A great introduction to this blistering gospel/death metal act. There’s little in the way of audience interaction but a lot of good, tight music. Sound quality could be better.
Not sure if I’m in a mood this week but didn’t unearth a huge amount of releases of interest this week, but the new one by These New Puritans looks promising. There’s a debut album from Crows, who are supporting the fabulous IDLES on tour this spring and a live album from the genius Gospel/Death Metal crossover that is Zeal & Ardor. 90s indie-rock stalwartsSleeper also return with their first new album in 21 years.
The Comet Is Coming produced my surprise album of the week. No-one was more surprised than me to be waxing lyrical about space jazz. The Cinematic Orchestra also produced another album of classy laid back tracks and there’s a nice spot of raggamuffin from Shy FX.
The Comet Is Coming – Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery
Jazz for the dancefloor, featuring the wondrous saxophone and clarinet work of Sons of Kemet’s Shabaka Hutchings. Surprisingly accessible, surprisingly good.
Looking forward to the new one by The Cinematic Orchestra this week, the band having produced some outstanding tracks in the past. The Brian Jonestown Massacre are back after what only seems like a couple of months since their last effort, and I’m looking forward to bathing myself in a bit of cinema soundtrack wondrousness from Hans Zimmer.
Despite my initial fears, this week turned out to have a little bit of gold dust sprinkled on it, with a shockingly great album from Foals. Jim Jones and the Righteous Mind offered us some good ‘ol rock ‘n roll while Flight of the Conchords proved their music can still make us laugh.
Foals – Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 1
Shockingly good first half of a two-part album by the increasingly mature Foals. A masterful display of how to build up songs.
Oh-so gentle indie rock in classic singer-songewriter style from the former Cherry Glazzer member. There are some engaging moments that suck you in, just not enough of them.
Slightly slimmer pickings this week following a bumper crop or quality releases last week. However, there still may be some promise in the new material from Foals, Jim Jones and the Righteous Mind and Stella Donnelly, along with a live album from Flight of the Conchords.
Foals – Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 1
As hoped, this week turned out to contain some fantastic releases, though there were some disappointments on show too. FEWS managed to scoop the highest rating of the year so far, but kudos also to Snapped Ankles and Little Simz for some highly impressive albums.
FEWS – Into Red
A superb sophomore from the post-punk noise rockers that should see them move from a band with promise to broader acceptance.
An uplifting and powerful rap album. Little Simz manages to find optimism among hardship, while calling out some of the stereotypes found in rap culture.
More interesting than normal Doom Metal, thanks to the female-led harmonics keyboards and occassional strings on show. Ultimately, it lacks enough variety in its bread and butter guitar riffs to be a great album.
Some very delicate and emotive tunes on show in this neoclassical work, but there’s a lack of balance to the album as a whole. It feels like it needs something else to lift it to another level.
Weezer invoke the spirit of Spinal Tap with their own black album. And this pretty insipid effort prompts me to quote one of the ‘Tap’s most famous reviews… ‘Shit sandwich’.
This week could turn out to be an absolute stonker with two bands who produced some of our favourite music from 2017 back with new material. Expect Snapped Ankles and Fews to feature very prominently in the best from this week. There’s also releases from Weezer and the fabulously-named Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard that we’ll be casting our ears over, along with a whole host of other potential goodies as March kicks of in characteristically busy fashion.
Electronic music takes centre stage this week with some fantastic work from Teeth Of The Sea, banging techno from Modeselektor, acid influenced psych rock from The Young Gods and a majestic EP from Snow Palms.
Looking forward to some heavy post-punk guitars from Drenge this week, alongside a new album from Sleaford Mods and a bit of techno from Modeselektor, among others. I’ll pick out the best to review during the week and report back.
The Album Review 