There are more albums this month than there are licentious, secretary-lassoing Frenchmen in positions of authority. There is, of course, a potential that this is because I might have forgotten/did not have time to continue this groundbreakingly original feature last month. Maybe. So for the sake of our collective sanity, I’ll keep it brief, but if you’re a real fan of brevity, just do yourself a favour and go and buy/steal them all. Especially Austra and The Antlers. We don’t have an “Album Of The Month” title like everyone else, but if we did, we’d have to share it between those two.
Arctic Monkeys – Suck It And See
They got beards, and they sound like it. Their morphosis from cheeky Sheffield chaps being chased by chavs with pool cues to hairy psychedelic rock druids popping pills with Josh Homme was most unlikely, but Alex Turner’s words have never bitten more keenly than on “Suck It And See”. They’re pushed to the fore of the trippy guitars here, and really dig into your brain. They’re no longer the Arctic Monkeys of 2005, and haven’t been for quite some time; they’re muscular and mature and just keep getting better and better.Arctic Monkeys – The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala by Not Many Experts
Bon Iver – Bon Iver
On the subject of beards, Justin Vernon has still got his wiry asset, but that’s about the only thing that hasn’t changed on “Bon Iver”. His newly positioned band take his emotive wanderings and twist them with orchestral crescendos, deafening drums and even, in one troubling moment, 80s inspired keyboards. It’s all quite unsettling, but once past the shock that this is not “For Emma, Forever Ago Continued…”, moments like “Perth” start sounding like some of his most beautiful moments. The poignancy of his debut, though, was never going to be re-created.
Tall Ships provided the heartbreaking moment of the festival and even were single-handedly responsible for making my festivaling comrade cry (he claims it was simply the man menopause again) as their front-man miserably closed his case of unsold vinyl after just 10 fruitless minutes. The lack of people wading into their wallets was actually hugely surprising, as the band had just ripped through a spellbinding set of intricate and yet hugely appealing math-rock. Take the precision, passion and intelligence of Foals, remove their huge popular appeal, and replace it with the confusion and avant-garde of Battles and there you have Tall Ships. I sound enthusiastic and sympathetic, but to be fair, I didn’t buy one of their vinyl either (please don’t judge me). Give them some time to find their audience and they’ve got the sort of rare experimental appeal to actually sell quite a lot of records to quite a lot of quite infatuated fans. And we might even crack the wallet out ourselves.
It would be easy to construct a case for Liverpool having gone through a musical revolution in the past few years, sort of like the Egyptian revolution, just with fewer camel charges and more burnt down venues. (In fact, so easy would it be to make a case that that’s exactly what Getintothis did, and very, very well, too) Mere years ago young & old people from the city gifted with discerning music taste floated the city hoping for the announcement of gigs from the bands of the day who’s tours seemed to travel the entire country, whilst skilfully circumventing Liverpool as if it were a foreign country or leper colony.
Things have changed. The many, many contributory reasons are cross-examined in far more comprehensive detail than I am able to at the link above, but without a doubt, the ascendancy of Liverpool Sound City has a lot to answer for. In a good way. The success of the festival itself is complex and, frankly, irrelevant, but a diverse and exciting line-up, along with venues crammed with character and the successful organisation and structure have much to do with it. As a result, all of the right tour managers, promoters and bands have been passing through Liverpool; and the festival itself has provided an excuse for the city’s ears to drag their friends into a slightly less mainstream world of music.
This year, again, will provide an opportunity for this process to continue, and if the announcement of the first acts are anything to go by (which… they are, of course) then it looks like the success of the festival itself is beyond doubt this year. Below is a deliciously listenable compilation of our picks from the first announcements, but before we go, it’s worth mentioning that this year the dramatic decision has been made to make all shows wristband-only shows which… may or may not be a good decision, we’re no experts (no pun intended) and it is unimportant – from May 19th many of the most promising names in music shall be in Liverpool, so bring your camels, comrades – it looks a lot like this particular “revolution” is continuing for another year, at least.
Wristbands are cheaper than 11 double cheeseburgers from Hardman’s at £35, until March 1st when, presumably, the price will go up. So if you’ve already pre-ordered The King of Limbs, then what could you possibly be waiting for? Water is free on tap by law and food is a bit of an unnecessary luxury so get cracking.
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