L. A. Temple

Baby 81, 7 May 2007

I consider myself a big fan of BRMC, yet have to admit, they've never really produced a truly consistent album. All three previous albums have had song fantastic highlights, and are solid, good albums, but they're not perfect. Too many religious references on HOWL, a few too many aimless songs on Take Them On.. and a couple that didn't really stand out their debut.

So, where's that leave Baby 81? Well, from the first complete start to finish listen, it's obvious that this is the Rebels at their best. Before I bought this album, I scouted out a few songs, Weapon of Choice (awesome acoustic/electric guitar mix, similar in style to 'Whatever Happened', with some fantastic political… Read more

completely misses the mark, 18 April 2007

Ok, so Silent Alarm was brilliant, but to be fair it was also hyped. It was a few songs too long, and too samey to be a truly classic album. I don't think this is cash in, i think it had good intentions, but completly misses the mark.

To be nice, we'll start on the good songs. 'Like Eating Glass' remixed by Ladytron is murky, and dark, a nice take on the opening song, and in line with their own later work from their Witching Hour album. DFA1979 do a cover of 'Luno' which is of course great listening, and would have been perhaps a better idea for this album, a cover album, rather than a lazy remix compilation. M83's epic reconstruction of 'The Pioneers' is fantastic, and what the… Read more

The Very Good Ones, 8 Jun 2006

First things first, please, please, please ignore any comparisons of this band to the White Stripes, they're not lazy comparisons, they're just wrong. I'm a huge fan of the Stripes for their individuality, and that's perhaps the only similarity between these bands. Apart from that, they're not at all alike. The Kills are fantastic because of their simplicity. Whilst the modern Indie scene is overrun by style and lacking in substance, drowning in image, narrative, souless solos and pointless recycling of music, the Kills ride high above all of this.

Their music is condensed yet sparse, some recorded on eight-track, some recorded on two-track. The drum beats are often repetitive… Read more