07 March 2008

MGMT - Time To Pretend
Touted accross the board these guys have an awful lot to live up to. This isn't a bad first offering to the masses sounding a bit Bowie-ish, toodling along at a comfortable pace, catching you with a killer synth hook.

Jimmy Eat World - Always Be
It's hard to think when these boys last put a foot wrong. They continue to please here, doing what they do best; singing about being a bit awkward when it comes to relationships and such.

Land Of Talk - Speak To Me Bones
We thought this might be a novelty Star Trek song from the title but it turned out to be fairly standard, girl-fronted indy fodder. It is neither spiky nor exhilarating as the press release claimed.

We Are Scientists - After Hours
Not as instantly catchy as their previous singles but still a pretty good song. Hopefully this is a sign that the Scientists are endeavoring to bring bright new things our way. What happened to the drummer though?

Jacob Golden - Out Come The Wolves
The way the press release quotes lines from this song makes us think it's trying to be clever and doesn't credit the listener with the intelligence to get it. It's not that clever and is pretty forgetable.

Die Romantik - Narcissist's Walz
They were raised in France, live in Brooklyn and have a German name. These boys seem a bit all over the place on paper but it doesn't stop them from turning out an aptly-titled, piano-tinged gem of a tune.

The Afternoons - Don't Turn Back
It's like someone cloned The Lightning Seeds and Cast, they mated and produced one of the most horrific travesties the world has ever seen.

Fightstar - Floods
Fightstar are not a terrible band. What they do, they do quite well and it's a miracle anyone took them seriously in the first place considering where they started from. This is not one of their finer efforts though it could have been saved by the accoustic b-side had it not faded out after a minute and a half.

Ancestors - Neptune With Fire
Pretty sure this is actually an album as each of the two songs is fifteen plus minutes long. If you can sit through thirty eight minutes of gloom metal, tell us what it's like.

Voodoo Six - Faith
We don't need Voodoo Six like we didn't need Audioslave after 'Cochise'. We certainly don't need any of the b-side remixes of this dirge.

Headway - The Start
This band have been described as exciting but in fact the only way one of their songs would be even vaguely exciting is if someone told you they were going to kill you when it was over.

Flyleaf - I'm So Sick
Calling on Evanescence and Korn for influences, this Texas five-piece sound as if they could have real bite at first. Sadly repeat listens find them lacking teeth.

Cazals - Life Is Boring
This isn't bad. The problem is, it's not as good as it's contempories efforts of late. It's not as catchy or re-listenable as Foals, Alphabeat or Late Of The Pier's recent outputs to name a few. It isn't helped by some frankly boring remixes either.