The nominations for the 2011 Barclaycard Mercury Prize – for the best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland – were announced last week at a special ceremony in London by BBC6music radio presenter Lauren Laverne. Receiving a Mercury Prize nomination (and/or winning it) generally leads to increased album sales and increased celebrity profile for a band. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, September 6 at a special event in London featuring performances from all the nominees.
Here are the 12 albums up for this year’s Mercury Prize:
Liverpool alt-rock / dance / punk / pop band the Wombats are about to release their second full album, called The Wombats Proudly Present…This Modern Glitch. (Yeah, I know, it’s a mouthful – but their first released in the UK was called The Wombats Proudly Present: A Guide to Love Loss and Desperation, so I guess they wanted to continue the trend.) There’s been a lot of hype surrounding this sophomore effort overseas. Three singles have already been released in Britain (“Tokyo [Vampires and Wolves],” “Jump in the Fog,” and “Anti-D”); they hosted a special album launch party at the tony Supper Club last week; and this week, the new album is currently riding high as this week’s Album of the Week on both Zane Lowe‘s evening BBC Radio1 program and XFM over there.
And on the whole, the hype is deserved. The proceedings start in style with “One Perfect Disease,” touching on a common subject for pop songs: being in a toxic relationship. In the light of the popularity of Phoenix‘s more dancey songs like “1901,” America should take a shine to this beat-perfect, synthy dance anthem. The mad beats continue into “Tokyo (Vampire and Wolves)”: the Japanese capitals seems a random choice for a title, but I’m not going to complain when something’s got an amazing groove. “Techno Fan” and “Walking Disasters” might not be stellar in the lyric department but again, the Wombats come through with catchy tunes.
Their current single in the UK, “Anti-D” (music video below), is unique with emotional violin and tender lyrics that might make you cry. (It’s based on lead singer Matthew Murphy‘s own addiction to anti-depressants.) It’s not hard to see this soundtracking a rom-com in the near future. Or perhaps the song after it, “Last Night I Dreamt,” which has surprisingly amusing yet incisive lyrics for a pop song: “I tend to cry in a room full of laughter / as the cheese finally slipped off of its cracker / I don’t know / I just prepare to let it go.” When the Wombats employ humor, it’s total win: in “Girls and Fast Cars,” Murphy insists, “I’m a man of simple tastes / no whiskey or caviar / what I feel is what I say / I’m not trying to be smart / I like girls…girls and fast cars!” before breaking out into a sweeping chorus.
“Jump into the Fog” seemed like a strange choice for first single; it’s not bad, but it’s slow and lumbers along – not exactly what you want to hear from a dance punk band. Of a similar vein is “1996,” which is, disappointedly, not as exciting as Neon Trees‘ “1983,” talking instead about “building telescopes” and “kissing with one eye on the TV set.” The guitar work is admirable though. The closing track, “Schumacher the Champagne,” comes in from left field compared to the whole of the album. It’s the heaviest track on the album and not designed for dancing; perhaps it should be viewed more as a grand parting shot? But even if you don’t like this song, you can’t ignore the well-crafted electronic indie rock/pop on the rest of The Wombats Proudly Present…This Modern Glitch. Yep, English electropop is alive and well – and as usual, excellent.
The Wombats Proudly Present…This Modern Glitch will be released in North America digitally on April 25 and physically on April 26 via Bright Antenna.
Track Listing:
01. Our Perfect Disease
02. Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves)
03. Jump into the Fog
04. Anti-D
05. Last Night I Dreamt
06. Techno Fan
07. 1996
08. Walking Disasters
09. Girls and Fast Cars
10. Schumacher the Champagne
Tour Dates:
May 31 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City
Jun 01 – Troubadour / Los Angeles
June 03 – Rickshaw (Popscene) / San Francisco
I first came upon the music of Darwin Deez by an, admittedly, slightly annoying song called “Radar Detector” that got a lot of airplay on BBC Radio in 2010. Darwin Deez, aka Darwin Smith, is one unusual character. A pretty talented guy, Smith wrote, performed, produced, arranged, engineered and mixed almost everything on this debut album. I guess he must just be mildly OCD about controlling his musical output, which is not all that uncommon among musicians. His guitar is definitely strange though: his axe only has 4 strings (no E string) and he has a secret tuning key for it. Okay…
Now I mentioned BBC Radio because Britain, better than any other country, has the ear to pick on a good thing and can do this much faster than America can. And indeed, they’ve already embraced his misfit pop stylings. Widely read British music magazine NME featured Deez as part of the top ten of the NME Cool List 2010, alongside ex-Libertine Carl Barat, Janelle Monae, and Laura Marling, just to name three others. NME describes Deez, in at #10, as follows: “All the Richard Dawkins acolytes who drone on about how all religion is benighted, all bollocks and basically pure evil, need a few elementary lessons in Darwin-ism. Darwin Deez is indie’s exemplar of all that’s positive of living according to your holy principles. His lifelong devotion to the teachings of Indian mystic Meher Baba seems to have gifted him with the warm, graceful, joss-stick hazy spiritual air…” Pretty heady stuff for a kid born under such spiritual confines who eventually gave up schooling at Wesleyan to entertain anti-folk lovers in New York City and now regularly sells out UK venues. Definitely a case of living the dream.
So far, “Radar Detector,” “Constellations,” and “Up in the Clouds” (an addictive, peppy, and cute apology / love song) have been released as singles in the UK, but in my view, the better tracks are still to be discovered when you buy Darwin Deez the album. If you don’t like programmed beats or deadpanned, nonmelodic singing, this is probably not the record for you. “Deep Sea Diver” is not about water sports, it’s Deez singing to his girlfriend, stop being depressed because “now you’re bringing me down, now I’m unhappy too.” A fun groove punctuates “The City.” Later on, “The Suicide Song” sounds far too happy as a real call for help. “Bed Space,” with its trippy dream like quality, lacks direction. “The Bomb Song” is trying to be a commentary on the end of the world by weapons of mass destruction, and it doesn’t fit on this otherwise happy album, it’s just too heavy subject matter.
The surprising gem in the bunch is the last track, “Bad Day.” This is not to be confused with “Bad Day” by Daniel Powter, the cloyingly sweet and empathetic song that we heard play every time another reject was booted, blinking back tears, from American Idol a couple years back. No, this is reined-in vitriol from one dude to another, served up Darwin Deez style. You have to laugh at the lyrics: “I hope the last page of your 800 page novel is missing / I hope that it rains if you leave the window down on your red Mustang” and “I would like to be your girlfriend so I could dump you / and I would like to be your garbage man / so I would never have to pick up your trash again”. Brilliant. It’s the kind of anthem you want to sing in the face of anyone who’s ever wronged you. In a sunny, not argumentative Darwin Deez way, and afterwards, you can skip off, happily, into the sunset. Darwin Deez will be released on February 22 on Lucky Number Records.
Track Listing:
01. Constellations
02. Deep Sea Divers
03. The City
04. DNA
05. The Suicide Song
06. Up in the Clouds
07. Bed Space
08. The Bomb Song
09. Radar Detector
10. Bad Day
Tour Dates
Feb 09 – Spring Street Firehouse / Birmingham
Feb 10 – Club Downunder / Tallahassee
Feb 11 – Drunken Unicorn / Atlanta
Feb 12 – Snug Harbor / Charlotte
Feb 14 – Local 506 / Chapel Hill
Feb 15 – Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar / Charlottesville, VA
Feb 17 – Black Cat Backstage / Washington, DC
Feb 18 – Kung Fu Necktie / Philadelphia
Feb 19 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City
Throughout White Lies’ 2009 debut album To Lose My Life… was a palpable sadness that resonated with those who enjoy that brand of gothic grandeur. These are the same kind of folks that connect with bands like Echo and the Bunnymen and the Smiths. For so long, I have fought against the following argument friends: “Smiths songs make you want to slit your wrists.” Not so, if you can relate with the bleaker side of life and sympathize with such sentiment. But most people don’t identify with such a non-escapist and sometimes academic view of the world and would prefer a more commercial, fun record (In other words, the kind that buy Maroon 5, Rihanna, and Katy Perry albums and think Lady Gaga is, like, the coolest person ever).
The best parts of the London band’s debut album were the most danceable (“Death,” for example), which probably sounds completely counterintuitive and not what most people envision at all of the gothy, post-punk genre. If you ever get the chance to watch the hordes of regulars at the Mousetrap Britpop night here in Washington, you’ll understand. Morrissey famously once sang in the Smiths song “Unlovable,” “I wear black on the outside / ‘cos black is how I feel on the inside,” and in our black clothes, boots, and eyeliner, this is our dance music.
Ritual, White Lies‘s second album, is comprised of similar building blocks used to make To Lose My Life… The high – and potentially the most crowd-pleasing – points of the album are the less dark, more synthy and more inspiring moments. “Is Love,” the album’s opener, starts in the shadows with Harry McVeigh’s usually unemotional intonations, but the track is lifted up into seemingly happier, almost power pop territory thanks to synths. “The Power and the Glory” is White Lies pop trapped in the ’80s.
“Bigger Than Us,” the first single to be released from the album, is brisk in tempo and has a sweeping chorus that fans of White Lies have come to expect from the band that brought us previous singles “Farewell to the Fairground” and “To Lose My Life.” Best track on the album, hands down. First time I heard it onBBC Radio, I could feel the tears welling up: “and I feel like I’m breaking up, but I wanted to stay / headlights on the hillside, don’t take me this way / I don’t want you to hold me, I want you to pray / this is bigger than us.” Epic. (Actually, thinking more about the lyrics, the song might be a nod to the Smiths‘ “This Charming Man” or “There is a Light That Never Goes Out.”)
The buzzing guitars of “Holy Ghost” are sexy and the tune’s verses sound like a homage to the Police’s “Roxanne.” But the chorus is bizarre: “maybe someday I can move like you / maybe someday I can scream like you / I’m not looking for a holy ghost.” I would love to get inside the brain of the band’s bassist and chief lyricist Charles Cave one day. Also unique is “Peace and Quiet,” with a double-tracked chorus almost approaching gospel (“I feel this great pressure coming down on me / and the tide of my bliss, pulling at your sympathy“), new age synths, and an atmospheric yet chill vibe reminiscent of Broken Bells’ debut last year. Not what I would have expected from White Lies at all.
The punishing rhythm of “Turn the Bells” is hypnotic, but there’s no denying it, it’s dark. “Streetlights” is custom made for the terminally depressed, it’s a desperate cry to the world: “hold tight for heartbreak / buckle up for loneliness / right time to get away / where I’m going, I couldn’t care.” Tough stuff. “Strangers” contains the refrain “there’s nothing stranger than to love someone,” the protagonist anxiously trying to love a woman who is emotionally unavailable and not returning his deepest affections. You might not want to listen to this if you’re going through a rough patch in a relationship.
But these are the inevitable, more sinister, more difficult to swallow moments from Ritual. They represent the most comfortable territory for White Lies: writing songs that express the pain and sorrow of everyday situations. That said, this album is really for people who can see past the initial gray sheen of depression the band uses to paint the surface of their songs; under the surface, there are always profound feelings. There are deep emotions in every track, examined and intellectualized, ready to be taken into the hearts of people who can appreciate those emotions.
Ritual by White Lies will be released in America on January 18 on Geffen Records.
Track Listing:
01. Is Love
02. Strangers
03. Bigger Than Us
04. Peace and Quiet
05. Streetlights
06. Holy Ghost
07. Turn the Bells
08. The Power and the Glory
09. Bad Love
10. Come Down
Until last summer, I didn’t know much about drum and bass band Pendulum, except that young people in the UK (the main audience of BBC Radio1) adored them so much that anything as much as a hint to new Pendulum material would cause mass shockwaves through Twitter. No one I knew on this side of the Atlantic knew who they were, and I expected a similar lack of knowledge in Scandinavia. But wow, what a reception the band got at Roskilde Festival last summer. I witnessed a manic crowd reaction, but in a way, I expected it: the genius of Pendulum – and also of Immersion, their most mainstream release to date – is the combination of heavy guitars and drums and quick-tempo emanating electronics that interest guys with dance beats and lead singer Rob Swire‘s sexy vocals that have proved quite popular with girls.
Here are the basics: Pendulum started out in Perth, Australia as a drum and bass band in the early Noughties. The group – then just Swire, bassist Gareth McGrillen, and DJ Paul Harding – soon relocated to the UK, the ancestral home of rave music (they’re now based in London). This turned out to be a fateful move, as after gaining several bandmates, the band released their 2005 debut album, Hold Your Colour, which contained their first UK singles top 40 hit, the double A-sided “Slam” / “Out Here.” Their second album, In Silico, was their first release in America. Coming up later this month, their third album, Immersion, will be released stateside, more than 6 months after the UK release of the album and its reaching #1 on the UK Top 40 albums chart the week of its release. Immersion reflects a more electronic-heavy, dance-driven sound than its two predecessors.
“Genesis” is the opening track of the album, and it begins not unlike something you’d hear on the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. It sets the stage for the grandeur your ears are going to experience next, mixing right into instrumental “Salt in the Wounds.” Halfway through, the songs break down, making you think it’s going to mellow out for the rest of the 6 minutes, but in the 4th minute, it’s clear Pendulum is not done making your heart race, going back to frenetic, thudding beats. This song, along with singles “Watercolour,” “Witchcraft,” and “Crush,” are ones that make you jump up and down in a packed club of sweating bodies. Or at an open air music festival, as I witnessed at Roskilde.
But the best part of this album are “The Island – Pt. I (Dawn)” and “The Island – Pt. II (Dusk)”, two halves of a sonic masterpiece. Part one is a Rocky-esque pump-up kind of song, with programming and beats not too soft and not too heavy – just perfect. Swire’s expansive vocals, as if calling out across his homeland of Australia, are alternately sweet and sweltering. “Close your eyes / let’s forget again / as you drag me down / I will take you in / what are you waiting for? / just surrender here tonight / what are you waiting for? / as we go towards the light…” – gulp. I could listen to this track all day. Rob Swire, call me. Then part two takes over, as the electronic wizardry take center stage, the track concluding with more conventional tropical beats.
The album also has some interesting and high-profile guests. Liam Howlett of seminal big beat English electronic group the Prodigy lent his cowriting and production talents to “Immunize”; while it’s no “Breathe ” or “Invaders Must Die,” it’s still pretty good. Prog/psych band Porcupine Tree founder Steve Wilson cowrote and sings on “The Fountain,” which sounds neither proggy or psychedelic and is instead the most unique track on the album, driven by piano along with the electronic beats and drums.
Metalheads will enjoy the more instrument-driven “Comprachicos” as well as “Self vs. Self,” a more straight-forward collaboration (vocals and traditional band instruments) between Pendulum and Swedish death metal band In Flames. Understandably, the latter features more aggressive (and in my opinion, quite scary) vocals from In Flames‘ Anders Fridén. This, along with “Set Me on Fire,” with vocals sounding vaguely Will.I.Am reggae, are probably the only numbers on Immersion that feel out of place.
Immersion is the kind of album that if you are into electronic music at all, you’ll appreciate the attention to detail this band has put into every single track. A couple weeks ago I was reading a UK electronic music magazine’s interview with Swire, and there was a photo of a small sampling of the complicated electronic equipment used to create the Pendulum sound. It’s astonishing what musicians and producers can do with electronics these days to make truly exciting music. If you get the chance to see Pendulum live this year, do it – you won’t be disappointed, I promise. The band make a special live appearance at Miami’s Ultra Music Festival at the end of March; I imagine surrounded by their peers and loads of fans, that would be the ultimate way to experience them.
Immersion will be released on Atlantic Records on January 25, 2011 in America.
Tracklisting:
01. Genesis
02. Salt in the Wounds
03. Watercolour
04. Set Me on Fire
05. Crush
06. Under the Waves
07. Immunize (feat. Liam Howlett [the Prodigy])
08. The Island – Pt. I (Dawn)
09. The Island – Pt. 2 (Dusk)
10. Comprachicos
11. The Vulture
12. Witchcraft
13. Self vs Self (feat. In Flames)
14. The Fountain (feat. Steve Wilson [Porcupine Tree])
15. Encoder
Tour Dates
Jan 20 – Bank Atlantic Center / Sunrise, FL*
Jan 22 – St. Pete Times Forum / Tampa*
Jan 23 – Philips Arena / Atlanta*
Jan 25 – Joe Louis Arena / Detroit*
Jan 26 – United Center / Chicago*
Jan 28 – Xcel Energy Center / St. Paul*
Jan 29 – Sprint Center / Kansas City*
Jan 31 – Wells Fargo Center / Philadelphia*
Feb 01 – TD Garden / Boston*
Feb 02 – Guvernment / Toronto#
Feb 04 – Madison Square Garden / New York City*
Feb 05 – Irving Plaza / New York City#
Feb 07 – Bell Centre / Montreal*
Feb 08 – Air Canada Centre / Toronto*
Feb 10 – Verizon Center / Washington, DC*
Feb 11 – Mohegan Sun Arena / Uncasville, CT*
Feb 16 – Ogden Theatre / Denver#
Feb 17 – In the Venue / Salt Lake City#
Feb 19 – Showbox SoDo / Seattle#
Feb 20 – Commodore Ballroom / Vancouver#
Feb 23 – Fillmore / San Francisco#
Feb 25 – Wiltern / Los Angeles#
Feb 26 – House of Blues / Las Vegas#
Mar 25-27 – Ultra Music Festival / Miami
#with Innerpartysystem
*supporting Linkin Park
Grouplove‘s humble beginnings sound like something from a Hollywood script. Hannah Hooper and Christian Zucconi, the band’s principal lead vocalists, met by chance in New York City and instantly felt a connection. So much so that the two shortly went to a little island in Greece together, where again serendipity stepped in, allowing the two to meet their future band members: London guitarist Sean Gadd and two childhood friends from California, Andrew Wessen and Ryan Rabin. These five people couldn’t have been anymore different, but they felt such a strong bond that they all packed up from their respective homes and went out to Los Angeles to try and record an album together. The result is the Grouplove EP, six songs that prove their friendship translates to musical harmony.
The EP opener, “Colours,” is currently on BBC 6music‘s playlist and getting a lot of airplay, a coup for any band. Zucconi’s lead vocal is brash yet fun, an indication of things to come, and it’s augmented by Hooper’s winsome harmonies. I’d seen the song title a long time ago, assuming that the band had to be British. The band recently supported Northern Ireland’s Two Door Cinema Club and Welsh indie band the Joy Formidable this past autumn, and while I missed their appearance with Two Door in DC, I did catch their energetic set in November with the Welsh rockers. Imagine my surprise that 4/5ths of Grouplove was American.
My next hesitation about Grouplove was that here in front of me was another band trying to cash in on the American / California surf pop boom of 2010, a movement that I’ve generally avoided like the plague because everyone sounds like retooled Go-Go’s (girl-fronted bands) or Beach Boys (boy-fronted ones). The difference with Grouplove is that here are five friends who really enjoy each other’s company and making music together, and this is obvious when they play live. They don’t sound like they’re trying to ape some other band’s catalog. Sure, there is the sun-dappled cheerfulness of “Naked Kids,” which has angelic vocals that make you think of ’60s surf pop bands; it’s the perfect tune to queue up on your convertible sound system on the way to the beach.
But there’s also more meditative moments, like “Gold Coast,” a melancholy look back at one’s life, and “Getaway,” another slower one where Yosemite Sam lookalike Gadd takes lead vocal duties. Despite its title, “Giddy” is anything but: it’s a slow, swirly, enjoyable track. But the best moment on this EP is “Don’t Say Oh Well,” the song I can totally see as soundtracking this summer with a raucous count-in and all of its hand clapping, foot stomping, free-wheeling guitar pop glory. Grouplove are the kind of friends everyone wish they had as best mates. Tracklisting
01. Colours
02. Naked Kids
03. Gold Coast
04. Getaway
05. Don’t Say Oh Well
06. Giddy
The Grouplove EP will be released on January 25 on Atlantic / WEA.
Before Frank Turner became a solo artist, he played in a London post-hardcore outfit, Million Dead. When that band fizzled, he decided to strike out on his own, he did so in a very different musical genre, folk rock. Five years post-Million Dead, three solo albums, and two EPs later, Turner finds himself being revered and highly sought after, easily selling out venues at home in the UK. Despite having toured stateside over the last 2 years as support for the likes of the Gaslight Anthem, the Offspring, and Social Distortion, he’s not a household name in America. Yet. But his latest EP released this week, the simply-titled Rock & Roll, should help matters.
Thanks to the BBC, folk gets a lot more attention nationally in the UK than it does here in America, and in Britain, there is a glut of folk and folk rock acts eager for mainstream success. Three reasons I think Frank Turner has come out on top of the heap and succeeded in Britain and in Europe? His down-to-earth persona, his eagerness to communicate with his fans (check out his Twitter and his blog, usually detailing his life on the road but more recently, the difficulties of touring during a freakishly early winter snowfall in Britain), and the protest bent of his lyrics, making him a present-day, Bob Dylan-style folk hero, if you will. He champions the little guy, a position that usually doesn’t translate to fame, fortune, and success in the popular music world. Yet back home in Britain, he’s idolized. I never got into Tom Waits like some of my friends and some of the people in the music business I’ve run into as a blogger. But I imagine for many people, Frank Turner is their Tom Waits.
The melodic guitars and Turner’s engaging vocals make this EP highly enjoyable. “Pass It Along” starts slowly with a folky sensibility. It reminds of how some of Led Zeppelin‘s songs would start off quietly and introspectively before ripping into monster, now classic riffs. (I bring up Led Zep because they are the band that created arguably one of greatest rock ‘n’ roll songs ever, aptly titled “Rock and Roll.”) In the case of “Pass It Along,” it’s at the 3-minute mark that all lets loose for what feels life-affirming. “Rock and Roll Romance” is a short piece, just Turner and his guitar. Simple, yet gorgeous and heartbreaking, all at the same time.
If you feel like the EP is flagging, then “To Absent Friends” reignites the fire. Listening to this song, I’m sure you can feel the excitement that is Frank Turner and his band live, Turner giving his vocal cords quite the workout as piano keys bang. The tune “The Next Round” is the most country of the five on this EP, and is the regretful musings of an alcoholic. What could sound fake doesn’t in Turner’s deft songwriting hands. But the rallying cry of this EP is the anthemic track “I Still Believe.” Turner sings, “who would have thought / after all / something as so simple as rock ‘n’ roll would save us all?” Decades after the first rock ‘n’ roll tunes came out of its rhythm and blues roots, rock ‘n’ roll is still going on strong. And it will continue to thrive with people like Frank Turner, committed to making music under his own terms. This album might not be as aggressive as what is being passed off as “rock” these days, but it’s sure got plenty of substance. And heart.
Track Listing:
01. I Still Believe
02. Pass It Along
03. Rock & Roll Romance
04. To Absent Friends
05. The Next Round
The Rock & Roll EP by Frank Turner will be released on December 07 on Epitaph Records.
After getting beaten up in a highly unexpected mosh pit at a small club show on the outskirts of Boston the night before and making a hasty retreat from that mess, I was actually looking forward to seeing a show at the House of Blues the next night. I’d heard mixed reviews for the House of Blues and their many outposts scattered across the U.S. – huge places with overzealous security and little atmosphere was the consensus. So after a fun night at the Philly Trocadero 3 days earlier, I wasn’t expecting much from the WFNX-sponsored Temper Trap show Wednesday night.
Security at the House of Blues was professional and courteous. Maybe it was my photo pass but everyone I encountered at the venue was super nice. And I didn’t get patted down like I was in Philly, so I didn’t feel violated. Once inside on the ground level, I gasped as I looked around. The place is massive (twice as big as the Trocadero, with room for 2,400) but it’s beautiful and breathtaking. Helpful security inside advised, “watch your step, ladies,” as there are several steps to negotiate. Well lit, well stocked bars and clearly marked restrooms on this floor – definite pluses. While I was waiting for the show to start I got to talking to two kids from the local Berklee College of Music; it was really cool to talk to “the young people” and hear their appreciation for the Temper Trap’s music. I also advised them to invest in a good set of earplugs, which turned out to be an excellent suggestion given that this was the House of Blues and the size of the speakers hanging from the ceiling should have immediately told you that the gig that night was going to be loud.
It is really cool to see how bands get more at ease after the first night of a tour. The Hundred in the Hands, while being only two people on an expansive stage, sounded better on the House of Blues’s state of the art sound system than they did in Philly. Lead singer Eleanore Everdell was visibly more confident as well, smiling broadly as the audience not familiar with their music politely clapped between songs. Guitarist Jason Friedman looked like he was having a ball on stage, strumming on one of his two guitars.
Highlights were “Lovesick (Once Again)” and “Young Aren’t Young,” showing me yet again the understated beauty of Everdell’s voice. Unfortunately they didn’t play “Gold Blood,” one of my favorite tracks from their self-titled debut album released on Warp Records last month. By the end of the set, the Brooklyn duo had already won some new fans, as evidenced by the people who shouted in displeasure when Everdell announced their sixth and final song. Great to see people responding to them.
Once the Hundred in the Hands‘ equipment was removed from the stage, it was time for Delphic to set up their gear, which is a lot. Standard drum kit and guitars but a couple synths and electronic drum pad setups as well. This is a band that has played to thousands at Glastonbury so I didn’t think the bigger stage (compared to the Trocadero’s) would faze them. And I don’t think it did, really. Singer/bassist James Cook looked more poised and his voice sounded better than ever. Multi-instrumentalist Rick Boardman, guitarist Matt Cocksedge, and touring drummer Dan Hadley were completely on.
The problem was the audience. They never really got into the music and generally just looked bored for both support bands, all waiting (impatiently looking at their mobile phones, I might add) for the Temper Trap. There was no fist pumping or rampant dancing like Sunday night in Philly. (It should be noted that the venue was pretty empty at the start of the night and it wasn’t until shortly before the Temper Trap were due on that the floor filled out.) Too bad, their loss. There was one girl who talked to me after the show who said she was going to buy Acolyte in a music shop as soon as she could, so I was pretty happy about that.
It’s been over a year since I first heard “Counterpoint” on BBC Radio, and I’ve had Acolyte for a long time now, listening to it constantly, so I know all the words on the album. I like to sing in general and this spills over into shows too, so you can imagine this is potentially embarrassing at gigs. But when I did sing, Cook looked my way a couple times and smiled, as if acknowledging this dubious mastery. Haha. Also, I got my wish for “Submission,” my favorite song from Acolyte, and maybe it was the echoes in the huge venue, but the vocal key sounded a bit off. Maybe they are a little rusty after having a couple weeks off between gigs, but I imagine this will wear off after some more gigs stateside. (As of this writing I’ve already read some great comments about their set from the New York and Montreal shows that followed.) I’m looking forward to seeing them in DC in a few days.
Delphic Set List
Clarion Call
Doubt
Red Lights
This Momentary
Submission
Halcyon
Counterpoint
It is a real joy to watch the Temper Trap at this stage of their career. When the well-oiled Temper Trap machine gets fired up, hold on tight, because you’re in for a wild ride. “Fader” was the first Temper Trap song I learned on bass, so it holds special meaning to me, but wow, when it’s offered up to fans live, it’s like a explosion of energy. With its jangly guitar riffs and emotional lyrics, the Melbourne band’s power ballad “Love Lost” is going ensure their place in popular music history. I’m not one to get emotional at gigs, but I have to say that this song brought me to tears. It’s just perfect.
It was fun to witness the thrill of fans who had waited to see their current favorite band. I was surprised to learn that of everyone I talked to, I seemed to be the only one who’d seen them before. One woman came with her boyfriend and requested that he catch her if she fainted when Dougy Mandagi appeared. (She didn’t faint, I’m happy to report. But she was so animated after the gig, she was practically glowing with excitement, chattering away on how great they were.) The students I mentioned before were waiting for their favorite song, “Down River,” and with its fun chorus that got everyone singing along, they weren’t disappointed.
Part of me wishes that the Temper Trap would mix things up, because Wednesday night in Boston was the fourth time I’ve seen and heard that exact same set list this year. I can’t imagine it being too difficult to change song order, because it’s not like they have complicated synth setups like their two openers. But really, how can you complain when they put on such an amazing show, night after night? Cheers guys.
The Temper Trap Set List
introduction
Rest
Fader
Fools
Down River
Love Lost
Soldier On
Sweet Disposition
Resurrection
Drumming Song
//
Rabbit Hole
Science of Fear
Tour Dates (dates with all three bands except those noted)
Oct 07 – Newport Music Hall / Columbus
Oct 08 – DC9 / Washington, DC^
Oct 09 – Austin City Limits / Austin*
Oct 09 – MOTR Club / Cincinnati%
Oct 11 – St. Andrews / Detroit
Oct 12 – Metro / Chicago
Oct 13 – Turner Hall / Milwaukee
Oct 14 – First Avenue / Minneapolis
Oct 18 – Crocodile / Seattle%
Oct 19 – Woods / Portland%
Oct 21 – Popscene / San Francisco&
Oct 22 – Fox / Pomona, CA
Oct 23 – Club Nokia / Los Angeles
^ Delphic only
* the Temper Trap only (festival appearance)
% the Hundred in the Hands only
& Delphic and the Hundred in the Hands only
White Lies, the dark London post-punk band that was #2 on the BBC Sound of 2009 poll, have announced on their official website that their second album will be released on January 17, 2011 in the UK. Time will tell if this yet-to-be-named sophomore album will fare as well as their 2009 debut album, To Lose My Life…, which reached #1 on the UK albums chart.
According to NME, the album was produced byAlan Moulder, who over the years has worked with famed bands such as Depeche Mode, Them Crooked Vultures, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Song titles include “Holy Ghost,” “The Power and the Glory,” “Bigger Than Us,” “Is Love?,” “Streetlights,” and “Come Down.”
The band recently previewed songs from the new album at V Festival in August.
In the second half of my interview with Delphic‘s guitarist, the incredibly thoughtful Matt Cocksedge, we talk more about how album #2 is going to differ from their debut album Acolyte, and Matt tells me his personal philosophy on being a guitarist. We even chat about their Irish mates Two Door Cinema Club in my attempt to persuade them to come back and do a co-headlining tour in the States together next year. (Time will tell if I was successful…)
Matt Cocksedge, Delphic: It’s very strange, being in a band and writing intensely personal stuff and then giving it to the public, and it’s not yours anymore, you know? It’s theirs. It’s there for them to interpret as they like, and it’s there for them to believe in or destroy. And you just kind of have to go with it. And it’s definitely difficult to get used to. Now we know a little more about what it’s about, we know how it goes and we’ve been there, and we know we’ve made a record and we can do it, we’ve got a bit more belief in ourselves and more of an idea of who we are and what we want to do. It’s an exciting time in Camp Delphic! We’re very much looking to the future. It’s very weird saying all this, having coming to tour America for the first time, it’s bizarre. It’s like, “Hi! We’re here supporting a band in America on our first tour, and we’re looking forward to writing our second album!” Considering our album only just came out…bizarre! Mary Chang, PopWreckoning: It’s good! Maybe it’s my personal observation with how much music I get sent, but there’s seems an oversaturation of the new generation of bands coming out of Britain. And there’s no way NME, or Q, or anyone else can keep up with everyone. As a blogger I think you do get jaded because there are so many bands to assess. Do you feel that there’s pressure to come out with a second album quickly, because you worry you might get lost in the shuffle as new bands come up? Maybe you can tell me more about how the recording process is going for Delphic album #2. MC: We’re doing bits and bobs in our studio [back in Manchester] and building up ideas, but we’re really approaching it differently than the first record. The first record was very much built up at our studio at home and was very layered and detailed. By the time we went to the [recording] studio, we knew basically how the songs were going to turn out and exactly what they would sound like and all that, whereas for this one, we kind of want to leave more to chance and be more open before we get to the studio. We want to play together more in the studio and then take it on a more natural band angle, rather than building it up in a studio environment. And yeah, there is definitely that feeling of pressure. You know, there isn’t that luxury that bands used to have of doing the first record, going on tour, maybe taking 18 months, 2 years to write, record, and release the second record. That time’s gone. The public’s attention span is so short, and that’s a good thing and a bad thing. It’s good because bands can’t get lazy. But it’s bad, it’s changed the way music is digested, it’s changed the way bands have to approach writing and touring. And their releases. And we’re kind of part of a generation of bands that needs to keep writing and recording and releasing and touring and writing and doing that to establish a fanbase, establish some sort of place within the whole thing. But for us personally, we just want to write the next album because we’ve got ideas and we’re inspired to do it, we want to get it out there. We don’t want to go on a holiday for 6 months, we don’t want to stop doing this and we don’t want to keep touring endlessly. We are very much like, “right, this is the first record, we achieved a certain amount [of success and fame] with that, but there’s so much more we want to do.” We don’t want to play the same songs for another year. And this is our first tour of the U.S., properly, and so where are we? We’re in September, 2010? Most of these songs were written like in 2008. Some of them were written at the end of 2007. PW: So are we looking at a 2012 release then [for album #2]? MC: Hopefully! I think, maybe sooner if we’re able to. PW: I guess it depends on touring commitments and if you’re even home long enough to do anything. MC: We’re excited, we have a lot of ideas and are really keen as soon we get back from America, we’ve got a few more gigs, got four or five gigs, but once that’s done, we’re straight into rehearsals for the second album. Straight into that. And we’re really…that’s the most exciting thing, we don’t want to stop. We’re doing something we really love doing. We’re not going to take it for granted. We want to just work on it and get better. We just can’t wait to, you know…as much fun as this has been in the United States, I don’t want to put that down, I’m just saying that we’re so excited to kind of see what happens next, and see where it takes us, and see where we go with it. We got into a band to write music and make albums, you know? And to be given the chance to do that is the most incredible thing. We feel incredibly lucky to be able to do it, and we want to do it to the best of our ability. And we’ll see how that goes. We’ll wait and see. [smiles] PW: It should be interesting to see how this one turns out, with the different approach. MC: Definitely, definitely! PW: I know I’m definitely looking forward to it! And a lot of people are.
PW: Since I am a writer, I would like to know who in Delphic comes up with the song titles and who writes the lyrics? MC: Emmm…the whole thing is a very collaborative process. Everything – music, lyrics, videos, art, all that stuff is very much the three of us. We won’t let anything through that not all three of us are behind, you know? It’s one of those things where everything we do is Delphic, it’s not “Matt from Delphic,” or James or Rick from Delphic. It’s the band. Well, magicians should never reveal their secrets, should they? [smiles] PW: [laughs] I was just curious because every band has their own little story [on how they come up with lyrics]. The most unusual one I’ve heard is of White Lies, who came in second in theBBC Sound of 2009 poll. Bassist Charles Cave of White Lies writes the lyrics for guitarist Harry McVeigh to sing. Interesting, yet it must be weird singing about someone else’s experiences. Do you find when you’re writing lyrics it becomes an emotional thing? Because it’s been amazing to talk to other Delphic fans and hear what they’ve gotten out of your song lyrics. Different people get different things out of music. Coming from the writer’s perspective, I like to look at lyrics closely and interpret them. Are there any particular songs on the album that are especially personal to you? MC: All of the songs are very personal to me. Definitely. And you know, it’s strange when you write something and then someone else is expressing it. And it’s also interesting, because you get the opportunity to see another interpretation of it almost immediately. I think a lot of what we wrote on the first album, lyrically, was open to interpretation, and purposely so. I mean, yeah, it’s personal, but I think one of the great things about music is that it’s your thing. We’ve written this album, but it’s your album. All of the experiences of listening to it, you’ll never share the same experiences that someone else has when they listen to the album. But that’s amazing, that it can be so personal. I like that people can read into things and take different things from it, and that’s fine. But there’s always going to be what it means to you, and it’s always going to be that personal thing. But certainly now I don’t think we want to impose that on the audience. We have a thing of what it means to us, but the audience…I wouldn’t want to say anyone’s interpretation of our music is wrong or inaccurate. PW: Morrissey has been asked many times to explain, “what does this particularSmiths song mean?” and he has said, I don’t want to say what it means to me, because music means different things to different people. MC: Definitely. I’d hate to destroy anyone’s idea of something. Someone could think one of our songs is a really romantic song, when actually it’s about trying to get away from someone. It’s like Sting… PW: [laughs] Yes yes! MC/PW: [at the same time] “Every Breath You Take”! MC: Some people have that as a wedding song. And it’s a stalker song, you know? [both of us laugh] For that reason, it’s nice for people to have their own interpretation. And not be too clinical about it.
PW: So how long have you been playing guitar? MC: Since I was about…hmmm…shit, I don’t remember. 14 or 15 maybe? PW: Wow. MC: When was OK Computer? Was that 1997 or 1999? [It was released in June 1997.] PW: Not sure, it seems like so long ago now! When did you get into synths? Was that before Delphic? MC: Me and Rick had always been messing around with synths. His dad built a synth once. His dad was always into cool music. [I don't know Rick Boardman's dad personally but from what I have heard about him, he is probably the coolest dad ever.] PW: That is like the coolest thing, ever. MC: He’s very cool, very cool. If you ever get to meet him, you’d like him. PW: All I can say is, all of your families seem so cool. For example, James’s parents. How is it possible they let him move to Manchester and never made him move back home? [James Cook is from Chippenham, England, a town west of London, but moved to Manchester years ago for university.] My parents would have never let me do that. MC: Oh, you should come over for a course. That’s what James did, he came up to Manchester for uni and just stayed here. And they were cool about it. PW: But then he stayed. Forever! There’s never been a reason for him to go back? MC: Manchester, it’s a better place than Chippenham. Not to slag off Chippenham, I have been to Chippenham, but Manchester is better than Chippenham. PW: What’s Chippenham like? MC: It’s a smallish town out in Wiltshire. Lots of countryside, there’s no scene there. Yeah, we were into synths, and he had a Juno 60 that we messed about with, and that was fun. But yeah, I was much more into guitars and effects pedals. I like synths but I’m one of those people who doesn’t really bother with algorithms. And chains and stuff like that. I like to sit down at a synth and fiddle about, and I let my ears guide me to the sound. PW: So are Rick and James more of the technicians on that side of things? MC: Very much, yeah yeah. They’ll talk about sound waves and I understand that stuff, but it doesn’t interest me. I don’t care about the calculations and the technical specifications of sound. I just care about the sound hitting me and expressing something. And that’s the way I operate. And I think it’s kind of good to have that in the band. Like those guys can get technical about it and then I can come in and say, “that just sounds like shit.” [laughs] “But it’s got this amazing sound wave function on it!” And it’s like, I’m not bothered. PW: “It’s not doing a thing for me.” MC: Yeah, “make it sound better.” PW: Now is it because of their university backgrounds that they know all this stuff about synths? MC: I dunno, maybe? PW: Weren’t they studying music? MC: Well, it wasn’t straight music. It was recording and popular music. I think they took something from that, but they just both researched the synth thing and really got into it. And that’s their area. I was quite happy to let them have that. It’s like, just let me buy effects pedals and I’m happy! That’s fine. And in the studio, it’s good to have an outside perspective on these kinds of things. I think it’s always important to have that objectivity. I’ve not spent 3 hours finely tuning a synth and I’m not involved in that side of things, so I can have that kind of objective view. And say, “look, I appreciate it, it’s a good sound, it’s got a lot of technical merit to it, but does it fit? Is it right? Does it work?” Sometimes it’s yes and sometimes it’s no. It goes both ways, like with the guitars. We’re each other’s critics and friends and compatriots, so it varies…I’ve left them to it, I’ve gotten more into it over time but… PW: I know in the live setting you play synth, for example during most of “Doubt.” MC: Yeah, on a couple of things. But it’s a functional thing. I just enjoy, like “Epherema,” that kind of tremolo-ey sound in that song, that was the result of me sitting in a room for 6 hours messing around with guitar effects and getting that right. And that’s what I love doing. And that works in that context. The last line of “Acolyte,” that’s more of a Rick and James kind of area, and that all happens together. Whatever makes the best song, and what sounds good.
PW: What I really love about Delphic is that you have this perfect marriage of good guitar riffs with good synth melodies. Great guitar bands have great guitar riffs, and then some of them try to introduce the synth into the mix and have trouble integrating them into their sound. It ends up becoming a plinky plonky thing in the background that does not belong. Or guitars are added to synth pop bands and the guitars sound out of place. Whereas you guys, you have everything integrated well. For example, “Halcyon” and the guitar solo. I’ve given this a lot of thought this year, I put the question out to people, if you had to be reincarnated as a part of a song, what would you be and why? MC: If I had to be reincarnated as part of a song? PW: Yeah, and it couldn’t be a whole song, it had to be one disparate part of a song. And I said your “Halcyon” guitar solo. MC: Wow! I am very honored! PW: With the runner-up of the guitar lines in the verse of “What You Know,” played by Sam Halliday of Two Door Cinema Club. MC: I like Sam. PW: Both of you are amazing guitarists. MC: I think he’s better than me. PW: You think? MC: He’s good! Really good. [smiles] PW: Don’t tell him that, because I saw that video of you guys in Australia and the band war. [And as Matt says, watch this video clip with a grain of salt.] MC: Yeah… [laughs] They made us do that! We were just having a laugh and one of them said, “Delphic and Two Door war!” And it’s like, “oh no…” We’re real mates! PW: They know you’re messing, surely. MC: Yeah, but it’s like what we were saying earlier, about band rivalry and stuff like that. You don’t want it to cross over to anything that is actually serious in that way. We admire Two Door very much. We’re such a very different band to Two Door that there can’t be a rivalry, really. Who we appeal to in our kind of market is so different to theirs. There’s no rivalry there. We just think they’re great guys who write good songs. The rest of it is just banter. But yeah…it’s an interesting question, really, I’m going to have to give this some more thought.
PW: Having played guitar for so many years, was there one song that made you think, “yes, I’m definitely going to be a guitarist“? MC: I don’t think there as a song that generally made me want to be a guitarist, but my favorite guitar solo of all time is what I’d probably want to be reincarnated as, it’s the solo for “Sympathy for the Devil” [Rolling Stones]. The sound is incredible, it just screams, it’s such a real, organic sound. It speaks to you. In terms of the actual line, the guitar solo, I just love the restraint. Is it Keith [Richards] doing that solo, or not? PW: I would think so. Who else could it be? MC: Right right, I just wanted to make sure. [smiles] PW: Don’t worry, I won’t tell my best buds, the Rolling Stones. [laughs] ‘cos me and Mick are like this. MC: “Sympathy for the Devil” is one of the greatest songs of all time, a 6-minute epic. He’s got x bars to do a solo in, and what does he do? He’s really minimal, like [mimics the guitar solo]. But my absolute favorite part of it, if I can be even more specific, is within the solo. There’s a part of the solo…you know, he does these really great parts that really scream at you, the amp sounds incredible. And there’s a bit where he goes “dum da dum dum” [really simple, bare part of the solo], and that’s it. You’ve got a solo for “Sympathy for the Devil.” And all you do is play a note like a child. Anybody could do it. But it’s just perfect. I think that’s what’s important about playing guitar. For me personally, it’s not an ego thing, it’s not a “look at me” kind of thing, I never ask for the solos, I never want solos in a song. I get all nervous! PW: Really? I never would have figured you would feel that way. MC: Yeah, I get really worried about it! PW: Should I tell people not to look at you when you’re playing the solo in “Halcyon”? [laughs] MC: We had to do Jools Holland. [You can watch the video below. Matt's amazing guitar solo starts in at 3.05.] Honestly, I was so scared for weeks before. Every night before I went to bed I would be playing it in my head. Honestly, so nervous. So I never ask for the solos. For me personally, playing guitar is adding to the track and just being part of the track, and if the best thing for the song is to play one note, then that’s just as valid as being Slash and having huge guitar solos going up and down the neck doing all the technical shit you want to do. For me, it’s about feeling and emotion and doing something different that fits into the song. PW: Your guitar is beautiful, I think it’s gorgeous. MC: Thank you!
PW: When I saw you at Roskilde, the lighting was amazing. Is your lighting guy, Squib Swain, with you on this tour? MC: Sadly, no. Yeah, he’s brilliant. PW: I hope when you come back next time he’ll come with you. MC: So do we. It’ s really weird doing shows without him. He’s become such an integral part of our shows and what we do. We always like to try and do something interesting with the lights and audiovisual experience, it’s always kind of weird when Squib is not along. But we want him back, we miss him. He’s actually out with Two Door [in the UK] at the moment… PW: [laughs] Really? What are you guys going to do if you tour the same time? Bidding war? MC: He gets paid double! But if we’re playing together… PW: Yeah, come back and do a co-headlining tour with them! MC: That would be great, wouldn’t it? Really nice. PW: Yes, I have been talking with new friends in Hong Kong, they all want you back. MC: Oh really? Awww. PW: They were all saying that it was the best day of their lives when you and Two Door played together back in August. I was thinking, your two bands need to come back together and tour as co-headliners in America so there aren’t any arguments. MC: Yeah, no, I would happily support Two Door. PW: No, I need to hear “Submission” and the only way I’d get that is if you headlined. Right? MC: How’s this, we will support Two Door and still play “Submission.” I am more than happy to do that. PW: Are you playing “Submission” on this tour? MC: [looks mysterious] Maybe… [I laugh]. Yes. We were going to play it in Philly but we didn’t have time with all the stress before the gig, we had to cut back. PW: The reason why that song is so special to me, after your album came out, we had the second largest recorded snowfall ever in Washington in February. At one point the snow had reached my height. MC: No way. PW: Yeah. And in order to get my car out, I had to keep shoveling the driveway, and I would measure different distances of snow cleared by how many times I heard “Submission” to finish that line of snow. I must have heard “Submission” 500 times. So it’s very special to me. That’s my little “Submission” story. MC: Well, I’m glad we could be there for you in your time of need. [laughs]
PW: Well, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. MC: Thank you, cheers.
Thanks very much to Matt for an amazing interview and taking time out of his busy schedule to chat with me, and special thanks to Delphic’s management for arranging the interview.
Tour Dates
Oct 05 – Phoenix / Toronto*
Oct 07 – Newport Music Hall / Columbus*
Oct 08 – DC9 / Washington, DC^
Oct 11 – St. Andrews / Detroit*
Oct 12 – Metro / Chicago*
Oct 13 – Turner Hall / Milwaukee*
Oct 14 – First Avenue / Minneapolis*
Oct 21 – Popscene / San Francisco&
Oct 22 – Fox / Pomona, CA*
Oct 23 – Club Nokia / Los Angeles*
^ Delphic only
* supporting the Temper Trap
& with the Hundred in the Hands
Live photos in this review were from Roskilde Festival, taken by Mary Chang, July 2, 2010
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Concert Calendar
Nov 23, 2011
HaHa Tonka @ Recordbar, Kansas City MO
Nov 25, 2011
Thee Oh Sees @ The Granada, Lawrence KS
I first came upon the music of 
Throughout 
Until last summer, I didn’t know much about 
Before 
