Album Review - Robert Plant 'A Band Of Joy'

Robert Plant
‘Band of Joy’
(Decca/Universal)

I, FOR one, am glad Robert Plant turned down a reported $200 million offer to reform Led Zeppelin following their reunion gig in 2007.
If the seminal rock band had reformed, we might not have seen the release of two of the finest albums produced in the intervening period - Plant’s album Raising Sand, released in 2007 with Alison Krauss, and his latest offering, the new release Band of Joy.

Raising Sand went on to win six Grammy Awards, including Grammy for Album of the Year in 2009, and was a masterpiece, Krauss’s delicate and hushed voice intertwining perfectly with Plant’s gruff, often falsetto, timbre.
This album picks up where that left off, but finds Plant with a new band of collaborators, including Nashville legend and guitarist Buddy Miller, multi-instrumentalist Darrell Scott - both of whose fingerprints are heavily featured on this album - and country singer-songwriter Patty Griffin, who manages to avoid merely copying Krauss and brings her own individualism to the project.
Band of Joy takes its title from Plant’s first group, formed in the ‘60s, and his decision to resurrect the name burns with symbolism, the former Led Zep frontman allowing the first rate musicians he has assembled to steer him back to his roots, as it were.

The album opens with to the throbbing, groaning guitar lines on an incredibly diverse interpretation of Los Lobos's 'Angel Dance' - a delicate banjo the perfect counterpoint to Plant’s dulcet tones, and the Southern blues of Miller’s guitars.
The bluegrass, brush-drum tones of ‘House of Cards’ follows, the perfect vehicle to demonstrate Plant’s vocals as they twist and turn with Griffin’s softer tones.
The slow-building exhalation of blues-rock that is Low's 'Silver Rider' is one of the most intoxicating offerings on the album, while the upbeat, chugging snarl of the Beatles-influenced ‘You Can’t Buy My Love’ is an eye-opener.
The beautiful swoon of The Kelly Brothers' Sixties soul classic 'Falling In Love Again' and the deliciously vibrant ‘The Only Sound That Matters’, provide a nice balance to the feedback drenched ‘Monkey’, the standout track on the album.
This is a majestic offering from one of rock’s most royal members; a comprehensive reworking of some old standards and classic tunes that is varied, rich and vibrant.
Truly a thing of joy.
RATING 4/5

Album review - Supermodel Twins 'Raincloud Free'

Supermodel Twins
‘Raincloud Free’
(Gohan Records)

IF EVER there was a more appropriate album title, we haven’t heard better than the much anticipated debut from local power-popsters, Supermodel Twins.
‘Raincloud Free’, unlike other obscure monikers we have heard in the past, does exactly what it says on the tin; delivering a blistering, 11-track, 35-minute collection of upbeat pop-rock songs in the mould of Weezer, Nada Surf et al, with a Beach Boys-meets Green Day dash thrown into the mix.

The album will certainly brighten up your day and take your attention away from the deluge currently falling outside your window.
This is undoubtedly the album’s strength and sees the Limerick five-piece wear their hearts on their sleeves, unashamedly allowing the above influences to ring clear on the album, avoiding any kind of pretension at trying anything other than blasting out good solid pop songs.
Produced under the expert gaze of The Cranberries’ axe-man Noel Hogan, the glossy sheen on this album add greatly to the wholesome sound - a testament to Hogan’s growing production skills.

However, and we offer this by way of constructive criticism, where the album falls down is its reluctance to vary from its obvious formula, sticking rigidly to a heavily Weezer-influenced sound, all American-twang vocals and loud guitars.
Simply put, Raincloud Free is inhibited by its style and lack of originality, but, it is fun, and there are some really decent pop songs on offer here.
The first couple of tracks set the scene and surprisingly, offer some deliciously off-kilter and quite subversive lyrics buried within the seemingly saccharine melodies; on opener While You Were Out, the singer details snooping around said girl’s apartment; on the superb One Step Behind, reminiscent of early Foo Fighters material, a song which boasts taut melodies and coruscating guitars, we hear elements of the same theme, “everywhere you go, I’ll be there / always one step behind”.
The toned down and more reflective My Girl presents engaging melodies a la Fountains of Wayne and shows more depth, as does the excellent Bruises, popping with handclaps and effervescent melodies.

However things start to unravel on the ill-advised and poppy ‘Hilary’, which includes the following lyric: “ever since I saw you in that movie / where you tried to hide your boobies”, and so on.
The zingy melody of Footprints In The Snow and soft-core rock of Modern Day Robin Hood are better, but overall this album’s lack of scope and depth proves its undoing.

Pity, cause there is some serious potential here.
RATING 3/5

Album review - Halves "It Goes, It Goes (Forever and Ever)"

Halves
'It Goes, It Goes (Forever and Ever)'
(Hateistheenemy)

TO SIMPLY label this album from Dublin trio Halves as “cinematic” would be vaguely correct, but simplistic.
While the superb opening track Land/Sea/People might indeed be at home on a Cameron Crowe or Nick Cave soundtrack, the sheer depth and variety on this album makes it too difficult to pigeon-hole into one genre.
Indeed, it would also be simplistic to simply class this highly-awaited debut album from the band as “post-rock”, but there are undoubted elements of this multi-faceted genre on what is a genuinely haunting and spine-tingling album.
The scale of the instrumentalism - deep, dark drums, soaring guitars, bouncy melodions, rich and vibrant cellos and haunting violins - present on this album is astounding, while the pacing and narrative structure are adhered to cleverly without becoming overly rigid.
This is a brooding, grandiose and epic album, but unlike the raucous noise of the undoubted influence of Scottish post-rock specialists Mogwai, there are also tender, heartbreaking vocals on It Goes, It Goes, some from vocalist Tim Czerniak and some from the haunting Amy Millan (of Stars fame) on the superb I Raise Bears and the criminally underrated Katie Kim on the unfolding rhythm of Growing & Glow.
With this release, recorded live on tape in Montreal’s Hotel2Tango studios, the Dublin trio (Brian Cash, Tim and Elis Czerniak) end a five year wait for their debut album, preceded as it was by two well received EPs.
Halves live show has long been lauded, correctly, for being a dramatic mix of sweeping visuals, guitars and live drums, but on this record they have managed the seemingly impossible; an ability to conjure up a sweeping visual vista in the listener’s mind, simply by allowing the strength and epic nature of their music to spark the imagination.
Quite simply, a brilliant record, made to be listened to again and again.
RATING 5/5

Album review - Kings of Leon 'Come Around Sundown'

Kings of Leon
‘Come Around Sundown’
(Sony)

THERE IS an argument that the Kings of Leon could be considered rock’s version of Wayne Rooney (indulge me here); substitute Croxteth for Tennessee; both were snarling, street-smart and dragged up by their bootstraps as youngsters; both subsequently had their heads turned with the price of money, fame and idolatry (substitute Paul Stretford for Bono as you wish); both threatened to be world-beaters, but have seen their careers level off in recent years.
Hang on, I hear you say, haven’t the Southern rockers sold truckloads of records more since they went mainstream? Yes is the answer, but at what cost?
I must admit to listening to this new Kings record - their fifth - with a heavy-heart. There is little to suggest that the four-piece have cast a knowing glance at their superb, world-beating back catalogue and tried to find out where they lost that urgent, adolescent, grubby rock and roll vibe and replaced it with bland, stadium rock anthems.
However, when you allow this record to sink in (rather grudgingly as a result), it starts to re-engage you; where the Kings have lost their Southern drawl, screeching guitars and dirty, scuzzy rhythms, they have replaced it with an album that is actually quite introspective, thought provoking and tender, in parts at least.
Gone from this offering, thankfully, are the woeful Sex on Fire/Use Somebody-type tracks of predecessor Only By The Night, and present are the brooding, oft-dark and rebellious The End and Radioactive; the grungy The Immortals, the serene Pyro.
A highlight is the lap-steel and violin driven Back Down South, full of handclaps and gospel choirs, cat-calls and back-slapping; while the brassy groove of Mi Amigo is superb.
They may not have hit the heights of yesteryear, but they have gone some way toward redeeming their careers on this offering - and may yet hit the back of the net again in the future. RATING 3/5

Album review - Strands

Strands
‘Strands’
(Casino Gravity)

YOU MAY not immediately recognise the name Stephen Shannon, nor the moniker for his new solo project Strands.
Chances are however, that you have heard the man’s work, seeing as his production abilities have graced most of the finest independent Irish releases in recent memory.

Shannon, in his Experimental Audio studio, has produced some of the best loved Irish albums over the last few years, from Cap Pas Cap to Crayonsmith, Babybeef to Vyvienne Long, David Turpin to Adrian Crowley’s Choice Prize winning Season of the Sparks, as well as playing live with Crowley.
Somehow, Shannon also found time to be an integral member of electronica extraordinaires Halfset, whose two beguiling albums Dramanalog and Another Way of Being There lit up a dull Irish ambient electronica scene.
The news on Shannon’s debut solo record is equally as enlightening; while not bursting with the energy that Halfset poured into their work, the Strands album sees Shannon wrap some delightfully kaleidoscopic melodies around an element of subtle menace, the elegant 11-track offering oozing class.

Echoing elements of Chequerboard, his own band, Lemonjelly and tinges of the sweeping, glacial soundscapes of Sigur Ros, Shannon continually manages to disguise deep, dark elements among seemingly saccharine melodies - to a wow-factor on second track Chow Bell, which features militaristic drums and opulent pianos, splashed across a lush soundscape that sounds eerily like an early David Kitt track, without the grating vocals.
The guitar-based bounce of Framed belies the brooding base line contained underneath, while the shimmering electro-beats of Tremon wash over the listener.
The ever-expanding, at times pounding Temper is a certain highlight, as are the effervescent drums, harpsichords and melodions contained on second from last track Home.

All in all an excellent debut solo offering from Ireland’s finest contemporary producer.

RATING 4/5

Album review - The Magic Numbers 'The Runaway'

The Magic Numbers

‘The Runaway’

(Heavenly Recordings)

THIS THIRD album from double-sibling quartet The Magic Numbers is a perplexing affair. Not in terms of the music on offer - it does not mine difficult artistry and complexity - rather it seems to show a quartet who do not want to be the band they have often been pigeonholed as. Often seen as something of a happy clappy harmony band, a la the Mamas and Papas, as a result of their more successful singles from first two albums, in reality both albums were driven by their own share of heartache, a tinge of unease and unhappiness prevalent on each.

It is no different here, on what is a moody, downscaled and often lo-fi affair that opens bursting with strings, but soon quietens almost to a crawl - too quiet by half for our tastes.

Produced by frontman Romeo Stodart and Valgeir Sigurdsson - who has worked with oddballs Bjork and Bonnie Prince Billy - the standout feature of this beguiling album is the weight of the strings present on it, arranged, before he passed away, by Robert Kirby, renowned for his work with the likes of Nick Drake, Sandy Denny and Elvis Costello.

As such, the swooning violins on the Beach House influenced opener ‘The Pulse’ are an impressive start to the record; as is the orchestral swing of Hurt So Good.

Stodart has said the band wanted to avoid the album being driven purely by guitars, instead replacing them with orchestration, and to a certain extent this is case, outside of by-the-numbers tracks such as A Start With No Ending and the ever so slightly Air-esque beat of Once I Had, but as a result the album is a bit samey, a bit maudlin, and a bit, well, bland.

The funky beat of of Why Did You Call is a stand-out, as is the Fleetwood Mac meets Broken Social Scene mash-up of Throwing My Heart Away, but there is not enough here to incite and excite, as the Magic Numbers eponymous 2005 debut did.

A shame, because the band are clearly bursting with talent. Maybe if they embraced their strengths and cheered up a bit, they might hit the perfect note.

Rating: 3/5

Walter Mitty and the Realists - Green Light Go Album Review

Walter Mitty and the Realists

Green Light Go

(Forty Five Records)

THERE was never any doubt about local band Walter Mitty and the Realists’ potential, a fact which is hugely evident when they perform live.

They are a frenetic, adrenalin-fuelled energy rush propelled by frontman Niall McTeigue - the question was only if this energy could be captured in the studio and not lost in transit?

We are happy to report that the sweaty, head-spinning dynamism of this band has been captured in all its glory on debut album Green Light Go - a fact that must be due in some part to the involvement of Cranberries sticksman Fergal Lawler, who acted as producer, engineer and mixed the album.

The band keenly refer to Lawler as akin to a fifth member Lawler’s ear and eye for detail is impressive, witness the wall of sound that ends the excellent Instantly Nothing, a soft hands production that keeps hold of the intricate guitar parts. In another pair of hands this detail might have been lost to the noise.

The core of the Mitty’s set has come to life here and anchors this debut, lead track Green Light Go a post-punk delight, McTeigue backed up on vocals by Anna Murphy and Tara Nix of We Should Be Dead, the album racing out of the tracks at a break neck pace, while the brooding Sucker Punch - a live favourite - is also captured perfectly here.

The early-Chilli Peppers/Beastie Boys-esque second track Lie in the Summer is an eye-opener for those who thought this band were all about noise, the two-tone nature of the song demonstrating a depth that belies the relative youth of the Mittys. My Inner Child Is A Drumkit allows McTeigue to demonstrate that howl of his, his timbre eerily reminiscent of David Byrne or even Cobain, while his brother Conor wows with his axeman skills.

Completing the Mittys line-up is drummer Paul O’Shaughnessy and bassist Colin Bartely, all four forming a tight and frenetic unit.

The effervescent Red is a Number is a revelation, sounding as fresh as it ever has, the plucked bass line likely to remain in your head for days.

We Live Alone now shows a softer, more subtle sound to the Mittys, an almost ballad-like track, but it is the Nirvana influenced Oh The Shame that is the highlight for us, all angular guitars, angry lyrics and shouty vocals.

Instrumental track Restless Endless finishes the album, a gentle wall of feedback allowing the listener to take a breath and take stock of what is an excellent first album from these boys.

RATING: 4/5