big time across the Irish Sea too.

Neon Nights Mixtape (DMC) Intro – This is a new idea from those clever boffins behind the ‘Back to mine’ and ‘Under the influence’ compilations, the ‘Neon nights’ mix it is claimed is an ode to the best of the current crop of the dance rock underground. It features sixteen tracks including the likes of New Young Pony Club, Tigerforce, Shitdisco, Datarock, Kate Nash and chart stars Gossip. The Music – It’s at times sublime and conversely at times pretty forgetful. The first show of the better end of the dance market meeting the rockier element is the mix of Kate Nash’s surreal dance electro pop ‘Caroline’s the victim’ with it’s unnerving sampled vocal mixed straight into the Joy Divisionesque dark ‘Infatuation’ by Blah Blah Blasse. The Bleeps ‘Dull thud’ nearly hits the spot but those sub Streets meets Phil Daniel’s vocals just aren’t quite on the money. Shitdisco live up to their name but Datarock’s ‘Fa Fa Fa’ has what can only be described as a groovy beat! Sounding like an explosion in a space invaders factory Crystal Castles ‘Alice Practice’ is musically and vocally (just shouting distorted) pretty dreadful! Other more bandy sounding stuff which hits the spot is obviously Gossip and also Shut your eyes and you’ll burst into flames. But to end it gets a bit seriously dancey, the excellent ‘Descend’ by New Young Pony Club fits onto this mix with consummate ease with a great beat and stylish vocals followed by Tigerforce with ‘Syntax error’, the vocals mix proper singing with some old fashion shouting! Ali Love finishes off but it’s a bit hard for our tastes. Highlights and Lowlights – Gossip steals the show with some ease but that could the fact it has been everywhere recently or it could be the fact that ‘Standing in the way of control’ is an absolute beauty of a song. On the other side of the coin, Shitdisco on the substance of ‘Reactor Hype’ are indeed hype over musical ability cause this is pretty damn poor. Flipping back again Datarock’s ‘Fa Fa Fa’ is a crackling slice of dance pop. There are a few tracks that sound too much like kids pissing around in their bedrooms; everyone has to start somewhere but stuff like Tigerforce sounds just too amateurish. Another criticism is a few tracks fall in to ‘corr aren’t the streets cool’, he might well be but there isn’t any excuse for ripping his vocals off over a dance beat, Hadouken being the main culprit of this. For a cracking dance beat it would be hard to beat New Young Pony Club; ‘Descend’ is second only to Gossip in taking the honours here. Verdict – As with most compilations it’s a mixed bag and to the truly serious they should own the vast majority of what’s on offer here. But to those new to the game it shows the best and worst of the dance rock underground, oh and the actual mixing between songs is actually quite amusing and at times far from seamless! File Under mixtape and mixed results!

Young Love – Too young to fight it (Mercury) Intro – Young Love are the alter ego of Dan Keyes an American hailing from Austin,Texas cheesed off with bumming around in bands he decided to ditch them, move to the big apple and do it himself, that was one hell of a good decision. He’s a pretty lad with lovely hair and good taste in clothes so can the music live up to the Young Love image. The music – The image is neat and tidy and that goes for the music too. This is indie pop of the first order and to be fair if this lad was English we’d be raving about him a long time ago, the music actually has an anglo edge and doesn’t have that brutal side of much American bands. Early Killers would be a good starting point then add some sweet, sweet vocals some electro backing and guitars and you’re about half way there. Highlights and Lowlights – This is a bloody good album with very few lowlights at all. It starts with a killer tune in ‘Discotech’ with one hell of a hook, a bit of an indie disco feel, one for the dance floor indeed. ‘Nameless one’ drips indie guitar pop glory, Young Love is pretty close to writing a true pop gem. ‘Find a new way’ is an awesome tune, breezy with a beast of a beat and contains the line ‘if you get the chance you must dance, dance, dance’, no truer lyric will you ever hear. ‘Take it or leave it’ finds Young Love more in the territory of the poppy Fall Out Boy yankee style, not that this is a bad thing as the beat goes on and on. ‘Underneath the night sky’ is more Killers but the vocals are actually better, another great tune for Young Love to boast about. Verdict – At under forty minutes ‘Too Young to fight it’ has the perfect length for a album boasting eleven heavenly poppy tracks. Shamelessly under rated ‘Too young to fight’ is one of the albums of the year and this lad should be massive. Fantastic! File Under See Americans can write pop tunes and how!

Chris Cornell – The Roads we choose - A Retrospective (Suretone / Interscope Records) Intro – Chris Cornell is a real heavyweight in the rock world having featured and provided vocals in some of the biggest and most influential rock bands of the past couple of decades. ‘The Roads we choose’ which is teaser to promote his forthcoming solo album recorded since disbanding Audioslave available to journalists only and featuring tracks from not only his last vehicle, Audioslave but from giants Soundgarden and grunge pioneers Temple of the Dog too. To go back to when Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and other Seattle stars ruled the rock world friends would pass one tape around of ‘this seminal album’ by a grunge super group which predated Pearl Jam and Soundgarden (and featured most of them!), this album was by Temple of The Dog. The Music – A frightening mix of past of present, seventeen tracks in all in fact. Four tracks are culled from Chris’ forthcoming debut album ‘Carry on’ and ‘No such thing’ commences proceedings, it shows that Chris has lost none of his rock edge nor gusto, a cracking track which bodes well for not only this compilation but the aforementioned solo offering. Arguably his most recognisable moment follows, ‘Black Hole Sun’ really propelled Soundgarden to the rock big time and it’s still a fantastic song now, not heavy nor fast but quality. In fact it’s figures twice on ‘The Roads we choose’ as a rare acoustic version is included too, it loses none of its power and gains a brittle edge. Of the other Soundgarden tracks the pick are the power chord driven ‘Outshined’ which points to Soundgarden’s true rock heartbeat whilst ‘Spoonman’ is a bit of a stomper too. The Temple of the dog tracks stand up pretty well too, they may sound a little naïve along side more polished offering by Audioslave but ‘Say hello 2 heaven’ proves why the Seattle scene really took off and provides the musical blueprint that Pearl Jam and Soundgarden built upon to great effect. Coming further up to date four tracks from Audioslave feature, ‘Show me how to live’ carries the rock timeline from the Soundgarden era big time whilst there’s another rare acoustic outing, this time for ‘Original Fire’. To end the album a further couple of solo tracks feature ‘You know my name’ possibly the pick and shows that Cornell’s vocals have lost none of their epic power. Highlights and lowlights – Like all good compilations there are plenty of highlights, nice to see Temple of the Dog featuring and Soundgarden are spot on. Unlikely as it sound there are no real lowlights, Audioslave stand up really well along side Soundgarden and the four solo tracks point to a bright future in the solo limelight. Verdict – Quality and should pave the way at some point to a full commercial release of a Chris Cornell. File Under Not available in the shops, check out ebay instead, I’m sure some hacks will be putting their copies online in due course, not us mind, pride of place filed under rock! 

The Cooper Temple Clause – Make this your own (Morning / Sanctuary) Intro – It’s been a weird time without the Coopers, one of shaddersonline fav bands ever. Music seems again to have moved on along with founding member Didz to join Libertines tribute band Dirty Pretty Things. Third albums are notoriously difficult and have up ended many a band without the added trials of losing a member. That aside they have re-grouped and gone back to the studio and taken their time to come up with that ‘difficult’ third album. Did they leave it too long? Will the third album jinx strike? Time to load up ‘Make this your own’ and find out the truth track by track. 1,Damage – First up the ‘comeback’ single which when when we first heard it sounded a little disjointed but a few plays later and it really grows. Great chorus, choppy guitars and brilliant Ben vocals. Quite a poppy little number and a great opener. 8/10. 2,Homo Sapiens – Christ what a tune; harder, stronger and faster than anything that the Coopers have done before this eclipses everything from Kill Music through Panzer Attack and Blind Pilots. Ben’s vocals snarl and rasp whilst guitars and drums are given a bloody good hammering and lyrically it’s sound as a pound. Despite been hard as nails it still manages a killer chorus and a pop sensibility and that ain’t easy. Quite honestly it’s fucking ace! 10/10. 3, Head – ‘Head’ completes a killer opening trio, a bit more electro than the previous duo and has a bit of a 80’s synth feel to it but they don’t feel anyway out of place with a pacey drum beat. Ben’s vocals again shine on as song that sounds like coopers of old whilst still having a new edge to it. 9/10. 4, Connect – Now this is where it starts going a little strange, firstly there are the heavy synth influences and Ben don’t do the vocals which sound a bit like Damon (Blur / Gorillaz). Behind the synth is actually quite a simple song, which after a while hooks you in and has your blessing despite it’s failings. 8/10. 5, Waiting Game – This is quite a simple straight forward pop rock tune with quite a catching chorus, sounds like a number of other songs of a similar ilk. Quite a pleasant canter but not really that challenging. 7/10. 6, Once More with feeling – This is a dark one, heavy edged with ugly vocals. Not pleasant like ‘Waiting game’ but short and bruising. 6/10. 7, What have you gone and done? -  Now this is a decent tune, never reaches the heights of ‘Damage’ or ‘Homo sapiens’ but again the chorus does good business. Jon’s drums lead up to natty guitar solo and then vocals re-appear with some great accompanying strings. 8/10. 8, Take Comfort – Now this is very weird, a very simple uncomplicated but poppy tune with strong vocals. Not very cooperlike with samples pushed aside for a jangley guitar feel. Unusual but not unpleasant. 6/10. 9, All I see is you – One of the slow burners that the Coopers always slot onto albums and b-sides. It springs into live around the four-minute mark with Ben’s growling vocals mixed in with heavy guitars and strings. Possibly the type of song that the Coopers have made a name for themselves with it’s six minutes of trademark variety, part dark slow burning almost smouldering build up and fires into top gear with a burning ending. 8/10. 10, Isn’t it Strange – Change of vocal duties actually helps this, a decent pace and stomping guitars again with the killer almost pop like chorus. Another uncomplicated rock romp that is sure easy on the ear and to be honest should really be the end track. 7/10. 11, House of Cards – Doesn’t really go anywhere this one, quite of just ambles through minutes without hitting any heights or pushing the cooper boundaries. Of interest for the mixed vocals duties but does sound more like a b-side than a climax to an album and does sound like it has a trumpet on it! 6/10. Verdict – Firstly it has to be said another hit on the artwork front, hats off to Richard Sweeny for the design concept. Now onto the music, lets say straight away that it isn’t a disaster but we have to admit that like other Cooper albums it does take a few listen through to get really and we do mean really into. It kicks off at an amazing rate and the trio of ‘Damage’, ‘Homo sapiens’ and ‘Head’ is one hell of a way to start any album, that could actually be a big problems that they do seem to peak a bit early! ‘Homo Sapiens’ is possibly the best or if not in the top three or four of Coopers tunes, it is quite simply awesome. On the flip side there are a few songs that don’t come near to previous work, ‘House of Cards’, ‘Take Comfort’ and ‘Once more with feeling’ do have the feel of b-sides promoted to the big leagues. So what do we have then? Well a mixed bag that fortunately has more winners than losers and is definitely worth a spin. And where do the Coopers go from here then? Well hopefully straight back into the studio, promote Ben to sole singer (as that’s one major thing that hasn’t really worked as well as probably they hoped on ‘Make this your own’) and keep kicking up the flames. The fire hasn’t gone out but could do with a few more logs thrown on to let the flames break loose once again. File under – Difficult third album, partial success!

TD Lind – Lets get Lost (Tell Tale Records) Intro – When we received debut single ‘Come in from the cold’ it threw us completely and utterly, we said it was a very personal and special song by a no ordinary singer songwriter. Just to take a step back TD Lind is an Englishman with a difference, he has walked away from the English goldfish bowl music scene and been around the block once or twice. Whether it be singing the blues in New York or jazz in Paris he has added influences along the way, no time more so than doing the states one side to the other via wastelands, big cities and those backwaters that give real true live experiences. The Music – This is one mans music journey that can’t easily be pigeon holed, true there are alt country vibes, a touch of the blues, elements of Dylan and Cash but TD Lind is his own man. This is a solo record that kicks ultra charming and bland efforts by such ‘artists’ like James Blunt well and truly into touch, it ain’t polished but shows the grit of a man writing both from his head and his heart. ‘Milestone’ is just his voice and an acoustic guitar, not an easy job to pull off but with a great voice like TD Lind possesses he pulls it off with some style and beauty too. ‘One fine day’ shows a rockier side but it doesn’t work as well as the more simple approach of guitars, piano and up tempo vocals of single ‘Radio Proposal’. ‘Falling’ has that alt country edge but is at heart a moving love song. In fact he is a rather fine writer of a love song, lyrically ‘Her’ is testament to that, the song itself gets a rather bouncy poppy feel and sounds all the better for it. Going back to our first comments ‘Come in from the cold’ still remains one of the finest songs we’ve heard, great guitars going head to head with Dylan style vocals and a fantastic, descriptive story too, just superb. Strangely one of the weakest tracks on the album is the only cover, a rather country take on ‘Jesus Christ’ by Woody Guthrie, not a great take but a pointer to where TD Lind is coming from. Another pointer is ‘I don’t miss you’ which Lind voice is paired only with a piano, it takes balls and talent to pull that trick out of the bag but pull it off he does with some ease. Verdict – Shamefully it’s doubtful that this album will make much of a dent on the English music scene but for those who do find a copy in their collection they will not be disappointed. TD Lind is a songwriter of the first order with some unusual musical influences for an Englishman which together makes an album that is anything but run of the mill. File under Englishman travels the world soaks in an unusual mix of blues, folk and rock influences then produces a damn fine debut album.

The Horrors – Strange House (Loog / Polydor Records) Intro – Looking like a disaster in a Robert Smith does Widow Twanky fancy dress factory The Horrors are labelled glam punk rock. The album is sub named ‘psychotic sounds for freaks and weirdos’, should be fun to live up to that billing! The Music – What is this a joke then? Opener ‘Jack the ripper’ is absolutely dreadful, vocally it’s like pulling teeth except without the fun! ‘Count in fives’ is slightly better for the keyboards which drive the song but other than that you might as well pop your head in a blender for the same effect. It don’t get much better as the thing goes on neither, the vocals are sub Nick Cave at his tuneless worst (‘Thunderclaps’ takes the piss) and backing vox is a drone at best (‘Draw Japan’). Musically too it’s all over the shop, only the excellent keys give it any direction the rest just matches the cringe worthy vocals! Lyrically too it’s bloody awful, take ‘She is the new thing’ yak! And they have the balls to include lyrics sheets with the album too, wouldn’t have dared. Highlights and Lowlights –  ‘Excellent choice’ isn’t too bad for it’s unusual story telling form, shame they have to include some ‘singing’ too! To name all the low lights it would take a while, let’s put it this way pray you have a skip button on your stereo! Probably the highlight is ‘Girl Sleeping’ for it’s lack for the singer and half decent beat and again saving grace those keys. The first wave of goths like The Cure and the Banshees must be turning in their graves at albums like this; it’s just an out and out joke. Verdict – Horrors by name, Horror show by nature. This is awful and we can see why The Horrors look so pissed off in the cover shot, they have had to listen to the album in full in one sitting! According to the album sleeve it was ‘recorded in horrortone’, no shit! File Under lighter fuel and a lit match!

The Hours – Narcissus Road (A&M Records) Intro – ‘They understand what music is for – it’s for human beings to communicate with other human beings. It’s that’s simple, it’s that important. Let them into your life. You won’t regret it’. Not our words, no those of a certain Jarvis Cocker. The Hours are essentially a duo of Anthony Genn and Martin Slattery who have done the rounds musically (mainly as session or backing musicians). What they lack in youth they make up with a vast music experience and knowledge of how to write and record a great guitar album with the ability to add strings and piano as and when required. Music – Wow what a start ‘Ali in the Jungle’ is, from the opening bars it’s set up to be once of those classic openers. It’s a deep indie guitar tune but still nice an easy to listen to with a great tune, it even finishes with a great sample of when Ali reigned in the jungle too which is a neat touch. ‘Narcissus Road’ keeps up the good work, a decent pace with excellent guitars but is easily outshone by ‘Back when you were good’. This is such an awesome song; the guitars, stunning vocals and the complimentary strings it is one of the best songs of this genre in many a long year, it is that good. Obviously there may be a bit of a come down and ‘Love you more’ does slip into this rut. The lyrics are a bit dicey, take for instance ‘I love you more than all my hooded tops’ ain’t gonna win no prizes for songwriting but overall it isn’t too bad. ‘Icarus’ is another fantastic piece of music, great piano and Anthony Geen’s vocals are just stunning, a big epic song. ‘I miss you’ is the other side of the coin, simple with acoustic guitars and piano, simple but really effective and quite lovely. Carrying on that lovely vain is ‘Murder or suicide’ which begins with brilliant piano and thoughtful and meaningful lyrics, the drums pick up the pace and it ends up romping home, a winner! ‘Dive in’ is a slow, sullen, moody tune with again the piano showing the sensitive qualities of Anthony’s vocal talents, a tad on the short side but even so pretty good. ‘I need to know’ is a bit of a weird one, a stomping beat and quite surreal lyrics, different! ‘People say’ starts off sounding a bit like a song by the criminally ignored band Mainstream, the lyrics that of a man seeking to discard a small town past and being cast as a dreamer for wanting to move on and up. In fact it’s an excellent tune for about four minutes before it goes a bit weird and Geen goes on a torrent of fucks, I suspect an edited version would be a better listen! It finishes with ‘Let me Breathe’ another piano based tune with excellent vocals plus backing vocals by Becky Byrne and a great chorus too. A lovely end to frankly a lovely album. Verdict – The dark and moody indie guitar genre is a crowded marker place and to shine you have to be something quite special. To be fair it isn’t note perfect and there’s the odd track that isn’t quite up to the job but overall as debut albums go this is a bit special. If you like Suede, Doves, Dark Star or anyone of this ilk The Hours would firmly be up your street. We whole-heartedly agree with Jarvis ‘Let them into your life. You won’t regret it’. File Under – Great use of the piano in a pop based indie guitar fest!

Gruff Rhys – Candylion (Rough Trade). Intro – Fans of Super Furry Animals will no doubt be rejoicing in the valleys as Gruff takes time out to release another solo offering. The Music – Gruff would probably be the first to admit he ain’t gonna push back the boundaries of music, nor style if the sleeve pic is anything to go by! That said you’ve always got a fair idea what’s going to be on a SFA or Gruff Rhys album and Candylion is no different on that score.  It’s low fi indie folk rock, a bit like a welsh Badly Drawn Boy or even the much missed and long departed Alfie. There’s tracks that border on alt country, see ‘Beacon in the darkness’ and others that border on pure mellow pop, single ‘Candylion’ is Gruffpop at his best. Highlights and Lowlights – Unfortunately ‘Gyrru gyrru gyrru’ is quite annoying and instantly forgettable but the rest of the album is decent enough. ‘Candylion’ is a great listen and you’ll wish ‘Now that the feeling is gone’ is longer than it’s three minutes and one second. ‘Ffrwydriad yn y ffurfafen’ cracks a decent pace, as does ‘Cycle of violence’ which is a grand tune. Strange for a album that has eleven tracks hovering round the three minute mark the final track ‘Skylon!’ actually racks up a length of over fourteen minutes! It just drifts around without any offence at all which just about sums up the album; mellow, pleasant and nice! Verdict – Despite never pushing back the musical boundaries Candylion is a solid album, it may not be the most exciting record ever recorded but as a chill out album or even just plain old background music it works just fine. File under - easy listening!

Rob McCulloch – Escaping times (Gladrag Records) Intro – You may not have heard of Rob McCulloch yet but we do mean yet as the North West’s has produced another songwriting talent who will make people sit up and take note. Burning out of Bolton with thirteen self-penned tracks that ouse a pop quality that belies his years. According to his myspace page he gave away 100 copies of the album to his myspace ‘pals’ those lucky few being the first to give it a spin. Music – He claims influences from sixties mod sounds through The Jam to latter-day Oasis and we’d wholeheartedly agree with these adding northern pop starlets The Lightening Seeds, Weller’s solo outings and also just a touch of the Arctic Monkeys evident briefly too. Rob has the smart new mod look down to a tee, just look at the pics on the inner album sleeve for evidence of this and his look does indeed follow through the music too, very much an English album by an English singer. Opener ‘Something Abuse’ sets the pop standard and it just carries on throughout the full album, nothing too heavy just nice guitar pop. ‘Doing One’s bit’ has a nice relaxed acoustic feel whereas ‘Six of one’ is a shiny pop tune of the best order. ‘Internal Paradise’ tempts that there may be something darker inside but it’s straight back up-tempo with ‘Cinnamon sticks’. Highs and lows – There’s plenty of good old fashion pop songs, he has a good knack of knocking out a decent tune. ‘Six of one’ is a belter along with ‘Something abuse’ too. It’s a shame that Rob’s darker side can’t come to the fore more often and that’s the major gripe. Minor problems are that it does sound a little naïve in places but it’s a debut album so that is usually the case. Verdict – Those hundred myspace punters got a real bargain for this is a champion album, Rob isn’t the finished article yet and it does have it’s little flaws but none the less it’s a good listen. File Under put on the old Fred Perry and get ready for some northern guitar pop!

Klaxons – Myths of the near future (Rinse / Polydor) Intro –  Last year the hype machine surrounded The Arctic Monkeys and they lived up to it all and then some with their stunning debut long player. Since then the music press has shifted it’s attention and musical tastebuds to a more dancier edge and in their minds eye it’s chosen ones Klaxons.  Can the christened leaders of this so called ‘new rave’ movement (which is a joke name to be fair) live up to their hype? Music – Starts neatly enough, ‘Two receivers’ is low key but very pleasant on the ear perhaps a warm up for the magic that awaits on the following ten tracks. It all goes a bit Pete Tong early doors though for ‘Atlantis to interzone’ is a bloody mess, they can’t decide what tune it is, firstly sub KLF then a bit moody indie then Electric Six and it all just ends up a messy nonsense. Fortunately as a tonic to this is the simply stunning ‘Golden Skans’. It’s a more conventional song, great drum beat and excellent chorus; ‘Golden Skans’ is a tune that just has you humming along constantly. ‘Totem on the timeline’ has a dreadful title and the lyrics aren’t much better but fortunately the backing tune pulls it back from another failure. ‘As below, so below’ isn’t a bad tune neither that despite the Kaxons trying to overpower it at times with needless effects, when left along the chorus actually gets the feet tapping with ease. ‘Isle of her’ is instantly forgettable and just doesn’t go anywhere so press the skip button. ‘Gravitys rainbow’ picks up the pace and is more like it, not quite as great as ‘Golden Skans’ but more like what is expected given the expectations. ‘Forgotten works’ is alright but nothing special and that leads onto former single ‘Magick’ which to be honest is just plain awful! It’s Klaxons at their messed up, throw all the ideas in the air and see what comes out worst. Unfortunately what comes out half the time sounds like all the band are playing different songs to one another and the hype is built on this, how? ‘It’s not over yet’ sounds pretty good but there again it isn’t one of the Klaxons songs! That said the vocals are good and the beat is up so if you are going to attempt a cover you might as well make a good job of it and thank god they have. Then to ruin that they end with the dreadful ‘Four horsemen of 2012’ it’s got a bad rock drum beat, effect laden vocals that suck and just sounds like prog rock gone horribly wrong, not the ending that was required to leave a positive impression. Then if you skip along for about fifteen minutes the secret track is just a bit of noise, why bother! Verdict – Just go out and buy the single ‘Golden Skans’ cause vast parts of this album are frankly a waste of time and at best average indie dance stuff that’s been done better a thousand times before. File under – Don’t believe the hype.

Neurosonic – Drama Queen (Bodogmusic) Intro – Neurosonic is the name of the rock project of  Canadian Jason Darr, a man who has the trademark looks of new goth metal. He has the long dark lank hair, tattoos and alternative good looks. The Music – Jason cites influences such as the ambiguous Nine Inch Nails and System of a Down along with The Beatles, which is a bit off the wall and unexpected to say the least. Opener ‘ So many people’ packs real punch, using those nine inch nail influences to notable effect and has a monster go at manufactured pop nonsense. It’s not just a noise thing neither ‘I will always be your fool’ shows more of a delicate side but still manages to have a grand rock chorus. ‘Me myself and I’ follows much in the same vain but borders on Yankee ballad territory, just about staying the right side of that line. There’s still plenty of forays into the more usual My Chemical Romance territory just should prove popular with the current rock scene. ‘Boneheads’ has the quality of being hard enough to appeal but still has an accessible feel to drag you in and get you hooked. Highlights & lowlights – ‘I will always be your fool’ shows mature songwriting whilst being a great song. Manufactured pop is fair game and absolutely savaged to great effect in ‘So many people’; the lyrics are amusing to say the least! ‘So now you know’ sounds subtly Evanescence like before heading for an epic ending. Verdict – As you’d expect there’s plenty of bitterness and self-loathing but amongst all that is a pretty decent rock album. Sure there are a few trips down near ballad cul de sacs but when it rips up it does it in pretty good style. File under – listen on the black parade!