In a nearly twenty year career, Let England Shake is the strangest albumPJ Harvey has ever made. Really, the one competition it has is Is This Desire, and that album doesn’t come close. It comes as relief after two albums that I didn’t much care for that Harvey has made her best album to date.
Things start weird, but it takes until track two for the awe to set in. “Goddamn, Europeans,” Harvey sings at the beginning of “The Last Living Rose,” against a backdrop that sounds similar to a number of her older songs. Then, about a minute later, a strange honking instrument sets in. Pure beauty. This is Harvey dumping her sound on its head like only she can.
“The Glorious Land” begins with a bugle, and it’s all Scary Monsters era Bowie, and The Dreaming era Kate Bush. Harvey sings in a chant-like manner. It’s a song about England, most of these are. I get the feeling there’s a story beyond that theme running through the album, but I’m still unraveling it.
Most of these songs leave me grasping for words I can’t find, but I’m mostly dumbfounded. “On Battleship Hill” is sung in a falsetto against an acoustic guitar, drums and piano buried under odd production values. The lead and backing vocals don’t quite match up, and the singing is just behind the beat. It’s very ghostly.
“In The Dark Places“ knocks me on my ass every time. It’s one of the most normal songs here, but there’s something that causes my jaw to drop. A drum beat plays, and as the guitar kicks in she sings, “we got up early/washed our faces.” The lyrics tell a story barely glimpsed. It’s like seeing something unsettling through a dirty window. That’s actually a pretty good metaphor for the album.
The next song, “Bitter Branches” is a stomper. It seems like a continuation of the last song lyrically. It’s all very exciting: “the soldiers standing/and the boots twisting underneath.” This is scary stuff. “Wave goodbye,” Harvey sings, and I feel myself there.
“Written On The Forehead” has a tribal thing going on. The beat and the voices going on behind Harvey are entrancing. “War here/in our beloved city,” Harvey sings; I can taste war on my tongue.
The album ends with “The Last Colour Of The Earth.” Just under forty minutes, and my head has been blown wide open. I’m saying it now, in February: this is the album of the year. Nothing is going to top this anytime soon. It’s an album for the ages, one I will be dissecting far into the future.
Track Listing:
1. Let England Shake
2. The Last Living Rose
3. The Glorious Land
4. The Words That Maketh Murder
5. All And Everyone
6. On Battleship Hill
7. England
8. In The Dark Places
9. Bitter Branches
10. Hanging In The Wire
11. Written On The Forehead
12. The Colour of The Earth
If you were to forget that Kaputt is a Destroyer record, it wouldn’t be surprising. At first listen, the element of it that sounds like what has come before it, is Dan Bejar’s unmistakable voice. Screw Neko Case; Bejar, for a long time, has been the only reason I listen to New Pornographers records.
This, however, is a Destroyer album. The fact that this sounds like no other Destroyer record that has come before it cannot be overstated. I consider this a good thing. I did not enjoy the previous Destroyer album, Trouble In Dreams. I thought it was over cooked, and full of things that had already been done, and better.
Kaputt is something else entirely. The last time it took me this long to figure out if I like an album was Kate Bush’s The Dreaming. It’s hard to pin down the exact sound of the album. It’s sort of a bastard child of ambient folk music, and ‘80’s synth pop. It’s full of disorienting female vocals, spacey horns, and thumping beats, and probably the most deceptively brilliant album you’ll hear this year.
It wouldn’t be a Destroyer record without lyrics that will make your head spin. Bejar outdoes himself here. Lines from this album will be littering Twitter and facebook feeds for years to come. I’ve barely begun to decipher what they mean, but, yes, I’m floored. Obscure literature, drugs, communism, pop music, it’s all here, and more. This stuff was made to provoke infinite discourses.
I suppose the inevitable question is if you should buy this. If you like good, cerebral pop music, the answer is an unequivocal yes. “Suicide Demo for Kara Walker” should be the new national anthem, and this record will transport you to a place you didn’t know existed. You’ll be richer for the journey.
Track Listing:
01. Chinatown
02. Blue Eyes
03. Savage Night at the Opera
04. Suicide Demo for Kara Walker
05. Poor in Love
06. Kaputt
07. Downtown
08. Song for America
09. Bay of Pigs (Detail)
“Are you ready to rock?” asked a jovial Barry Hyde of the Futureheads Friday night. Cheering ensued. He flashed an evil grin. “You’re in the right place, because we are too!” The Sunderland, England punk rock quartet played a blazing set of favorites old and new to a crowd raring to go at the Black Cat in Washington. Their latest album The Chaos was released in America this past Tuesday on Dovecote Records.
The first of two support acts, the Static Jacks, seemed perfectly matched to the punk sensibility of the headlining Sunderland rockers. This five-member New Jersey band is a band primed for success that you’ve probably never even heard of by name before. According to Wikipedia, tunes by this self-described garage-soul band have graced “The Hills” and “The City” and have been featured on stateside satellite radio. Despite sporting a haircut reminiscent of Lyle Lovett, singerIan Devaney has the swagger and aura of coolness of Joey Ramone and the magnetism of the Horrors‘ Faris Badwan. I was standing in front of bassist Spencer Kimmins and guitarist Henry Kaye and nearly got hit in the head by wayward guitar necks; this didn’t put me off at the slightest, because this is what you should expect during a high energy punk set. You don’t expect the bass player to hit a suitcase with a stick like it was a drum either, but you go with it if the music is good. Despite their young age (all of them under 21, according to the Xs on their hands), they have a polished but aggressive sound. If they keep this up, expect big things from this band soon.
The Like, an all-girl group from Los Angeles, have previously toured with some heavy hitters – Muse, the Arctic Monkeys, and Razorlight, just to name a few. Given their sometimes punk, sometimes sunny pop sound, the comparison to the Go-Go’s is inevitable. There are also whiffs of the Beatles (check out the video for “He’s Not a Boy” below, which reminds me of the nightclub dance scenes in “A Hard Day’s Night”) and the Beach Boys with their harmonies. Oddly, their set sandwiched in between the Static Jacks and the Futureheads almost felt like a rest period because they couldn’t match the liveliness of the other two acts. I would have preferred if they stuck to punk (and showcase their technical chops) than with retro pop. Their next album produced by Mark Ronson, Release Me, will be released on June 15 on Downtown Records.
Sunderland, nestled in the far reaches of Northeast England, has been criminally neglected by music pundits in the past, but mark my words, it won’t be for much longer. One of these days someday soon, America will come to its collective senses and realize the wealth of music there, from the likes of Field Music, Frankie and the Heartstrings, and Friday’s headliners the Futureheads. I should have known I was in for an amazing nights simply from a message lead singer/guitarist Barry Hyde sent me hours before the show, “we’re going to rock your socks off!”
The moment Hyde and his band stepped on the Black Cat stage, you could sense the electricity in the air. The driving count-in of “5-4-3-2-1!” of “The Chaos” was a superb way to begin a set that never let up in sheer intensity and fun. “Heartbeat Song” was prefaced by Hyde with, “imagine it’s the ’80s. You’re in a John Hughes film, and you’ve just fallen in love.” Wow. It’s the obvious earworm single of The Chaos, and was simply breathtaking live as a pop-punk masterpiece. I previously linked to the excellent promo video for the song on a tour announcement 2 months ago, but check out this “making of” video that shows you just how fun these guys are.
Their roadie had painstakingly taped down all the guitar cords onstage, and this was because guitarist Ross Millard, bassist Jaff Craig, and most often Hyde himself could be found roaming the stage while frenetically going at their instruments with gusto. By the second song in, all of them were covered in sweat. Having never seen this band before live, I was not expecting the very funny stage patter from Hyde and the interaction between him, Millard, and Craig. It made an already stellar gig even better, and I’d argue they rank up there with We Are Scientists for pure during-gig hilarity. Early on in the show, Hyde chided a drunk couple who had been chatting throughout the set, one of whom had thrown a empty glass at his feet. “You do know this is a gig, right?” The crowd cheered in response.
During their cover of Kate Bush‘s “Hounds of Love,” Hyde involved the audience in a shouting contest, as Millard was unable to do his harmonies due to a sore throat, Hyde admitting he was scared to sing part of a song that he’d never done live before. Aww. (If you were wondering, my side singing along with Craig won the contest due to our enthusiasm in participating.) For the encore, Hyde indulged a devoted fan as the band played “Man Ray” from their 2004 self-titled debut album, saying to her, “after every single song we’ve played you shouted for this.” Just goes to show that persistence, in the presence of a obliging band, pays off. After such an energetic set, it was obvious that these chaps from Sunderland could have played on for hours and hours and the crowd would have eaten it all up. I can’t wait to see these guys again soon.
The Futureheads Set List
The Chaos
Meantime
Heartbeat Song
Decent Days and Nights
The Baron
Area
Struck Dumb
Sun Goes Down
Skip to the End
The Connector
I Can Do That
The Beginning of the Twist
Hounds of Love (Kate Bush cover)
Jupiter
//
This is the Life
Man Ray
Work is Never Done
Tour Dates
Jun 07 – Paradise / Boston
Jun 08 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City
Jun 10 – Mod Club / Toronto
Jun 11 – Magic Stick / Detroit
Jun 12 – Lincoln Hall / Chicago
You might best remember Nada Surf for becoming popular in the 90s for their tune “Popular,” but since that song they’ve released album after album of well-crafted and witty material (I’m quite partial to “Blankest Year” and often have used it as my personal anthem.)
To support the release of the covers album, the band is kicking off a headlining tour with a three night stay in New York on March 25. Each night they’ll perform one of their albums in its entirety. On the 25th they’ll play Let Go, the 26th will be the The Weight Is a Gift and the 27th will be Lucky. Each night will also include songs from the covers album, fan favorites and other b-sides.
If I Had a Hi-Fi will be available on the band’s tour before it hits stores.
Tour Dates:
March 25 – Bowery Ballroom / New York, NY (Let Go)
March 26 – Bell House / Brooklyn, NY (The Weight is a Gift)
March 27 – Music Hall of Williamsburg / Brooklyn, NY (Lucky)
March 29 – Lee’s Palace / Toronto, ON
March 30 – Cabaret du Musee Juste Pour / Montreal, QC
March 31 – Pearl Street / Northampton, MA
April 01 – First Unitarian Church / Philadelphia, PA
April 02 – 9:30 Club / Washington, DC
April 03 – Paradise Rock Club / Boston, MA
April 13 – ICA / London, UK
April 15 – Printemps de Bourges Festival / France
April 17 – Strasbourg Artefact Festival / France
April 18 – Tivoli De Helling / Utrecht, Holland
April 19 – Botanique / Brussels, Belgium
April 20 – Gloria / Cologne, Germany
April 21 – D! Club / Lausanne, Switzerland
April 23 – Abart / Zurich, Switzerland
April 24 – WUK / Vienna, Austria
April 25 – Lucerna Music Bar / Prague, Czech Republic
April 26 – Lido / Berlin, Germany
April 27 – Knust / Hamburg, Germany
April 28 – Trabendo / Paris, France
April 29 – Joy Eslava / Madrid, Spain
April 30 – Estrella Levante SOS 4.8 Festival / Murcia, Spain
May 01 – Villagarcia de arosa / Galicia, Spain
May 15 – Long’l'rock Festival / Longirod, Switzerland
May 24 – Belly Up Tavern / Solana Beach, CA
May 25 – Troubadour / West Hollywood, CA
May 27 – Great American Music Hall / San Francisco, CA
May 29 – Wonder Ballroom / Portland, OR
Here at Popwreckoning, we’ve officially hit a level of mail that makes it impossible for us to give full reviews to every band. However, this does not mean we believe that these bands shouldn’t be granted some for of press. It simply means we have to scale it down a bit. Therefore, we have opted to create a feature called Bite Size Reviews, which shall appear several times a week. This feature will contain 5 reviews each under 100 words and links to the albums website, MySpace page or label. We believe this is the best use of our mail and hope you too enjoy the reviews. They are as follows:
Greg Laswell – Covers
In the history of the world, I would have never imagined anyone could pull off a collection of covers featuring songs by the likes of Echo and the Bunnymen, Morphine, Mazzy Star, Kristin Hersh and Kate Bush without fucking up at least one. However, the aptly named Covers, the latest EP from singer/songwriter/twitter comedic genius Greg Laswell, does just that. Managing to add his signature sound to each number without butchering the significance of 5 bands with very contrasting styles is impressive to say the least. His ability to handle these individual sounds while tweaking them just enough to make them his helps make Covers an album and make Laswell an artist instead of that guy singing Jimmy Buffet at for beer money at your local bar. (8 out of 10 stars)
Tiësto – Kaleidoscope
So, I need to start off by confessing to fans of Tiësto that I may not be the best person available to give a fair review of this CD. This is because I really could live a perfectly happy life without house music. Remixes and samples seldom give me goosebumps. Generally, I wish the originals has been left the hell alone. However, I’m going to do my best to stay positive regarding Kaleidoscope and simply say that I was rather impressed by the selections of artists Tiësto tapped to sample. When I think of house music, I seldom expect the likes of Priscilla Ahn, Cary Brothers and Tegan and Sara to touch my ears. This alone should warrant this CD a single listen. I’ll let you choose if you want to keep spinning it after that. (5 out of 10 stars)
Asobi Seksu – Transparence
If Asobi Seksu can somehow fail to make you feel alive you might want to run down the street to your neighborhood family physician and place your order for a bottle of uppers. There are few bands in the business with more charm and addictive tendency than this one. Their new EP Transparence is par for the course. Sporting three songs and a remix this vinyl only release is the perfect follow up to the groups February 2009 full length Hush. The only drawback I can find is that i personally have trouble moving past side A, which features a pair of brilliant songs in the title track “Transparance” and “Urusai Tori”. Rather than move on to a fairly reasonalbe side B, I often find myself simly starting the disc again. (9 out of 10 Stars)
Imogen Heap – Ellipse
Anyone who knows me, or has been stumbled across my Facebook page in the past 3 months, has no doubt I am a fan of Imogen Heap. I’ve hyped her new album Eclipse the way the United States hyped Obama as the answer for change. Her last album Speak For Yourself was just short of perfection and her work with Frou Frou doesn’t look bad on her resume either. However, Ellipse to me feels a bit like a step backward for Imogen. Her songs lack the catch that sucked you in on her previous records. There are no golden tracks like “Let Go,” “Hide and Seek” or “Goodnight and Go” mixed in with the filler of her new work, noticeably leaving little reason for me to drop a twenty on the counter. To date, I would have to call this album the biggest bust of 2009. It is a real let down. (5 out of 10 Stars)
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In a nearly twenty year career, Let England Shake is the strangest album PJ Harvey has ever made. Really, the one competition it has is Is This Desire, and that album doesn’t come close. It comes as relief after two albums that I didn’t much care for that Harvey has made her best album to date.
