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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Jan 24, 2022 18:39:39 GMT 1
Back by popular demand (after I get through the 2021 albums)
Ghost - Impera 8.85/10 Electric Callboy - Tekkno 8.70/20 Muse - Will Of The People 8.55/10 The Sherlocks - World I Understand 8.40/10 BRKN Love - Black Box 8.36/10 The Hellacopters - Eyes of Oblivion 8.35/10 The Amazons - How Will I Know If Heaven Will Find Me? 8.31/10 Palaye Royale - Fever Dream 8.26/10 Dune Rats - Real Rare Whale 8.25/10 State Champs - Kings Of The New Age 8.22/10 Blossoms - Ribbon Around The Bomb 8.20/10 Rammstein - Zeit 8.18/10 The Birthday Massacre – Fascination 8.11/10 White Lies - As I Try Not To Fall Apart 8.10/10 Billy Talent - Crisis Of Faith 8.10/10 Editors - EBM 8.05/10 Fickle Friends - Are We Gonna Be Alright? 8.04/10 The Midnight - Heroes 8.04/10 Classless Act - Welcome To The Show 8.04/10 The 1975 - Being Funny In A Foreign Language 8.00/10 Pale Waves – Unwanted 8.00/10 Ryan Adams - FM 8.00/10 Dorothy - Gifts From The Holy Ghost 8.00/10 Sea Girls – Homesick 7.96/10 The Linda Linda's - Growing Up 7.95/10 Deaf Havana - The Present Is A Foreign Land 7.95/10 Eliza & The Delusionals - Now and Then 7.91/10 Avril Lavigne - Love Sux 7.91/10 Battle Beast - Circus Of Doom 7.90/10 The Interrupters - In The Wild 7.85/10 Muna - Muna 7.81/10 Arcade Fire - WE 7.77/10 Yungblud - Yungblud 7.76/10 The Mysterines - Reeling 7.76/10 Starcrawler - She Said 7.75/10 Panic! At The Disco - Viva Las Vengeance 7.75/10 Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Endless Rooms 7.72/10 Feeder - Torpedo 7.70/10 Wet Leg - Wet Leg 7.70/10 Puppy - Pure Evil 7.68/10 Placebo - Never Let Me Go 7.69/10 Yard Act - The Overload 7.68/10 The Wombats - Fix Yourself, Not The World 7.66/10 Reckless Love - Turborider 7.65/10 The 5:55 - Focus Moron 7.65/10 King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard - Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms And Lava 7.57/10 Gang Of Youths - Angel In Realtime 7.46/10 Sea Power - Everything Was Forever 7.40/10 Beabadoobee - Beatopia 7.30/10 Alt-J - The Dream 6.77/10
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madmurray
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I Am A Lizard King
Posts: 16,845
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Post by madmurray on Jan 25, 2022 21:37:17 GMT 1
Should your title be 2022 instead of 2021 mate?
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Jan 25, 2022 21:44:05 GMT 1
Yeah cheers, the years all blend into one
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madmurray
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I Am A Lizard King
Posts: 16,845
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Post by madmurray on Jan 25, 2022 22:20:58 GMT 1
Back by popular demand (after I get through the 2021 albums) 2022Fickle Friends - Are We Gonna Be Alright? The Wombats - Fix Yourself, Not The World The Sherlocks - World I Understand Yard Act - The Overload Billy Talent - Crisis Of Faith Battle Beast - Circus Of Doom Years & Years - Night Call The Dollyrots - Down the Rabbit Hole Miles Kane - Change The Show With the exception of Years and Years and Miles Kane, I quite like these releases with Wombats, Sherlocks and Fickle Friends the stand out. I havent heard Dollyrots, so will listen too the now.
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madmurray
Member
I Am A Lizard King
Posts: 16,845
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Post by madmurray on Jan 26, 2022 22:23:11 GMT 1
Back by popular demand (after I get through the 2021 albums) 2022Fickle Friends - Are We Gonna Be Alright? The Wombats - Fix Yourself, Not The World The Sherlocks - World I Understand Yard Act - The Overload Billy Talent - Crisis Of Faith Battle Beast - Circus Of Doom Years & Years - Night Call The Dollyrots - Down the Rabbit Hole Miles Kane - Change The Show Cheers for The Dollyrots call Razzle Dazzle . Hadn't heard them before and liked their latest album of b-sides, rarities n covers. Will check their past releases. Saw they are Supporting Bowling for Soup in Glasgow in April. Might try n get a ticket.
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Jan 26, 2022 22:36:28 GMT 1
Yeah they are very feel good pop punk punk, I'm loving some of the covers on the new album, the Nirvana one Breed is great and the Bowling for Soup cover is nice too. They did a fun Christmas album a few year ago and an album in 2019 I really enjoyed, the song "Everything" from Daydream Explosion is probably my favourite song by them, its very very mid 2000s girls with guitars pop rock
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Feb 17, 2022 16:24:46 GMT 1
FICKLE FRIENDS - Are We Gonna Be Alright?
Release Date: January 14, 2022
Fickle Friends finally return with their new record "Are We Gonna Be Alright?" after a string of singles and EP’s over the course of 2020/2021. Their debut album "You Are Someone Else" was released in 2018 and entered the UK Albums Chart at No #9, the indie rock band from Brighton can be compared to other synth heavy female fronted acts such as Muna, especially on single "Pretty Great", disappointingly it seems like their new album "Are We Gonna Be Alright?" didn't chart having heard 6 or 7 tracks already I have to say they deserve better 1. Love You to Death 9 2. Not Okay 7 3. Write Me a Song 8 4. Alone 7.5 5. Glow 8.5 6. Pretty Great 9.5 7. Load on Your Mind 7 8. Yeah Yeah Yeah 9 9. IRL 8.5 10. Listen 7.5 11. Won't Hurt Myself 8.5 12. Are We Gonna Be Alright? 6.5 SummaryOn "Are We Gonna Be Alright?" Fickle Friends are exploring a more 80’s upbeat synth jazz fusion compared to their debut album, there are some killer choruses here and you can hear The 1975 influences, its quite an interesting direction they are going in rather than just sticking with the same formula. While not quite to the level of their first album, "You Are Someone Else" it comes pretty damn close with "Love You to Death", " Pretty Great" and "Yeah Yeah Yeah" all fantastic songs and "IRL", "Won't Hurt Myself" and "Glow" also pretty good too, the album is filled with bouncy beats and nostalgic of 80’s synth and at times some pretty nice guitars so overall a very good second album 8.04/10
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TheThorne
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*Hillside, slip and slide, feel the pain, it's no surprise!*
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Post by TheThorne on Feb 17, 2022 16:30:42 GMT 1
FICKLE FRIENDS - Are We Gonna Be Alright?
Release Date: January 14, 2022
Fickle Friends finally return with their new record "Are We Gonna Be Alright?" after a string of singles and EP’s over the course of 2020/2021. Their debut album "You Are Someone Else" was released in 2018 and entered the UK Albums Chart at No #9, the indie rock band from Brighton can be compared to other synth heavy female fronted acts such as Muna, especially on single "Pretty Great", disappointingly it seems like their new album "Are We Gonna Be Alright?" didn't chart having heard 6 or 7 tracks already I have to say they deserve better 1. Love You to Death 9 2. Not Okay 7 3. Write Me a Song 8 4. Alone 7.5 5. Glow 8.5 6. Pretty Great 9.5 7. Load on Your Mind 7 8. Yeah Yeah Yeah 9 9. IRL 8.5 10. Listen 7.5 11. Won't Hurt Myself 8.5 12. Are We Gonna Be Alright? 6.5 SummaryOn "Are We Gonna Be Alright?" Fickle Friends are exploring a more 80’s upbeat synth jazz fusion compared to their debut album, there are some killer choruses here and you can hear The 1975 influences, its quite an interesting direction they are going in rather than just sticking with the same formula. While not quite to the level of their first album, "You Are Someone Else" it comes pretty damn close with "Love You to Death", " Pretty Great" and "Yeah Yeah Yeah" all fantastic songs and "IRL", "Won't Hurt Myself" and "Glow" also pretty good too, the album is filled with bouncy beats and nostalgic of 80’s synth and at times some pretty nice guitars so overall a very good second album 8.04/10 It didn’t chart due to a manufacturers issue, all vinyl and most Cd sales have not been counted due to a factory delay. Think it’s due middle of March and I’ll get it on vinyl along with the two EPs in a special edition. So it will do a Don Broco although we can dream it will be number one hehe First band I saw live this year supported by Valeras who were better live than on record, great night
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Feb 17, 2022 16:32:02 GMT 1
Ahh that explains it, I did think its bang on guaranteed top 10, good album to start off my 2022 albums
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Mar 3, 2022 15:13:29 GMT 1
THE WOMBATS - Fix Yourself, Not The WorldRelease Date: January 14, 2022"Fix Yourself, Not the World" is the fifth studio album by British rock band the Wombats and their first #1 album! It was preceded by the singles "Method to the Madness", "If You Ever Leave, I'm Coming with You", "Ready for the High", and "Everything I Love Is Going to Die". The album began when all members were together in Los Angeles in 2019 and wrote several songs. It was then recorded remotely during several COVID-19 lockdowns beginning in 2020, with each band member in a different location: Matthew Murphy in Los Angeles, bassist Tord Øverland Knudsen in Oslo and drummer Dan Haggis in London. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 72, based on 8 reviews, indicating "generally positive" reviews 1. Flip Me Upside Down 7.5 2. This Car Drives All by Itself 8 3. If You Ever Leave, I'm Coming with You 9 4. Ready for the High 8.5 5. Method to the Madness 7.5 6. People Don't Change People, Time Does 7 7. Everything I Love Is Going to Die 8 8. Work Is Easy, Life Is Hard 7.5 9. Wildfire 7 10. Don't Poke the Bear 7.5 11. Worry 8 12. Fix Yourself, Then the World (Reach Beyond Your Fingers) 6.5SummaryThe Wombats have done indie rock and they've done synthpop, but with "Fix Yourself, Not The World" they have released an eclectic mix of groovy, hooky electro-pop songs with synths layered and catchy indie pop. Highlights include singles "If You Ever Leave, I'm Coming with You", "Ready for the High", and "Everything I Love Is Going to Die" but scattered amongst the singles are some fun album tracks like "Don't Poke the Bear" that are a throwback to the earlier Wombats days. On "Fix Yourself, Not The World" The Wombats are back to their dance-rocking best 7.66/10
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Mar 4, 2022 14:34:25 GMT 1
YARD ACT - The OverloadRelease Date: January 21, 2022Yard Act formed in Leeds in September 2019 when Ryan Needham found himself temporarily living in James Smith's spare bedroom. Settling into a system of programming, looping and layering, the alchemy between the two created a base from which to build their complex and ever expanding narrative world. With just three hometown shows under their belt, world events intervened. But rather than letting the pandemic derail them Yard Act set up their own imprint, Zen F.C. and across the course of 2020 and into early 2021 released four increasingly coruscating, hilariously dark singles. Now expanded to a four-piece, joined by Sam Shjipstone (guitar) and Jay Russell (drums), they’ve released their debut album “The Overload”. Their inherent wit has been sharpened down into something that speaks to the times we live in, creating a statement of intent that survives on nuance, that manages to poke fun at society without punching down from a place of left-wing superiority or right-wing anger. The Overload is a political record, but in the same way that all great observations of human nature are – a messy, complex, knowingly hypocritical snapshot of our current state of play. 1. The Overload 9.5 2. Dead Horse 8 3. Payday 7.5 4. Rich 6 5. The Incident 7.5 6. Witness (Can I Get A?) 7 7. Land Of The Blind 7.5 8. Quarantine The Sticks 8 9. Tall Poppies 7.5 10. Pour Another 8 11. 100% Endurance 8SummaryTheir danceable, post-punk anthems combine the angular guitars of Franz Ferdinand with the spiky, spoken-word delivery of The Fall’s Mark E. Smith. Vocalist James Smith has the stage presence of Jarvis Cocker with the wit and lyricism to match, often railing against capitalism, the media and conformity. Opening track "The Overload" is just brilliant, I first came across it on the Fifa 22 game menu playlist. The entire album is witty and sharp, its all quintessentially British but a very modern interpretation of what it is to live in Brexit Britain, both playful and scornful in its commentary. Nothing tops the opening track for me but we are still treated to a wild and wacky ride along the way, their debut album tells the story of a (mostly) fictional character who finds themselves in financial difficulties and “ricochets from desk job to desperate illicit activity to police investigation.” and for the most part really works 7.68/10
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Mar 11, 2022 16:16:25 GMT 1
THE SHERLOCKS - World I Understand
Release Date: January 21, 2022The Sherlocks are an indie rock band from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, consisting of brothers, Kiaran & Brandon Crook along with Alex Procter & Trent Jackson. One of the best indie rock bands to break through in recent years, they just consistently make straight up unapologetic indie bangers, this will be their third album without really deviating from their sound, with all 3 albums charting in the top 20, there was their excellent debut album "Live for the Moment" (2017) #6 UK, their under rated second album which i reviewed in my 2019 album rating thread "Under Your Sky" (2019) #20 UK and now their third album "World I Understand" (2022) #9 UK 1. Porto N/A 2. Falling 10 3. Wake Up 7.5 4. On The Run 8.5 5. Plastic Heart 8 6. City Lights 9.5 7. Sorry 9 8. Games You Play 8 9. World I Understand 9.5 10. Last To Leave 7 11. Slip Road 7SummaryPersonally I love their music but I can see why some might think this kind of music is better being left in 2006, they unapologetic stick to the same formula, this one is for fans of Oasis, The Killers, Arctic Monkeys, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Milburn. Typically this music never goes down well but one review made me laugh "Best Killers album since Hot Fuss" and I cant really disagree, although I fully mean it as a compliment. The Sherlocks had five top 3 singles in my chart over 2021/2022, "Falling", "City Lights", "Sorry", "Games You Play" and "World I Understand" so if your a fan of mid 2000's indie or any of the bands mentioned, check out The Sherlocks new album 8.40/10
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Post by greendemon on Mar 24, 2022 10:58:13 GMT 1
So I'm a bit late to the party on this but am really enjoying The Sherlocks' album, played it through for the first time this morning and nary a bad track on it. But then I was indeed a fan of mid-2000s indie
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Mar 24, 2022 12:28:56 GMT 1
Ha I know I feel I give anything that sounds like mid 00s indie big marks 🤣
I never got sick of it at the time and missed it when it was gone so now we have a solid group of British bands reviving the sound amongst a backdrop of grime, rap, manufactured pop and over produced plastic sounding beats it stands out a mile for me, hate to use the term real music but you cant beat a band of talented musicians crafting their art under the radar of the industry that forces conformity and a sacrifice of musical integrity. This new wave of indie bands are free to express themselves without any real constraints and to me that will always sound fresh, raw and exciting no matter how formulaic the 00s indie sound might be in some peoples opinion. This is art in its purest form, 5 lads in their garage with their instruments living their dream
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TheThorne
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*Hillside, slip and slide, feel the pain, it's no surprise!*
Posts: 27,498
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Post by TheThorne on Mar 24, 2022 12:33:52 GMT 1
I struggle a little with The Sherlocks I like everything they do but I rarely love it and I find hard to give a lot of attention to them. Think I still haven’t really let that sound back in properly.
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Post by greendemon on Mar 24, 2022 14:50:57 GMT 1
My taste in music is a little bit all over the place at the moment! I love The Sherlocks' album but I also like quite a lot of the more manufactured-sounding stuff that Daz really isn't into But yes, anything that sounds reminiscent of the kind of music I was into at uni is going to go down well with me.
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Mar 24, 2022 15:20:04 GMT 1
I don't mind a bit of industry pop, it's the ones that have 100 writers, 30 producers an electronic drum loops I cant stand, particularly if it has whispering vocals, Haim, Coldplay, Imagine Dragons, Maroon 5, all lost me by turning to pop production, its the production and fake sounds I don't enjoy not so much the manufactured pop sound, its the effects on the vocals, synthesised drum loops and backing tracks instead of drums and base from drums and bass, suppressed safe guitars with zero technical ability needed, it's music made by computers I dislike but I'm loving pop acts that have an edge to them still like The Weeknd, Tom Grennan, Halsey, Miley Cyrus, Olivia Rodrigo, Marina and the Diamonds, Sigrid etc
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Post by greendemon on Mar 24, 2022 17:19:36 GMT 1
I think I missed the boat with Imagine Dragons - they've never really done much for me and I just can't get into the new one at all. I like HAIM more than you I think, though their first album remains their best IMO despite some great singles on the subsequent two.
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Mar 24, 2022 18:33:46 GMT 1
Yeah Imagine Dragons have been naff for about 3 albums now, that ship sailed a long time ago, I don't even listen to their new singles. HAIM their debut album is great (very indie feel though so no surprise I like that one), the follow up is a mixed bag with some good singles, "Want You Back" and "Nothings Wrong" stand out, great drumbeat, solid spine to the songs, nice and poppy, upbeat, nothing to dislike there but they started experimenting a bit too much on the album tracks and the third album they lost me, I think I liked one single that sounded like Shania Twain, but for the most part they slowed their sound down, stripped it back (of most the things i liked) and started using weird time sequences and vocal manipulation, drum loops, hand claps so I checked out and sounds like they are going further in that direction now with the new single, I mean there is a market for it its just not for me, i'd probably enjoy them live when they are stripped back to just 3 girls performing their best songs with no studio manipulation
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Mar 31, 2022 14:44:42 GMT 1
BILLY TALENT - Crisis Of Faith
Release Date: January 21, 2022Billy Talent are one of Canada’s most successful bands. They have sold nearly one million albums in Canada alone and nearly 3 million albums internationally. They have won 7 Juno Awards and have been nominated 23 times, including three nods for their most recent studio album Afraid of Heights (for Group of the Year, Rock Album of the Year, and Ian D’Sa for Producer of the Year). They have also been nominated for 32 MMVA Awards — taking home the prize 10 times. In 2018, the group was honored with the Legends of Live Special Achievement Award, presented by Canadian Music Week. Most recently, Billy Talent have launched the Billy Talent Charitable Trust to give more back to the organizations that the band supports. "Crisis of Faith" is their sixth studio album, it was preceded by the singles "Reckless Paradise", "I Beg to Differ (This Will Get Better)" and "End of Me" featuring Rivers Cuomo. The album had particular success on the charts in German-speaking Europe, debuting at number one in Germany and Switzerland, and number two in Austria. Crisis of Faith received a score of 76 out of 100 based on five critics' reviews on review aggregator Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable" reception. Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic described the album as "ten tracks of cathartic release and hardened hope from a band still digesting the chaotic years between releases". Highlighting "Forgiveness I + II" for being a "two-part prog exercise" and "one of the most daring and satisfying creative moves in their decades-long career", Yeung characterised "the rest of the set" as "fairly standard Billy Talent fare, with snaking riffs and pounding drums". 1. Forgiveness I + II 9.5 2. Reckless Paradise 9 3. I Beg To Differ (This Will Get Better) 8.5 4. The Wolf 7.5 5. Reactor 6.5 6. Judged 7 7. Hanging Out With All The Wrong People 7.5 8. End Of Me ft. Rivers Cuomo 9 9. One Less Problem 8 10. For You 8.5
SummaryPretty standard Billy Talent with a little more prog-adjacent sound and saxophone, this album finishes strong! with three of my favourite songs on the album closing out the album which is always a good sign of a band full of creative ideas, bit of a dip in the middle though but things spring back to life with the featuring Rivers Cuomo cameo, you really can't pay for dinner with a victim card. Along with the prog rock, saxophone infused "Forgiveness I + II" and the all out rock banger "Reckless Paradise", "End Of Me" is one of the stand out songs on their new record, of the collaboration with Weezer's frontman the band said “This is a full circle moment for us,” the band says. “We’ve admired and have been fans of Weezer since the Blue Album until now. Before we had a title, this song was originally called ‘Hendrix+Weezer,’ so it only felt right to ask Rivers to sing on it. The song encompasses the essence of ’90s alt rock, which was a hugely impactful and influential time for our band. We’re proud of the song and very happy to have Rivers be a part of it.” Overall a very solid return by Billy Talent 8.10/10
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