STACK Aug #154

MUSIC REVIEWS

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Arcade Fire Everything Now

The Creases Tremolow

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

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 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 Answer To ; that momentum continues with Everybody

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

Grizzly Bear Painted Ruins

Dasher Sodium Kylee Kimbrough of Atlanta thrash-goth quartet Dasher

Thy Art Is Murder Dear Desolation

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

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

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

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

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AUGUST 2017

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25/7/17 9:39 am