Wolf Alice 'My Love Is Cool' - An independent fans review

Wolf Alice first turned heads over two years ago and have since released a couple of singles and a couple of EP's whilst slowly developing and readying their debut album. One of these singles, 'Bros' was my song of the year back in 2013, so to say I've been looking forward to this album for a while is something of an understatement. So here it is and has it been worth the wait?

Their sound has developed and they have more variety than maybe the early recordings suggest, but then there always was a folky, indie, gothic vein (i.e., varied) to their sound, and this is ably illustrated by opening track 'Turn To Dust', it’s melodic with a touch of All About Eve vs Pink Floyd but very modern sounding, lyrically oblique, the sweetly cooed ‘Keep your beady eyes on me’ leads into a song of fear and uncertainty. From this straight into a new version of 'Bros', a modern Brit pop indie anthem already. You can't ruin a classic, however I firmly prefer the original two year old single version by a country mile. The song is a seemingly life affirming song about precious friendships, but there was always an undercurrent to the words, ‘Oh jump at 43, are you wild like me?’, and this is now reflected in the musical arrangement that comes with it. The original was simply cleaner, more classic and more uplifting. It is still a great song though. 'Your Loves Whore' is great sweet guitar based pop song about jumping in and finding lasting devotion. It's followed by 'You're A Germ' a much grungier dirty rock song, possibly about a leery old rocker leading a school age groupie up the wrong path? It has a great shouty/sweary chorus and it's one of my favourite songs on here.

'Lisbon' mixes the melodic with a harder noisy undercurrent and another dark lyric of fear and death. By now the decision to take their time over the debut album (you only get one chance at your first album the band offer) is clearly paying off. This is a collection of timeless genre defying modern rock. 'Lisbon' runs effortlessly into 'Silk', an esoteric floating mood piece that builds into a tight anthemic treat with a great vocal arrangement and another tale of the good and the bad in relationships, no gain without pain. 'Freazy' kicks off the second half off the album, perhaps the most straightforward pop moment on here yet, a song driven by a simple drum pattern with intertwining bass lines. Then comes ‘Giant Peach’, first heard earlier this year as the slow build up to the album began. A more guitar driven track with a moody downbeat lyric, a tale of struggling to leave the past behind and embrace the doubt an unknown future. 'Swallowtail' is a track that stands apart from the album in a number of ways. The lead vocal comes not from front person Ellie Rowsell but from drummer Joel Amey. It sounds almost like a different band, but then that's part of what the band try to be, undefinable, multi-faceted and many faced. And they do it pretty successfully too.

As if to prove this 'Soapy Water' arrives with yet another different sound, a gentle floating balletic pop sound again though it’s a song of fear, doubt and hiding feelings. 'Fluffy' was the band’s first physical release in 2013 and also reappears here. A more typically indie sounding guitar track it has focus and drive and its return is most welcome; like ‘Giant Peach’ it’s another song about leaving childhood and the town you grew up in behind. Last track proper 'The Wonderwhy' has echoes of Bjork’s Sugarcubes, a slow building medium paced ‘what’s the meaning of life’ rock song with interwoven vocal parts, and leads into one of those 'hidden track' moments, an under produced demo sounding guitar and vocal fragment of a song possibly called 'My Love Is Cool'. It's short and unfinished but finishes the album off as proper full stop.

So then, Wolf Alice have achieved a memorable debut album, shot through with quality and variety. It's not gonna hit Arctic Monkeys/Oasis levels of debut album sales, a shame really as I feel it's just as deserving, but the music business simply doesn't operate in that way anymore. But this album is a success, I urge you to check out what's available of the bands earlier releases (use Deezer, iTunes and YouTube) while you still can. In fact move quickly and HMV are offering an exclusive edition with a first CD release of last years 'Creature Comforts' EP. But mainly, check out this fine, memorable debut album in whatever way you can. As the band say, you only get one shot at your debut LP so don’t screw up. Well that’s mission accomplished then.

9/10

TDWS - Webcast 2015#3 - C.W. Stoneking - He's Been A Shelter For Me (Live SoulStirrers cover)

So here's a third dose of TDWS podcast, hereafter known as webcast. The usual mix of oldies, newbies, web oddities etc. With Alex Burey, The Strypes, Tame Impala, The Doors, Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, Elbow, Hall & Oates, Melody Gardot, Seafret, Led Zeppelin, The Bee Gees go mental, Robbie Robertson, Behla Hutchinson, The Chemical Brothers, Muse, Dee Hunter & Phil Burdett, Scott 4 (the band not the album), Nick Cave, and C.W. Stoneking. 

Download it here!!

Thames Delta World Service: Back To The Future - Mojo's 50 Pre Punk 70's Track...

The links of this have been down for a while since divshare rapped my knuckles over me David Bowie 'The Next Day' enthusiasm. Since it's by far the most popular post I've ever had all links are now mended and back up and running. Click on the red in white link below....

Thames Delta World Service: Back To The Future - Mojo's 50 Pre Punk 70's Track...: The current issue of ‘Mojo’ magazine contains an article by ‘England’s Dreaming’ author Jon Savage, essentially a 50 track countdown of 70’...

Muse - Drones - An independent fans review

On first reading about Muse's latest album some months ago I noted that they were set to dispense with some of the orchestral excesses of recent releases and have some sort of back to basics experience, which I thought was a shame as I'd loved their increasingly mad albums which were all laced with great pop moments. I needn't have worried, this is the most insane album they've ever made, in fact you just can’t listen to it without a huge a grin at least, and actual belly laughs scattered freely throughout. Produced by Robert 'Mutt' Lange this is as big sounding as anything they've ever recorded. I first bought Lange productions nearly 40 years ago (Boomtown Rats and a one off XTC single), though as he moved into stadium MOR (Bryan Adams, he co-wrote 'Everything I Do', Def Leppard and one time wife Shania Twain. He also produced the fourth bestselling album of all time, AC/DC's 'Back In Black') it seemed unlikely his name would grace my music collection again. Then Muse got in touch with him. This album has his trademarks all over it, huge deep drums, and pulsing bass, everything up in the mix. In short, it's absolutely joyous.

And though Lange's presence is notable from the opening drum beats of album opener 'Dead Inside', let's make it clear, it's Muse who bring the madness to the proceedings. The opener though is a Muse pop moment, and one of the more straightforward songs here, and the the first hint that the warfare and releasing of drones sung about on this album are not necessarily about battlefield war, but war in love (singer and lyricist Matt Bellamy has recently split from his movie star wife Kate Hudson). 'Psycho' follows with all the sergeant major screaming and swearing that made the songs YouTube premiere such a thrill. Again, love is the first word in the lyric, though the song has comic book military soldier brainwashing connotations. The song is driven by a heavy rock guitar riff over the beefed up drums and driving bass. It's a classic. I found it funny on first listening and still do now. It's an 'Ah, Muse are back' sensation.

Mercy is much heavier in the military pictorial, and sees a synth hook as the songs main weapon, that and the drums, guitars and bass obviously. Other recurring themes are leaving their mark too, brainwashing, puppeteers of men and populace, war zones and killing fields, remote control killers. Yet there are always hints that something much closer to home is the real subject matter. 'Reapers' blasts off with those drums again and a mad squealing guitar (another big grin moment), yet the opening line is 'Home is the beginning, a killing field'. I really hope Bellamy's separation wasn't as messy and painful as this all sounds. The song is so over the top you just can't help smiling, Muse trademark treated backing vocals and filthy guitars paint the track mad. 'The Handler' similarly starts with 'You were my oppressor, and I, I have been programmed'. At least by the end of the song there is a Declaration of Independence, an I can stand on my own feet manifesto. This is another guitar and drum fest. But you can't bury Chris Wolstenholmes bass though, remember Muse are a three way fighting machine and it constantly sounds as if all three main instruments are fighting to be heard the most. Which is not a bad thing, it’s their character, it's what Muse are. After a short intro made up from John F Kennedy speeches (called....JFK) we’re into another bass, drum and guitar battleground, 'Defector'. There's also some mad Queen-like backing vocals, the lyrics are barking.... 'Your minds turned green and your belly is all yellow'. At end JFK pipes up again, not before we've had guitars trying to be bagpipes though.

Talking of Queen, 'Revolt' blasts in, a late era Queen like delve into a bloody, robot controlled, drone patrolled society, only far more panicked and confused than anything Freddie and co ever got up to. Already the album is coming to a close. 'Aftermath' is calmer, almost Floydian, a solider returning from war, an errant lover coming home. A welcome hello to an orchestra too, and chiming Edge like guitars. For all the madness that's gone before this is where the album gets strong for me, though it makes you smile less, for the time being anyway. Because just as you settle 'The Globalist' begins, a ten minute song in many parts. Starting with a spaghetti western whistled intro, leading into more Floyd guitar and late Queen beats, a song of survivors and a destroyed past, a call to rebuild and remodel, recode and prosper whether intentions are benign are otherwise. Halfway through and the Muse mental guitar smile is put back on your face, the bass heavy drums ignite, we have a guitar sound back from Muse's first album, then the orchestra and piano stealthily seize control, subsiding to a choral peak, and we slip into final track, 'Drones'. Vocal only, and based on 'Sanctus and Benedictus' by 16th century Renaissance composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, this along with the mini rock opera of the preceding track make this the most mental point of any Muse album yet. Though it's sombre and doomy, 'Killed by drones, my mother, my father, my sister and my brother' and finishing with an ‘Amen', it's still a defining leave ‘em smiling moment. Whatever Matthew Bellamy is on, you want some.

At this point in their career Muse have never made a duff album. This is their seventh studio offering and if they stay this out there it's hard to see them ever putting forward something secondary. It's not their best album, but whether it about war, brainwashing, nuclear aftermath or love, breakup and painful domesticity, it's grand in every way. Where do they go from here? Jeff Wayne is probably sitting by the phone right now.....

8/10.

Paul Weller - Saturns Pattern - An independent fans review

Being upfront about it, I've been a Paul Weller fan for such a long time. I bought Jam singles and albums on their release days, still listen to some Style Council songs (ok, I'll admit it, even whole albums), and always buy his solo stuff. Even solo he's had his up and downs, but for the last few years (22 Dreams and onwards) he's barely put a foot wrong, pushing the boundaries of what we expect from out elder statesmen of rock way out there, experimenting and trying new things, even to an extent that it all might've been too much for some long term fans, though he has picked up a fair few new fans along the way. Last album 'Sonik Kicks' was as about out there as Weller's ever been. This one has its quirks and out there moments but it's the most focussed song album of his later career, and as such for me, it's immediately another highlight.

So the music then. Opener 'White Sky' is a rock/blues Zeppelin'ish chugging monster. When the missus walked in the room she couldn't be bothered to ask me what I was listening to, rolling her eyes in a 'he's listening to heavy metal' way. Ignore her she's a philistine, it's a great opener. Hot on its heels, title track 'Saturns Pattern' is on more familiar Weller footing. A pop soul psych out, and lyrically one of Weller's most upbeat songs ever, "Get up, in a mind to get up, it’s ours to explore.” ’Going My Way' is one of those hopelessly romantic songs that the writer has become so adept at over the years. It shifts gears, has differing passages, yet three songs in and the past Paul Weller album I have most in mind is his solo debut from1992 (this for the record is his 12th solo studio album proper). The music is underpinned with quirky bleeps or blasts but everything is carefully placed and in place and enhances the music rather than detract from it. 'Long Time' arrives next, its rock/pop Quo boogie beat is a surprise, it's short and sweet and I like it. 'Pick It Up' is a six minute slab of pop/soul graft that again reminds me of PW's early solo work. It's sounds well-crafted yet has a spontaneity about it that keeps it welcoming. The keyboards are clean, the guitars crisp and the beat relentless but not punishing. There’s even a burst of flamenco guitar that's immediately followed by what sounds like a Stylophone. 'I'm Where I Should Be' says what you'd expect. PW sounds comfortable at where he finds himself in life and music, "Not trapped by the burden of parody". It's one of the more experimental sounding pieces on here, yet still a complete song, built around great melodies.

By tack seven and we're on the home run already of this 9 track romp. 'Phoenix' has very retro backing vocals (including Paul's wife Hannah), and is another positive outlook on the current state of the singers life. It's a very 60's sounding track, with keyboards reminiscent of the Doors. 'In The Car' seems the most out of place song lyrically here, the singer embracing the isolation of long journeys round the M25, just him, his wife, and loud music for company. Musically it opens with a gentle Canned Heat 'On The Road Again' guitar motif, developing into another psych out song with different passages and sections. Its possibly the track I was least sure of on first listen but now having lived with the album for a week it’s becoming a bit of a favourite. And the album closer proper, 'These City Streets' floats in on a cushion of urban sound effects. Again the '92 solo debut is evoked, and at about 8 minutes long it's one of the longest things PW's ever recorded. Yet it’s it's pretty straightforward and again Weller is confident of his own beliefs, feelings and place in the world. Lyrically PW sounds more contented than ever but musically he simply doesn't want to stand still or tread water; reading interviews it's clear he still goes out to discover music he's not familiar with and that exploration is (thankfully) evident in his recent recordings.

Being 2015 and with physical editions of music releases harder to sell than ever the music doesn't stop at the albums end. My deluxe boxed edition features a DVD, the album on heavy blue vinyl, a large booklet, a poster and three 'exclusive bonus' tracks on the CD. The first is a cover of Jr Walker and the All-stars 'I'm a Roadrunner' written by Motown legends Holland/Dozier/Holland. It's a loose southern soul faithful cover. It doesn't add to the album as such, but it's a decent cover. 'Dusk Til Dawn' retains the psych feeling but in a folky vein, it probably would've sounded out of place on the album proper but that doesn't seem to have bothered PW much in recent years. Finally a 'White Sky' remix, good but in all honesty superfluous. All of which leads to my only gripe with the album and maybe even with PW. This deluxe edition cost me about 36 quid, I've seen this going for as much as £48. All the music could've easily fitted on the more basic-including the DVD special edition going for around £12-13. Back in the day PW always gave his fans value for money, non-album singles, sublime B-sides etc. Even the last three deluxe editions all with decent extra music and visuals have been well priced. But the box version, lovely though it is just doesn't deliver great value for money. Great product and music yes, but I feel a little that my devotion to PW's music has led to me being taken.

Still, the album is superb. There is no filler, everything works and aurally it's a treat for decent system. Unless you're a diehard like me go for the standard edition CD (I've seen this for £8) or the decent value 180g standard vinyl edition with free digital download (about £14). Great album, apparently the live shows have been wonderful too. An instant Weller classic.

9.5/10

Chris O'Leary - Pushing Ahead of the Dame and Rebel Rebel - A Bowie fan nirvana

Can't believe I've only just discovered Chris O'Leary's writing. His blog, 'Pushing Ahead Of The Dame' is a university level biopsy of every Bowie song. You could spend days browsing it. 

In fact it's so good he's re-edited it and re-written into an amazing Bowie book, my new favourite Bowie book. Available from Amazon or other sellers as listed the authors site. If you're a Bowie fan you really should investigate. Don't just take my word for it, do it! 

TDWS Podcast 2015#2

Having done only one last year, here's my second podcast of 2015. Quite a bit of new music on this one, featuring, two from Muse (from the forthcoming 'Drones'), MG (Martin Gore), two from Tame Impala (ftf 'Currents'), Johnny Marr sings Depeche Mode, Blur, Jamie T sings Meghan Trainor, two from Paul Weller (ftf 'Saturns Pattern'), Underworld vs Misterons vs Frankie Knuckles, two alternate David Bowie plastic soul mixes and a brief excerpt of a Bowie holy grail, The Violent Femmes, Alex Burey, three from Wolf Alice and Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes. Have a listen, download here.

TDWS 2015 #2 Download

TDWS Podcast 2015#1

The first TDWS of 2015. Features The Manics do the Stones, Marc Almond, Blur, Laura Marling does Led Zep, The Handsome Family, Pete Doherty, NME Godlike Genius’s Suede, Paul Weller, Tame Impala does MJ, Wolf Alice, Rumer does Christopher Cross, self-recorded in concert recordings of Juke and Laura Marling, Moroder/Minogue, Hegarty/Ono, Frank Ocean, Father John Misty does Nirvana, Robert Plant and Morrissey. You can download or listen here.

TDWS Podcast 2015#1