The last album I reviewed had a crackin' drum intro to get my attention. This lot not only have a cool drum beat but a nifty wee "NME" style guitar riff too. However Danava didn't lose my interest straight away. Les Savy Fav do. The nifty riff becomes an irritant almost as quickly as it became nifty. Perhaps due to the bland vocals that came over it. If the vocals didn't kill the song then a god awful guitar solo did. The god awful guitar solo stopped soon enough for more bland vocals. They stopped soon enough tho'. For a crap guitar solo.
I don't really know what's going on here on "
Patty Lee". A bunch of tossers trying to cram as many crap indie influences as they can into one track like a drunk rugby player trying to fit marbles up his arse for a dare on the team's Christmas night out.
Now I need to listen to this song all over again. The radio edit wasn't enough so I get to sit through the album version. Maybe I was harsh at first. It's fairly catchy after a while. The repetition of the vocals is still bland but I get the feeling I'll be whistling it long after this CD's been used as the coaster it was destined to be. Some of the crap indie references aint that bad either really. For a start the second crap guitar solo reminds me of a Morricone score for a spaghetti western which, I know, aint really "indie" but there's a bit of a lot of bands I actually quite like in there.
The Sweat Descends is fairly unremarkable until the chorus. Where they shout a bit. Raising the vocals above bland. A big cheer rings out from those of us of a mind-set that requires some sort of hook.
Aye. It's naw bad really. I'm willing to reserve judgement of this band until I listen to the album.
Patty Lee/The Sweat Descends seven inch single is out on February 25th on Wichita Records
I recently heard this band Les Savy Fav who sounded like a less offensive version of The Young Knives. It was only a single tho' so I'll review their album with a clear mind and try my hardest not to compare them to The Young Knives. Here we go.
Hey. This first track is fuck all like The Young Knives or any of those crappy NME bands. It's got an almost afro-beat intro. Big Audio Dynamite would appreciate this. So would PIL. The vocals remind me of Ned's Atomic Dustbin. Why then did they go with a fairly average indie track as their single? Well. This music wouldn't sell I guess but I was perhaps wrong to write them off on the basis of a double A side single.
That's not to say the first track isn't boring. It's just interesting. Which goes a long way to describe the band. Alright the reverbed, almost hollow sounding, guitars sound cool. The constant repatition of riffs and vocals adds a unique quality. It almost makes it feel minimal but is multi-tracked to make it feel expansive like some "No Wave" band.
There are some decent tracks tho' and there is an enjoyable EP in the middle of the behemoth of an album. "
Fading Vibes aint bad in places for instance.
This album, however, is 70 minutes long. Fuck that. I'm not gonna listen to all of this shit. I don't care if that comes across as unprofessional. I don't get paid for this and, even if I did, it would need to be a lot to listen to all of this in one go. I can manage 2/3 tracks at a time at most but like sitting down for 10 minutes while you're doing a spring tidy procrastination sets in. Gill just sent me the link to pANDAS Radio. I'd much rather listen to that than this. Quantity doesn't equal quality and, sadly, this album lacks it. There are snippets of a good song lost amongst the dross. Someone somewhere will love this. Someone somewhere thinks reptiles run the earth so don't take that as a compliment in any way.
Despite my review I would recommend checking the band out. If only to find out how a band can be interesting and dull all at once. It takes a talent few have.
Inches is out on March 10th on Wichita Records
http://www.lessavyfav.com http://www.wichita-recordings.com
Ignore them go to this:
http://www.stickam.com/profile/always_drunk (Gill plays Ned's Atomic Dustbin there)
