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20 AUGUST 2017
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Arcade Fire
Everything Now
Arcade Fire’s records chart the
increasing space available to
the indie rock stalwarts, with
Everything Now reaching the far
corners of the massive venues
they now sell out wherever
they go. Doubling down on their
disco influences, this time with
help from Daft Punk’s Tomas
Bangalter, Everything Now follows
Reflektor as a record which craves
spectacle. And it delivers: where
Win Butler critiques the hypnosis
of instant gratification on the
title track, the record as a whole
offers rapture at stadium scale.
Butler might not be the obvious
choice for poet laureate of culture
decay, but compared to the Father
John Mistys of the world, this is
self-effacing pop actually worth
listening to.
(Sony) Jake Cleland
Edguy
Monuments
Twenty-five years! I can remember
when I first heard Edguy back
in 1997 when they released
their second album Kingdom
Of Madness. Here was a cool
young power metal band playing
a style that had been dormant
for over a decade, and doing it
with style. Odd band name aside,
they displayed potential, and time
has proven that Edguy had the
tenacity and chops to rise to the
top. Monuments is a double CD/
DVD complilation and a fitting
tribute celebrating their career.
Twenty-two songs from their back
catalogue are included, as well as
five new tracks and an unreleased
song from their 1995 debut album
Savage Poetry. Monuments
definitely lives up to its name.
(Nuclear Blast/Caroline)
Simon Lukic
Gang Of Youths Go Farther In Lightness
Just as Bruce Springsteen’s first records affected
our parents, so too Gang Of Youths are finding the
heartbeat of a new generation. The five-piece’s debut
album The Positions (2015) and its EP epilogue Let
Me Be Clear dealt with many demons: losing loved
ones, suicide and drug addiction. While they were
an autobiographical collection of frontman Dave
Le'aupepe’s deepest (and sometimes darkest) thoughts, Go Farther In
Lightness is the singer’s self-described ‘healing’ album. The record is long
(just over 75 minutes), but never overstays its welcome. Each song builds
expertly, and tempos sway like tides. Parts will make you throw a defiant fist
in the air (Atlas Drowned) and in other moments, sombre reflection is only
appropriate (Do Not Let Your Spirit Wane). Le'aupepe’s emotional vocal is each
track’s initial attraction, but what really shines is the intricate instrumental
detail: the crescendo of drums in Say Yes To Life, the shimmering symbols
of Persevere, the background chatter in the title track, or the trio of violin-
led interludes (L’imaginaire, Le Symbolique and Le Réel) that play out like
natural mood swings. Closer Say Yes To Life is the triumphant answer to lead
single What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out?, radiating bright-eyed optimism,
humanism and oozing life. (Sony)Tim Lambert
Dasher Sodium
Kylee Kimbrough of Atlanta
thrash-goth quartet Dasher
upholds the intriguing drummer/
vocalist combo tradition, placing
lyrical content as supplementary
(although Kimbrough’s searing,
primitive vocal does play out like
another instrument) to the tsunami
of sound that is found on debut
record Sodium.
You can’t help but feel the sticky
floor of a dingy bar under your feet
with every deafening kickdrum
beat, which nods its head to
bands like the Ramones and Minor
Threat. Through the frenzied,
accelerated climax to the title track
(see: the fuzzed-out riffs in Get So
Low and Soviet or the hypnotic
head-bouncer Eye See), the
energy of this record doesn’t drop
below maximum for a single beat.
(Inertia) Tim Lambert
Grizzly Bear
Painted Ruins
It’s been five years since Shields,
Grizzly Bear’s last studio album.
While the band are synonymous
with crafting beautiful musical
odysseys that drift between the
ether of commercialism and the
obscure, Painted Ruins is a starker
collection of independent songs
that fulminate in a profusion of
differing influences, ranging from
jazz to electronica to good, honest
indie. Vocalist Ed Droste – whose
voice here swings from hope to
anguish like a pendulum – together
with guitarist Daniel Rossen,
have written some of the most
inspired, evocative and ambitious
compositions in the band’s 15-year
history. Painted Ruins is worth the
five-year wait, and is undoubtedly
Grizzly Bear’s most accomplished
album to date.
(Sony) Paul Jones
Thy Art Is Murder
Dear Desolation
From the shock departure of
vocalist CJ McMahon in 2015,
to his sudden return to the fold
earlier this year, Thy Art Is Murder
have had more than a few hurdles
to overcome. Despite this, new
music has been the focus, and
fans eagerly awaiting the arrival of
their fourth album Dear Desolation
are rewarded this month. While
the group have contently worked
within the boundaries of the
deathcore movement in the
past, Dear Desolation finds them
moving into the realms of death
metal; the breakdowns are still
here, but Thy Art should now
appeal to fans of Deicide and
Cannibal Corpse, if given the
chance.
(HumanWarfare)
Simon Lukic
The Creases
Tremolow
Brisbane Britpop revivalists The
Creases have kept us hanging for
their debut album for almost four
years now; the wait is finally over
with the arrival of Tremolow. The
band’s knack for melody is all over
these 12 tracks, each song easily
a contender for a single or best
of the record. The album opens
on a high point with the glorious
Answer To; that momentum
continues with Everybody
Knows,which boasts an anthemic
chorus. At Last You Find is a track
Oasis would have been proud to
have written, while In My Car is
a dreamy homage to ‘80s legend
Gary Numan. Taking their time
means the band have captured the
very best of their sound, and the
result is an inauguration that will
be remembered for years to come.
(Liberation) Holly Pereira
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