The Blob
The pandemic hit the music scene in a major way and it would be ridiculous to say that things were back to normal in 2022 simply because the world started to emerge from its shadow. Yes, the live circuit opened up again, but in a truncated way as the number of venues had shrunk as many could not survive the financial losses of lockdown. Overseas bands were still cancelling UK tours and dates because of additional problems brought on by Brexit. Many people were still concerned about going out and mixing with others in hot, close environments and so the size and demographic of audiences changed. And though many 'lockdown' albums were released in 2021, there were still quite a few being issued in 2022, with many bands remaining short of practice, especially in the live arena, some left with collections of half-formed songs or those written in unfamiliar circumstances where the usual quality control standards may have slipped. 2022 was not a year of confidence; it was a year of survival.
Of course there have been psychological changes. Over a long period of time people had been forced to be asocial, restricting their social networks and losing the interactive stimulation that helps keep the brain in good order. People with less complex social structures tend to have smaller amygdalae, the centre of the brain that processes emotions, and that can make the transition back to a normal social life disturbing. The classic response to this is to limit how widely you open yourself up, to be selective in what you allow yourself to absorb, and to attach yourself to the centre ground where the risks are minimal.
This has been quite evident in the alternative music scene. For a decade it has flourished at every end of the spectrum, from the twee to hardcore industrial, but right now the focus has narrowed and those on the outer edges appear far more isolated. And we all know that it is usually those on the extremes who create the most change by causing the most havoc, challenging preconceptions and shaking the world by the throat. There appears to have been a gathering in the middle where this whole, safe community has emerged with unthreatening sounds, mildly chiding vocalists and an embracing of what many of us would call convention. Alternative music has become an amorphous blob of gentility and goodwill. We hesitate to call it middle class, but sometimes it feels like a Liberal Democat convention.
In spite of this, the year has emerged as a stronger one than 2021, which was unavoidably fairly patchy. There are still a few bands who like to sit at the bar with a packet of crisps while their peers bop around the dancefloor to Harry on the jukebox. These are bands who wouldn't fit in if they were micro-managed by Lovehoney, so thank heavens for the likes of Gilla Band, who refuse to be broken by the weight of convention and carve out music as if it matters more than anything in life. And we feel at the moment that such a commitment isn't really the primary concern of a lot of people who are in search of something more embracing and warming.
Another attack on the margins has been the vinyl shortage which has affected the psych labels in particular very badly. The wait to get records pressed is still ludicrously large, stretching into months, and labels are completely unaware of what will appear at any given time. If three albums have been ordered, all three may turn up at once or delivery will be piecemeal. It makes a release schedule little more than a fantasy and this has hindered one of the most dynamic of genres from delivering to its full potential. Of course other options to vinyl are available, but most of the audience for this music border on obsessive for vinyl and the result has been that psych music in 2022 has made its smallest impact on the scene for many years.
OK, on to lists. If you read our review every year you will know this is a bugbear. List journalism is lazy and pointless and became the darling of the music media when it realised it didn't have to pay real writers who could think but just print a whole series of lists and put big pictures everywhere. No wonder the weekly music press died out; it didn't deserve to survive. Most people didn't want NME and Melody Maker to become Smash Hits but they did, people forgot how to read and the whole world went to hell. Yet, despite the challenges of inattentive brains and the internet there are still two music monthlies in existence, Mojo and Uncut. Both of these rely on older readers to survive and each month drag out often dead icons in order to capture sales. The Beatles (twice), Kate Bush (twice), Bruce Stringsteen (twice), Patti Smith, David Bowie, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Miles Davis, The Monkees, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Queen were cover stars this year with the youngest offenders being the Arctic Monkeys followed by Jack White (47), Björk (57) and Johnny Marr (59). It is doubtful we will ever return to the days of seeing young, challenging bands feature on the covers of music magazines which is a terrible shame.
The other way these magazines survive is by keeping their advertisers happy and giving great reviews to virtually every album so as not to offend anybody. We don't quantify art as the very concept is ludicrous but the amount of albums that get awarded 10 out of 10 every year is plainly silly as there is no such thing as a perfect record, even if Ziggy Stardust and Metal Box would come close. Some things never change, then, but in other ways there has been a little movement this year. For the first time in forever, the lists of best albums in these magazines have noticeably diverged. Only six of the Uncut top twenty are present in the Mojo top twenty and Mojo has taken a considerable step towards the world of independent music. Of course, when the alternative has become an inoffensive, amorphous blob this is easier to do, but it is a noticeable shift even if most of their choices border on the edges of staid.
We've not included their lists any more as they really are quite depressing, but as this is the time of year when music lovers really do take an interest to see if they have overlooked anything essential we have included those from Louder Than War, NME, Rough Trade, Resident and 6 Music as a counterbalance to our own. We are certainly in the position of not having advertisers to please and we are not looking to sell anybody anything, though admittedly some of those others are. We just think there are albums around that you may well have missed and the bands who have produced them are worth supporting. If you decide our albums of the year are not up to scratch then check out the other lists. We believe alternative music lovers will have more joy with those outlets than most others. If you happen to love lists then those glossy monthlies have whole websites full of them. Indulge.
Media-wise, the big news in the UK in 2022 was that sales of vinyl topped those of CDs for the first time in thirty-five years. UK record sales hit just under £117 million in 2022, with CD sales coming in at just over £98 million. That means vinyl had a 16% lead over the digital format that once looked as though it had hammered the final nails into its coffin. This happened a year earlier in the States where vinyl overtook CDs in 2021 for the first time in thirty years and now contributes two-thirds of the total revenue of physical music sales.
Though the Entertainment Retailers Association regard this as "a watershed moment for the entire music industry," it is not the case that everything is rosy in the garden. A huge proportion of vinyl sales were recorded by Taylor Swift and Harry Styles, many of whose fans admit to not even owning a turntable. With Swift producing multiple versions of her album's artwork, there were many fans buying more than one copy simply as collectors' items. Of course, these mass productions tied up many of the pressing plants around the world which led to massive delays in receiving orders from the smaller labels who had been instrumental in igniting the vinyl revival. If their audiences tire of the constant waits then sales of vinyl in future years could well suffer.
The industry as well has made every mistake it is possible to make in the face of the vinyl resurgence. When demand is high the first rule in industry is to ramp up the means of production. That should be used to keep supply levels high, with new product being easily available, and then prices should be kept low to consolidate that demand. None of this has happened. The major labels have clogged up the existing plants without investing in new facilities and consequently the variety of albums available for purchase has stagnated. There is a limit to how many copies of Rumours you can sell, while not fulfilling the existing demand for back catalogue from a whole host of artists. Despite it now being the main medium for physical music releases, the retailers and labels have continued to push the fiction that vinyl is somehow a premium product and prices have risen to a ludicrous degree. In most cases the record labels have not had to spend on producing new music and are simply pressing new records from old tapes they already own. The price of an album, then, should not be more than £20, but when you walk into a major record retailer you will find abums up for sale for £35, £40 or even more. This is completely unsustainable, yet nothing appears to be changing. If nothing does, the vinyl crash cannot be far away and that would be a terrible waste and a huge opportunity lost. It is always greed that leads to downfall of these multi-nationals.
Back to our albums of the year. There aren't many debut albums there, but there are not many from old hands either. Suede have returned with their fourth album since their return and it is a bloody impressive collection and Loop are back with their first album for some thirty years, which has been marvellous to see. There is also the return of the much-missed TRAAMS. Amongst those are a lot of refreshing young bands releasing music that deserves to be noted; often these can lie hidden away and only uncovered with some perserverence and patience. Hopefully this list will give you a starting point on some great new sounds.
What you won't find is any bands who talk over their songs, the latest annoying trend to match that of beards and full arm tattoos which surely must have seen their day.
Before we head off for a year then a word for the departed. A surprising number of musicians left us in 2022, some of them truly iconic. Though not dying until the early days of 2023, Jeff Beck was probably the most influential guitarist of the 1960s and early 1970s. A true talent. Sadly, his death followed on from that of Keith Levene, the most infuential guitarist of the post-punk and alternative era. There is hardly any music we listen to today that wasn't affected by those two musicians. Keith himself regarded Jeff Beck as the world's greatest guitarist and would have loved to have met him. He added, "I don't think Jeff could have played what I did though." I think Jeff would have concurred. And a word for Wilko Johnson, the most amazing guitarist and a mesmerising performer. Another huge loss. What a world.
Thanks to Gary, Jackie and Jake for their input into our Albums of the Year list. Big thanks to John Robb for his contribution. We have written before about how the rise of the internet coincided with the collapse of the alternative community. It ended the cycle of trends in music by making everything available at once which can appear exciting but is also destructive. The internet is a corporate weapon that works by division. We are all now consumers whose tastes are tracked in minute detail and ruthlessy exploited and commercially validated. This can lead to horrible complacency as the things we like are constantly dangled before our eyes in ever more exclusive packages; it is easy to remain in your little compartment and let your brain decay. The positive side is that the internet also gives young bands the chance to find an audience that is relatively approachable. If you do the work, you can usually find the goods. In his article, John looks beyond the realm of alternative music to capture the bigger picture. And the bigger picture is ever more fluid...
Look out for John's new book, The Art Of Darkness: The History of Goth, which is being published in March.
Now make some music that will shake our bones and our brains ....
Albums of the Year
Louder Than War
1. Suede - Autofiction
2. Fontaines DC - Skinty Fia
3. Ezra Furman - All Of Us Flames
4. Déjà Vega - Personal Hell
5. King Gizzard & The LW - Omnium Gatherum
6. AlterModerns - Side Effects Of Reality
7. Gilla Band - Most Normal
8. Osees - A Foul Form
9. Sea Power - Everything Was Forever
10. Wet Leg - Wet Leg
11. The Black Angels - Wilderness Of Mirrors
12. The Battery Farm - Flies
13. The Bobby Lees - Bellevue
14. The Vat Egg Imposition - Shop Tones
15. Sarah Shook & The Disarmers - Nightroamer
16. Girls In Synthesis - The Rest Is Distraction
17. Goat - Oh Death
18. Björk - Fossora
19. Cate Le Bon - Pompeii
20. The Orielles - Tableau
www.louderthanwar.com
New Musical Express
1. Arctic Monkeys - The Car
2. Wet Leg - Wet Leg
3. Beyoncé - Renaissance
4. Fontaines DC - Skinty Fia
5. Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale
6. Rina Sawayama - Hold The Girl
7. C Adigéry & B Pupul - Topical Dancer
8. Nova Twins - Supernova
9. Rosalía - Motomami
10. The 1975 - Being Funny
11. Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up
12. Taylor Swift - Midnights
13. Charli XCX - Crash
14. Jockstrap - I Love You Jennifer B
15. Yard Act - The Overload
16. Harry Styles - Harry’s House
17. Pusha T - It’s Almost Dry
18. Confidence Man - Tilt
19. Wizkid - More Love Less Ego
20. Foals - Life Is Yours
www.nme.com
Rough Trade
1. Jack White - Fear of the Dawn
2. The Smile - A Light For Attracting Attention
3. Yard Act - The Overload
4. Fontaines DC - Skinty Fia
5. Rina Sawayama - Hold The Girl
6. Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up
7. Yeule - Glitch Princess
8. Black Midi - Hellfire
9. Wet Leg - Wet Leg
10. The Lounge Society - Tired of Liberty
11. Weyes Blood - And In The Darkness
12. Mitski - Laurel Hell
13. Horsegirl - Versions of Modern Performance
14. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Cool It Down
15. Kelly Lee Owens - LP.8
16. J Buckley /B Butler - All Our Days
17. Osees - A Foul Form
18. Ibibio Sound Machine - Electricity
19. The Orielles - Tableau
20. Nova Twins - Supernova
www.roughtrade.com
Resident - Brighton Record Shop
1. Just Mustard - Heart Under
2. C Adigary & B Pupul - Topical Dancer
3. Wet Leg - Wet Leg
4. Ditz - The Great Regression
5. Muna - Muna
6. Yard Act - The Overload
7. Cmat - If My Wife New I’ll Be Dead
8. Sinead O'Brien - Time Bend & Break The Bower
9. Alabaster Deplume - Gold
10. PVA - Blush
www.resident-music.com
BBC 6 Music
1. Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale
2. Yard Act - The Overload
3. Kae Tempest - The Line Is a Curve
4. C Adigéry & B Pupul - Topical Dancer
5. Wet Leg - Wet Leg
6. Warmdüscher - At The Hotspot
7. Fontaines DC - Skinty Fia
8. Black Thought & Danger Mouse - Cheat Codes
9. Arctic Monkeys - The Car
10. Gwenno - Tresor
www.bbc.co.uk/6music
What exactly was 2022?
In ancient post-war pop culture times the years were clearly defined battlefields where you had to take sides. In the new now everything seems to be happening all at once and the past is mixed up with the future. Pop culture is now old. It’s now a pensioner.
Continued here...
John Robb
With their third album, Fontaines have moved away from the brash punkiness of their debut and the world-weariness of its follow-up towards a much more introverted sound. There is a sharper experimental approach to the music which is slower and less predictable yet just as affecting. The songs are often fractured, the album resonating with brokenness and disconnection, yet it is full of gentle melodies that refuse to intrude on the dominating vocals but succeed in rubbing away some of their abrasive edges. At the times the music decides to lift itself from the background, it in turn relegates the vocals to second place and makes a statement of its own. It is fitting that the album's title derives from a Gaelic expression of exasperation as that appears to lie at the heart of everything Fontaines do; you don't listen to this band to find contentment and joy but to be shaken out of your slumbers. This may be quieter, but it still hits hard.
We love to see bands from the DIY punk scene grow and with their second album (four years on from their debut) Big Joanie have done just that, creating an impressive collection which is full of exciting new textures and layers. From its opening seconds, the sound is both rich and fluent, shaking in every direction, with guitars shuddering in almost gothic splendour. Throughout this album the vocals rise to meet new challenges, harmonising, fronting each other and walking their own paths. The synths are still there to lay down some rules and add to a collage of sound that takes pieces from everywhere but melds them together so well it creates harmonious patterns that we can all admire. There is still a nice punk edge to some of the songs, still frustration and a call to arms, but this is far from abrasive and the whole is embracing rather than confrontational. Listen to this album three or four times and you will be hopelessly hooked.
After nearly a decade of existence, Helens finally released their first full length album,
Somewhere In Nowhere, at the end of 2022. Their previous two EPs, 2019's
Pollen and 2020's
Flora, laid the foundations for this eight-track collection that is a nicely-recorded, atmospheric series of songs, again rooted in the shoegaze genre. Guitars shimmer and shine over some impressive rhythm tracks which are lit by some sympathetic drumming that is a touch more sussed than you will find on many other such releases. The vocals of Jordan Portlock and Aspen Koch lay gently on the carpet of sound, occasionally blending almost unnoticeably, at other times reaching out for the heavens. There are Slowdive moments (of course) which are nicely done as the sound simply flows through you, nudging your emotions but not disturbing them. This really is an impressively put together and well performed collection of songs, worthy of attention.
In World Full Of Worry Peaness produce guitar pop music of impossibly flawless proportions, this being a collection of crafted, thoughtful songs that are so tight they almost don't fit into themselves. These are measured tunes with lyrics that largely focus on the frustrations of life for three young women, resurrecting the same complaints that stirred a whole generation to chaos back in the 1970s. "Break the ordinary – I'm so bored" they protest, whilst railing against those "systematically inclined to choose what's been before" and "accept there's nothing more." Of course, life is a journey of exploration and half the fun is seeing how far you can push the boundaries, whilst remembering that every one of your actions impacts on somebody or something else. It's a balance and Peaness are learning how to walk the tightrope whilst moaning like bastards and wrapping everything up in easy melodies and flowing harmonies.
Not many people make punk albums any more. Not proper ones which are overflowing with frustration and rage with guitars that lash out painfully and ideas that come flying out of the leftfield. With The Rest Is Distraction, Girls In Synthesis have made a genuine punk album that must rank among the very best of its generation. There is a distinct move away from the post-punk inventions of their last collection and though every elderly punk cliche is included, with GIS these are made to sound fresh and alive. This record is all about the punch and the one its packs is mighty indeed. As they say, the rest is distraction and the message, the howls of frustration and rage, are the be-all and end-all. This is music that gives no consideration to time and place, yet makes everything about what is happening in this time and this place. A righteous punch in the jaw you should all feel. This is hardcore.
John Cudlip started recording as Launder in 2018, releasing just a single and an EP in the first two years before making up for lost time with his debut collection, Happening, a double album that stretches out to just over an hour. Not that it seems that way; this record washes over you hypnotically and appears to fly by in no time at all. The lead guitar is the star; it cuts through thirteen tracks of gazy goodness quite beautifully, stealing your attention every time. This is a record that could have been born in the 1990s, its shoegaze and dream pop influences obvious, but its sense of melody, nice arrangements and impressive flow make it far more than a dull tribute. This record adds to a genre that is undergoing a dramatic resurgence and stands head and shoulders above a myriad of contemporary offerings that fail to inject their recordings with bright ideas, charm and a hint of personality.
Alvvays have been around for over a decade now, though Blue Rev is only their third album in that time and their first in five years. Their time away appears to have been well spent, however, as the band's sound has developed remarkably, their indie pop sensibilites being fused with a greater degree of edgy experimentation that pulls their songs in different directions without ever losing focus on the overall picture. For at heart this is definitely a pop record, though it is often a thrilling and challenging one. Guitars jangle with Marrsian splendour, shudder with a gentle wooziness inspired by MBV, or distort just enough to add a decided cutting edge. There are even moments where the trio threaten to duck into the shady world of shoegaze, though at heart the band and that genre remain at polar opposites as Alvvays burst with energy and belief. There may be emotional turmoil in the lyrics but the world always feels a bloody lot brighter when the music shines like this.
Much as we dislike the epithet, shoegaze has undergone a revival over the past few years and a host of new bands have taken to staring at their laces whilst laying down diaphanous soundscapes on which they bare their fragile souls. When used in the correct context the term does ably describe a particular sound of aural introversion that all of these bands strive to capture and Young Prisms succeed in doing so quite beautifully. Their first album in ten years (well, life gets in the way sometimes) is a gem of tenderly flowing guitars, half-whispered vocals and dreamy musings about life. There's a maturity in the shaping of the songs and in the lyrics that appear to recognise that existence doesn't have to be about achieving impossible dreams but has a beauty entirely of itself, rooted in reality and practicality. This really is a pretty record, sometimes sailing by leisurely, occasionally flickering with gentle distortion or graced by sustained feedback as dual voices soothe. There's balance and healing here and who doesn't need that?
In the field of interplanetary psychedelia, Korb are unique. The duo do not appear to be restricted by time or space as they create a blend of space rock that is achingly classic yet truly exploratory. They dip into the past to embrace the sounds of the seventies; leap forward to borrow some modular synths; head to the present to dabble with contemporary effects and then charge millennia into the future to surf the astral waves of deep space. All of this is thrown together to create a sound that is impossible to pin down: it is both retro and futuristic, of every year and of no year. Korb appear to be the Time Lords of the psych scene with a Tardis tucked neatly into their garage. There's no problem here with the difficult third album. Korb do not appear to exist in linear time, so this record could have been recorded ten years before you were born, or yesterday, or in a thousand years. As they travel through infinity they meet gods, hunters, lords and priests; nothing phases them. They build their third android. Soon it will be an army of millions. Korb are irresistable.
It would be right to stress that this is not the Ghost Of Boos Past and after all of these years it would be wrong to suppose it might be. Missing are the experimental dabblings of yesteryear and the crunching guitars that often drove their songs forward. What we are presented with is the Boos Immaculate, a band capable of producing sublime pop tunes, chock full of ideas, which remain cheerful despite the generally serious nature of the lyrics. With the voice of Simon Rowbottom still there to guide the way, it is clear that this could be nobody other than the Boo Radleys, though Sice uses his guitar sparingly and decoratively, seldom dominating and letting the melodies speak for themselves. Tim Brown's keyboards take just as much of a leading role as the band float through eleven new songs. The vibe is positive and really there are no duff tunes here. Each song is full to the brim with neat little touches and the intricacies of their construction reveal themselves the more you listen. A fine return.
See Through You continues very much in the new direction hinted at by the Hologram EP of 2021. Oliver Ackermann has been attempting to blow the heads off his listeners for just on two decades now, largely relying on power, noise and volume, but the intrinsic heaviness of his music has now given way to something much more twisted and insidious. The songs here have a pronounced psychedelic edge, with the guitars tortured and corrupted and laid over flickering drum rhythms rather than big pounding beats. The vocals have been brought much more to the front, keen to relay their message rather than mumble in the background and the whole album requires a whole lot more from the listener than a simple agreement to be blown away. The new trio toy with melody and happily destroy it, creating a gorgeous mess of sound that leaves your brain in happy confusion. Sonic disarray falling into inescapable anarchy, this is measured destruction and there is nothing not to like.
Matthew Doty's second collection under the Deserta banner adds to the foundations of the impressive first. Doty builds his music by creating gentle soundscapes full of ornamental and manicured layers which he then swamps with mighty rushes of sound. The songs sound huge, yet compelling, and are mostly quite lovely. Where the debut was blended into a gorgeous whole, here the songs are more distinct, wearing different clothes and sounding firmer with their backdrop of real drums. Built from the perspective of a healthcare worker battling through the pandemic there is plenty of room for concern, anger and downright exhaustion and Doty stretches out to intrude on the borders of rock, pop and psychedelia while still utiising dreamy synths and melting guitars. He is constantly questioning: "Why did you go?" "What can make this right?" "Why feel any one thing?" Deserta are not big on answers, but they ask their questions so prettily.
Personal Best is not the TRAAMS we know and love, but a band with a new vision and revised outlook. Only two of the tracks on the album feature drums, with Adam Stock reluctant to hammer away at every song, whilst Stuart Hopkins takes a far gentler approach to his vocals and playing. Unsurprisingly, then, this is a record about change. Not monumental change but a recognition of how small changes in your life can build into something important. TRAAMS still embrace the kosmische influences that informed their earlier work, but here move more thoughtfully instead of throwing themselves headlong into punishing, looping journeys. As if uncertain of themselves after their hiatus, the band have recorded collaborations with fellow artists including Liza Violet of Menace Beach, Soffie Viemose of Lowly and Joe Casey of Protomartyr. It's a new road, but an interesting and impressive one.
Another album delayed and ultimately shaped by the pandemic, this is a smarter collection than the band's debut, Silver Tongues, far more nuanced and far less rock and roll. Crows head firmly into post-punk territory with the eleven songs all solidly compatible, dark and thoughtful. There's plenty of frustration on display as well as some rage and some simple "fuck it" moments when everything gets lost in an explosion of sound. Largely dark, the atmosphere is built on thoughts of the state of the nation and how that tied in with the mad dystopian novels the band were exploring. Influence is one thing, but capturing such a thing in sound is far more difficult, though it is something Crows manage apparently with ease. Most of the songs are built around distant, heavy drums which are kept free from any embellishments that would detract from their brutal march. Guitars scrape and scratch away while the vocals are slightly detached, three-quarters sung, often taking their own course.
Sonancy is an album of short songs, averaging around four minutes, and not the lengthy mind-fucks that we had been used to from Loop's previous albums. Robert Hampson may have embraced guitars again, but he uses them as blunt instruments, to stab and hack rather than to drown your senses. This makes Sonancy an urgent album, sometimes an angry one, the guitars stripped naked, and protesting in monosyllabic rage. There is a dangerously sharp drum sound that is maintained throughout; indeed the sound of the whole album rings with clarity. There's no room here for obfuscation or doubt. This is a statement record, not open to confusion, and it punches its point home with considerable force. The bass takes the middle ground between two combatants, bouncing and gliding over the drums' sharp raps and numbing Hampson's searing cuts. The vocals also take centre ground, strong but half-concealed, occasionally following the same path the bass is moving. Welcome back.
The beauty of Black Pearl is that it is as crafted as it is visceral. All of the songs are built around Bernard's monumental bass which stands its ground as Rob projects drum patterns like a kaleidoscope, constantly shifting into new shapes yet always remaining ordered, reflective and whole. Kristin's guitar produces layers of sound that are quite startling, whether distorted effects, pretty refrains or casual asides. When she plays the guitar it produces more than sound. It tells its own story: reinforcing the lyrics, shrugging them away dismissively, or simply telling tales. She remains one of the greatest guitarists of her generation and one of the most startling vocalists. If these songs have been shaped to perfection then it is her voice that breaks through any artistry, hitting straight at the heart. Black Pearl is not just beautifully made, it pulls at the heart strings and reflects every human emotion. That is nigh on impossible to achieve, but one listen to this record's twists and turns will convince you forever.
Suede may have re-emerged with a new seriousness in 2013, but Autofiction sweeps all of that aside in a tidal wave of vivacity as the band once again doll up and reach for the stars with all of the glam flamboyance that sparkled through much of their earlier work. When the band are in this form there is an electricity that crackles out of the music that is hard to ignore. They strut and sizzle and reach some very high notes, burying everything with an ebullience that is great to witness. These songs ooze confidence. This is Suede doing what Suede do best. Intelligence runs through all of their music, and it is one of the things that makes them important, allowing them to comment from the margins. But it is when they break free to celebrate that difference with almost reckless abandon that they become truly great. "Can you feel the sunshine when you turn off your brain and yell?" they ask. It's a revelation, a celebration: a realisation that it is not always good to hide away despite your indifference. Suede know they live on the outside, but that is no reason not to break free once in a while.
We wondered how the change of name would affect Girl Band and whether it would leave an emotional scar on their psyche, but Most Normal goes a long way in proving that not to be the case as it screams every bit as loudly as the band's previous two albums. Yet as they dubbed their name, so they have dubbed their music, this new offering being heavy in studio craft. As Eno said, dub is the art of subtraction and there is much that has been taken away in exchange for the opening of new horizons. Most Normal doesn't smash your skull open, but enters your body like an infection and eats you from the inside. We struggle with critics who say that Gilla Band are deliberately weird, like they have some sort of plan. Life is dislocated; it is not sunny most of the time: it is filled with worry and regret. Gilla Band's music is the sound of real life; it is what music should be. Dara's lyrics are life's truths, earthy poetry that dwells on the mundanity of all of our existences. Like the best bands before them, Gilla Band are not seeking to be pop stars and refuse to be caught up in the shambles of competition and commercialism. They are just content to be the best band in the world.
Almost universally described as 'shoegaze' this collection is in fact way more industrial, experimental, noisy and bloody good than that epithet may suggest. Carefully enunciated vocals are draped over huge drum beats while a moribund bass crawls along the floor and guitars dip in and out, scraping, coughing, grinding and howling. There's a lot of white space here; these aren't soundscapes but huge walls of carefully shaped noise that mess around with your insides and shake your brain. Katie Ball's vocals are reminiscent of Alison Shaw's and when she sings in a higher range, they could be twins, their approach and intonation being identical. And Just Mustard walk in the same dark hinterlands as Cranes where very few have dared to tread; the recesses are huge enough to encompass any amount of noise and the shadowy corners dark enough to conceal a very real and savage beauty. Dangerously compelling.
There's not many albums where the singer bleeds out on the turntable. The first Throwing Muses album comes to mind and you could possibly throw in one or two more, but that rare list is now joined by the brilliantly named Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky by Brighton's Porridge Radio. The title is a huge hint that this isn't going to be something conventional, and it is so far from that it is almost an antonym. Here the band shrug off the more intense musical forays of their debut album to adopt a quieter sound which gently supports a mood much in need of the care it brings. Vocalist and guitarist Dana Margolin's lyrics are expelled in a frustrated stream of conciousness that fails to move anywhere other than back to the beginning. It is one of life's ironies that those who appear the happiest are often those who think the least, while too much analysis of life often leads to a spiral of despair. This album revolves around the words "need" and "want" with Margolin struggling to find self-worth in a world where love is just a concept and fear of mortality is unshakeable in spite of tender years. In truth, these things rarely improve; experience simply makes us better at compartmentalising. "I want one feeling all the time," Margolin complains. It ain't that easy as we discover through thirteen astonishing songs that are starkly real and exposed. This is absolutely fucking brilliant.
