Simon Rushworth
Another mixed bag of new music this week brings together the post-teen sheen of Madina Lake, the indy rock of Sucioperro and the perfected prog of German experimentalists Long Distant Calling.
All three bands are new to the rushonrock reviews team and all three have done enough to suggest new music Monday could be something special for all you rock fans with Bank Holiday cash to burn…
Take the plunge, take a chance and take home something a little bit different to start your hard rocking summer.
Madina Lake – Attics To Eden (Roadrunner)
As recent Kerrang! cover stars it comes as something of a surprise that Madina Lake sound much more like a band suited to NME on their second record. Rolled out as soft rock stars and shot in swathes of denim and leather with emo-tastic hair, you’d expect something other than indy riffs and synth pop twists but both underpin a pleasant enough album which, nevertheless, doesn’t ever feel heavy.
Lake’s Lostprohets-lite sound might well gain the fourpiece further critical acclaim and a decent stab at sustained airplay but whether the kids will think it’s alright is another matter entirely. David Bendeth’s (Paramore) production appears to have remodelled the Leone army into something akin to Razorlight with angst or Depeche Mode on steroids. Perhaps I’m missing the point and maybe this is where the band meant to go. So how come the Kerrang! cover?
This is a nice enough collection of singalong standards but as an album Attics To Eden asks more questions than it answers. A strange step forward, or shuffle sideways, depending on your view.
rushonrock rated: 6/10 Lakes Slide
Sucioperro – Pain Agency (Maybe Records)
Here’s a hint. Fast forward straight to the last track on this remarkable record – I Have Reached My Limit – and then go back from there. It’s the best starting point from which to get a true grasp of this challenging band intent on avoiding any kind of classification and oozing confidence throughout.
I had actually reached my limit when the stunning album closer shook me up and re-shaped this entire review. Until that point I was both frustrated and deflated – confused about what I’d just heard and disappointed there wasn’t another level of substance to a series of songs which promise much but freqently fail to deliver. Then along came I Have Reached My Limit with its proggy undertones, hard rock credentials and even a Proclaimers-esque chorus. At times sounding like vintage Yes, this must be the long-term direction of Sucioperro. It really must.
Otherwise the Ayr-based three-piece could find themselves bogged down in an indy pop, Manics-preaching, half-riff kind of world which won’t help anyone. Not least this reviewer.
rushonrock rated: 7/10 Pain Relief
Long Distant Calling – Avoid The Light (Superball Records)
Once in a while a record comes along which you just can’t put down, you must talk up and you take to your heart like a new best friend. On the face of it progressive, psychedelic, ambient, instrumental rock from Munster sounds like a heap of shit. Incredibly it’s the best thing we’ve heard in years.
Long Distant Calling could be the new kings of continental Europe with this hybrid brew of Mullet rock fused with a classic 70s tradition and a no-limits approach to what may or may not become a prophetic soundtrack of the future. It really is dazzling stuff as a haunting, dynamic soundscape wraps you up in a world you never imagined existed. Especially in Germany.
There are no vocals but who needs words when the riffs are this good? Long Disant Calling let the music do the talking. And the screaming. And the uncontrollable whooping. Wow. There will be other great albums in 2009 but will any be as great as this? It will take something very special indeed. Make this your first essential purchase of the year or make a mistake you will truly live to regret.
rushonrock rated: 10/10 (Don’t) Avoid The Light