Robyn Writes

Notes from the Keybed – This Month in Synths [May]

Straight Edge Keytar Hero has no time for your bullshit.

Loads of new releases hitting the airwaves this month for synth fans starting with the band that kicked off my own love of the things! Back in 2007 Klaxons came bursting out of nowhere in an explosion of lurid colours, distorted synths, and an indie sensibility that mined everything from 90’s rave to J.G. Ballard. This personally resulted in the mass raiding of my student loan to buy a MicroKorg and a fuzz box (we can pretend that the electric blue skinny jeans and pink bomber jackets never happened though). After under-the-radar second album ‘Surfing The Void’, via a teenage heart crushing marriage to Keira Knightly, the boys are back with new album ‘Love Frequency’ on 9 June. The single releases so far suggest that, although the noisy guitars are not going to be making a return anytime soon, the band’s knack for an infectious pop hook and love of retro keyboard sounds remain firmly at the forefront. The nu-rave pioneers are playing a number of small-venue shows to coincide with the album’s release before hitting the dance stage at the Reading and Leeds festivals.

Other new records to pick up this month include ‘Luminous’ by The Horrors, who move further away from their garage goth roots into psychedelic territory littered with shimmering synth hooks and celestial chords, Imogen Heap’s long-awaited new album ‘Sparks’, and ‘Do It Again’ by everyone’s favourite Swedish synth pop star Robyn, who teams up with production maestros Röyksopp for this saucily-titled mini album.

Continuing the Swedish theme, TBO were sent a smorgasbord of new music from this Scandinavian country this month! Whilst the heavier end of the spectrum was well and truly demolished by Murderofcrows I’ve picked out something a little easier on the ear. Donnie Castle describes himself as a 19-year-old indie-electro producer from Gothenburg. Retaining some of the dark and ominous musical vibes that his hometown is renowned for he delivers a viable alternative to the EDM dominance that has blighted electronic music in recent years. The instrumentals on the record suffer at times from familiar preset reliance but anyone who doesn’t spend their life surrounded by software synths wouldn’t care or notice as the strong melodies shine throughout. The true standout moments are on ‘Stutter’ and the title track where glitchy drum machine rhythms meet Crystal Castles-style vocals. Certainly one to keep an ear out for.

Back over in the UK and I’ve recently returned from The Great Escape, Brighton’s annual weekend of live music and mayhem. Stationed on the Alcopop! / BSM stage at Pav Tav, guitars were clearly the dominant sound of the day but there was still a strong showing of synths including the mighty Fight Like Apes’ contingency of 3 keyboards, numerous sample boxes and an Ableton-running laptop! The Dublin foursome brought all the punk energy and disco swagger of new EP ‘The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner’ to the seaside venue, finishing their set with trampled keys and flailing limbs to rapturous applause. Particular note also needs to go to emotronica three-piece Emperor Yes, who broke the indie mould to deliver a sound akin to a full-band PlayRadioPlay with ludicrously brilliant live vocoder backing vocals. The Londoners even have an 80’s synth strewn Misfits cover on their Soundcloud, which only reinforces their hipster-baiting genius!

Finishing off this month’s column is our Keytar Hero of the month we look back at the leading lady of the shoulder synthesiser Victoria Asher / Vicky T of Cobra Starship who is currently taking a break from music to work on cinematography for coffee adverts featuring George Clooney (naturally), whilst Gabe Saporta revives his own student days with Midtown. A new Starship album may be a little way off but Vicky T rocked the instrument back in 2007 and is thus justly deserving of this month’s award for services to keytardom!

Review: Battleghost – Transient [EP]

Transient is Battleghost‘s third EP, and from the sounds of things, it’s by no means their last. It’s their second release since 2012’s full-length This May Hurt A Little, and Battleghost have been getting a bigger and bigger crowd over the past couple of years. Transient‘s probably the sort of thing that the faithful will lap up with no issue, but it’s going to have a harder time converting the sceptics.

It all starts out pretty well, with violins fading into heavier riffs and some great harmonies, but as soon as ‘Mumbles’ transitions into ‘Stateless’, it’s pretty clear that this is just your standard pop-punk record. To be fair, there’s plenty of nice little moments in ‘Stateless’ – Dorian Cooke’s soft but measured vocals punch through the guitars with ease, and there’s some catchy hooks coming out to play. Lots of this carries across throughout the record. In ‘Contentions’, the chugging chorus playfully riffs off the ‘popcore’ scene, and ‘Locust Grove’ is an impassioned ode to hometown blues. Everything is really tight, the production is fantastic and it’s all rounded off by a great fade out. Not enough bands do fade outs any more. But the issue is that all the tracks blend into one without any real distinction.

It’s unfair to compare the new generation to old pop-punk stalwarts – the sound is totally different, and so is the ethos. But on picking up a Blink-182 or New Found Glory record (well, until Coming Home), you were treated to plenty of personality and a cheeky bit of risk taking. Every song had its own feel, but all threaded through into a coherent piece. Perhaps this is the issue with EPs – there’s not enough room to grow, and instead, each track becomes a repeat of the next. At least Transient is an easy listen – it’s a pleasant enough background record, with some nice melodies and decent riffs. Sadly, that’s its defining trait.

Transient is by no means bad, but it just doesn’t stand out. Sure, Battleghost are one of the better bands playing around with this kind of sound at the moment, but even so, their pop-punk stylings don’t really carry any weight. Transient is a decent listen, but unfortunately, it’s very soon forgotten.

3 out of 5 high fives!

Artist Spotlight: Death and the Penguin

Death and the Penguin are four noisy dudes from London. And they play a bit of everything. Their debut EP Accidents Happen is a rollercoaster ride through everything that was good about the 90s, indie guitar pop without the bullshit and experimental post-rock, all slapped together with some outstanding harmonies and very clever lyrics.

It’s extremely hard to put them in a box, or fit them in a RIYL tag, so I’m not even going to try. Instead, Accidents Happen speaks for itself. ‘Snuffed Out’ dances gently around time signatures with some mathy-as-all-heck riffs and soaring Smashing Pumpkins-esque vocals, while ‘Space 1998’ features plenty of cheeky keys and la la la’s. Don’t even get me started on the bass – it’s complicated. ‘An Opening’ serves almost as an interlude, building up a dream-like atmosphere, but with lots of punchy pauses. Lead single ‘Strange Times’ is more your typical indie rock, but even so, the guitars have got a far meatier tone to them, rather than any of that jangly bollocks. A really intense instrumental ties together all the interrupting harmonies before leading into the metal-ish stormer ‘Bitumen’, which starts off with some crazy chanting and doesn’t let up until the EP comes to a stop.

Be assured, this is a record where anything goes, but accidents certainly didn’t happen in its creation – lots of experimentation perhaps, but Death and the Penguin know exactly what they’re doing. Recently, the band took the time to tell us a bit more about how Accidents Happen came together, what they’re up to next and just whereabouts all those clocks come from …

 

How did you guys get together, and where the heck does that band name come from anyway?

Three of us met at University. After moving to London in the post-graduate malaise, we met Tim and Death and the Penguin was born. The band name is the title of an Andrey Kurkov novel about an obituary writer and his pet penguin. The book has a perfect harmony of the dark and the silly which is something we felt matched our musical and lyrical content.

Accidents Happen sounds HUGE. Like, as if there’s tons of instruments on there. How much stuff is actually really going on there, and how do you achieve such a diverse sound?

Most of the sound comes from our live set up: drums, bass, two guitars, two keyboards and four vocals. We’d happily wager that we sound as (if not more) huge live as we do on the EP. Having said that, we did use some unusual techniques to record the EP, including a prepared grand piano, sonar samples, a 2-by-4 hitting an antique fireplace, a chicken feeder and even the pitter-patter of a dog wandering around the studio.

Bits of the EP sound pretty metal (there’s a riff in Bitumen that’s really reminiscent of CKY), there’s the obvious indie stylings, and a couple of tracks have a very early-90’s sound. Where did you take influence from when writing?

Our influences and tastes are pretty diverse. Looking at the EP tracks in particular, the melodies of ‘Bitumen’ and ‘Strange Times’ came from a collection of recordings made by the great musicologist Alan Lomax of songs sung by black prisoners while working, breaking rocks, or felling trees. ‘Space 1998’ was inspired by the huge bass and punk energy of Death from Above 1979. ‘Snuffed Out’ was inspired by the driving energy and rhythms of bands like At the Drive-in. It’s fair to say as well that there’s a little bit of Radiohead in everything we do…

What’s the most important thing when writing a song to you?

We demand a lot from our songs and scrutinise every second. We love to pack our songs with strong melodic ideas, strong instrumental ideas and interesting sounds and textures. The most important thing to us however is that, with everything else we have going on in our tracks, there is actually a song in there. A lot of bands are technically great but forget that there is a big difference between stringing together a collection of ideas and writing a song. Melody is key – whether vocal or instrumental – and if there isn’t a melodic idea what is there must be pretty fucking cool to compensate.

Lyrically, each song seems to have a bit of a story to it. Are there any concepts there, or is it all just metaphoric?

We sometimes like to hint at a story – sometimes, the songs are about specific things, but often they’re as much about an idea, a place or an image.

All of these tracks (except, perhaps, ‘An Opening’) have a real frenetic energy behind them. Do you look to create songs that would come off well live, or is that just a natural thing?

We love the energy of bands like Future of the Left, Blood Brothers, the Dismemberment Plan and Dillinger Escape Plan and so incorporating this into our songwriting comes naturally. The fact that this lends itself to an exciting live show is obviously a plus!

There’s a lot of clocks appearing – in the promo shots, in the video for ‘Strange Times’… is there some kind of conspiracy we should know about or is this just a nice little visual signpost to how mathy a few of your riffs are? 

The large damaged clock face was a really interesting feature of the space where we shot the ‘Strange Times’ video. We loved the idea that time itself might wither and decay. Maybe that’s why we use the weird time signatures…

The new EP is out now, so what’s next for Death and the Penguin? Any tours on the horizon? 

There’s a lot going on for us at the moment. The video for ‘Snuffed Out’ is going to be landing any moment now – we think we’ve produced something pretty special and cannot wait for people to see it. We’re also busy working away on the next batch of songs ahead of going into the studio in June and then hitting the road for our debut UK tour in July.

 

Death and the Penguin are Tobias Smith (vocals, guitar); Christopher Olsen (guitar, keyboard, vocals); Andrew Acred (bass guitar, keyboard, vocals); and Timothy Brennik (drums, percussion, vocals).Their debut EP, Accidents Happen, was released on 5 May via Best Before Records. You can pick it up here.

Review: Fange – Poisse

Poisse is not a record for the faint of heart or those with a quaint disposition. It is the tortured confines of purgatory personified; awash with abrasion, sliced with bouts of ear-splitting feedback and delivered in a drop-tuning that resides in the lower end of the human capacity for aural recognition. Poisse threatens the destruction of the sturdiest speaker stacks, overflowing with a seething rage; a caustic fury from which there is no salvation. Melody is not a word recognised by Fange, a band consisting of members who have already honed their demonic subversions within the French underground metal scene. It seems that for Fange, the main objective is nothing short of outright decimation, to pummel the listener into submission through crushing riff after crushing riff- occasionally breaking into a laboured gallop and flaunting a groove so mired in sludge and muddy distortion as to render it almost incomprehensible. Every aspect of the record is subsumed in such resolute discord that Poisse is solidified as a supreme work of uncompromising outrage. The vocals, surely unintelligible even to French speakers, amount to nothing less than a hellish gurgle, as if the vocalist is delivering his ragged growls whilst in the throes of being waterboarded.

Fange: a French word which translates as ‘mire’, and therefore becomes the most impeccably apt title for a band since ‘Coldplay’. To expose oneself to Poisse is to wallow in a mire of desolation and depravity of the most extreme order. As such, the record carries an appeal that is hugely limited; radiating a sound of such merciless malevolence as to place Fange into a tiny niche of sordid heaviness. It’s the blistering destructiveness of such powerviolence luminaries as Nails and Weekend Nachos being torn apart by cataclysm, the pace of their onslaught dragged back to a crawl.

The intensity is so extreme, however, that after even a few tracks listeners will be reaching for some Death Cab For Cutie to retain a semblance of balance. Poisse is no doubt a commendable feat of aural extremism, but that very extreme postulation is also the record’s downfall. Dynamism and variety remain defiantly absent and as such the crushing chug and incessant blasts of feedback soon become monotonous. As an experiment in extremity, Poisse is a veritable success. As a rewarding listening experience it is decidedly less so, unless of course, you’re seeking a soundtrack to a bout of good old fashioned violence.

3 out of 5 high fives!

Review: Shellshock Lullaby – Shades of Grey [EP]

Shellshock Lullaby is a solo project from Russ Nelson, who comes from Butte, Montana. That is literally the most interesting thing about this record. Shades of Grey is aptly titled, and its dull pop-rock tirade merely passes through different stereotypes before crashing out into nothingness.

Everything about Shades of Grey screams ‘cliché’, from the acoustic intro and outro to the whiny pop-punk vocals. The title track is all about problems with a girl (surprise, surprise), and drones on and on about how he’s moving on and this girl’s gonna get what’s coming to her and please… give me a break. There’s absolutely no bite to it, or any of these songs. The chorus is completely lost within layers of riffs that attempt to be clever. There’s a slight improvement in ‘I’ve Walked That Road’, which at least has a few interesting hooks, but apart from that, it sounds exactly like its predecessor. ‘All I Need’ tries to introduce some atmosphere with a sprinkling of piano, before launching into a verse riff that intends to be soaring but simply fails to take flight. It’s almost as if there’s a different vocalist in play in ‘The Look in Your Eyes’, but sadly, it just slides back into the same old routine. Nelson attempts some really weird tapping in the instrumental towards the end, and it just completely interrupts the whole flow of the song. And of course, it wouldn’t be complete without a completely acoustic ballad, which features some background strings and piano, offering forth an awkward declaration of distant love.

There’s a huge oversaturation of music like this out there at the moment and maybe, in another time and another place, this record might have ended up more likeable than it is. But as it stands, it’s on the weaker end of the spectrum. Even the latest Avril Lavigne album has more depth than this, and that’s saying something.

1.5 out of 5 high fives!