Babe – Volery Flighty (Moshi Moshi Records)

Having lent his striking falsetto to experimental pop maestros Frànçois And The Atlas Mountains, Gerard Black defies easy categorisation. So it’s no surprise that each song on his debut with Scottish-French project Babe boasts a kaleidoscopic mix of funk, shoegaze and cinematic sweeps.

Although the Cocteau Twins-like opener ‘Dot And Carry One’ (below) suggests the band is still trying to find its own sound, unexpected country flecked highlight ‘Bx Betweenwhiles’ shows off Black’s wistful vocals and melodic sensibility.

When the upbeat closer ‘Bronco’, combining jangle-pop with a reggae-tinged beat, arrives, it shows how infectious this band could be if such brimming eclecticism had more focus.

6/10

Words: James Evans

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Published on ClashMusic.com. Article here.

Album review: Blood Red Shoes – Blood Red Shoes (Jazz Life)

With garage-punk songs about alienation and feral live shows fuelled by inter-band tensions, the idea of Brighton/London duo Blood Red Shoes self-producing their fourth album in a room in Kreuzberg, Berlin was an exciting one.

But despite drummer Steven Ansell sneering “keep me out of this uniform” in the thrillingly abrasive single ‘An Animal’ (video below), their scuzzy wall of sound established here soon becomes repetitive.

While the band’s previous long-player ‘In Time To Voices’  blended Americana and blues into their glossy noise-rock, meandering tracks on this eponymous set, like ‘Speech Coma’, lack similar sonic risks.

Intimate moments, however, like the haunting, heartbroken folk of ‘Tightwire’ show how primal this fourth studio collection could have been.

6/10

Words: James Evans

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Published on ClashMusic.com. Article here.

Album review: Maximo Park – Too Much Information (Daylight)

Since the frenetic rush of 2005’s top-20 single ‘Apply Some Pressure’, taken from debut LP ‘A Certain Trigger’, Newcastle’s Maxïmo Park haven’t strayed from their initial, winning formula of infectious indie-pop and witty, unconventional lyrics.

While this fifth album contains icier, rather Fever Ray inspired electronic soundscapes, frontman Paul Smith’s eccentric tales of nocturnal sports and deceased poets are mostly backed by the angular pop production fans of this band have come to expect.

This can prove frustrating at times, with the overproduced ‘My Bloody Mind’ sounding like an inferior repeat of past singles. However, unexpected moments of magic like the pulsing synths of ‘Leave This Island’ – with a tender, emotive delivery of “I’ll stand up for you” – make Smith’s lyrical observations all the more captivating.

7/10

Words: James Evans

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Published on ClashMusic.com. Article here.

Album review: Gardens & Villa – Dunes (Secretly Canadian)

For their second album ‘Dunes’, the Santa Barbara quintet have ditched the warm, surf-friendly climate of the west coast to record in a converted warehouse during a frozen winter in Michigan. Although it wasn’t an obvious relocation, the band have created a richer, more ambitious sound than the hazy psych-pop of their self-titled debut. Highpoint ‘Domino’ combines Prince-style funk with a catchy flute hook, while ‘Chysanthemums’ is a mercurial piano-led trip-hop ballad. Despite the quality lagging slightly towards the end, triumphs like The Cure-esque distorted guitars in ‘Echosassy’ and an intimate vocal from Chris Lynch on ‘Minnesota’ make ‘Dunes’ a twinkling, sonically adventurous winter soundtrack. .

8/10

DIG IT? DIG DEEPER: YEASAYER, STILL CORNERS, SUMMER HEART

Published in Issue 92 of Clash magazine.

Album review: Death Vessel – Island Intervals (Sub Pop)

If traditional folk revivalist Joel Thibadeau’s past records bring to mind blissful campfire scenes, his third album conjures up windswept forests and stark, barren mountains. Recorded in Reykjavik with SigurRós collaborator Alex Somers and múm’sSamuliKosminen, the frosty twinkles and skittery beats complement the Rhode Island-based Thibadeau’s alt-folk leanings. While the hymnal ‘Ilsa Drown’ benefits from Jónsi’s eerie croon, there are times when the tracks try to imitate his collaborators’ lush dreamscapes without reaching their intimate beauty. However, when the frantic ‘Island Vapors’ arrives with crashing drums and Thibadeau’s swooping falsetto, it shows how original and bracing this album could have been.

7/10

DIG IT? DIG DEEPER: SIGUR RÓS, MÚM, LOW

Published in Issue 92 of Clash magazine.