Hurts - Happiness (Album Review)

Theo Hutchcraft. Adam Anderson. Dark suits. Slick, oiled hair. A transcendent voice backed by a monstrosity of synthetic sound. Everywhere they go, things happen in slow motion. I cannot begin to surmise whether they are time travelers or gods. We would never be able to tell the difference anyway.

Hurts' first public offering, Happiness, is the fastest-selling UK debut of 2010. They embark on a sold-out UK tour in a few days, followed by Europe. They have already upgraded a few venues, and more are sure to follow.

Theo and Adam are here, if anything, to signal the end of the 80s revival. Not because anyone killed it, but because no one could ever best them at this. This isn't really the end though - it's just the point where things change from 80s revival to second wave synthpop and...whatever we decide to call the new wave of new wave.

Now, I'm still fairly new to writing reviews, but I have learned that there are two ways I can go from here - I can tell you more about the music, in far more spoiling words than you care to read, or I can spend paragraph after paragraph comparing them to bands you have never heard of. Neither direction will be of much use to anyone besides another music critic, so I'll try something new.

I heard a new sound.
It was like a moonlit night,
Blinded by stormclouds.

It hurts to listen.
We're all illuminated,
Burning from inside.

The smokescreen rises,
Melancholy eyes concealed,
Yet I hear his voice.

I am not done, yet.
Leave me with the medicine.
Don't you understand?

Leave it unspoken.
I will never change your mind.
Take me now, safely.

Nothing happens once.
But it's over, much too soon.
Press play to repeat.

I literally just went with the first random idea that came to mind after I wrote “so I'll try something new”. So there it is—a series of haikus, expressing what I see and hear when I close my eyes and listen to Hurts' unimaginably perfect album.

Hurts - Better Than Love (zshare) (YSI)
Hurts - Wonderful Life (zshare) (YSI)

Hurts - Illuminated (Live music video)

Ghostbird - Ghostbird EP [Review]

Ghostbird is a new rock band from San Diego. Their genres of choice on MySpace are 2-step, Dutch pop and glam, none of which seem fitting for a new SoCal indie rock band, but those descriptions are, in fact, fairly accurate. The drum beat is a bit unusual, which is what 2-step is known for, and their style does have a touch of glam. Dutch pop, like Scandinavian pop, has a rustic, enchanting feel to it, as does Ghostbird.

The Ghostbird EP begins with “Toy Soldier”, an indie pop tune that reminisces upon a time when war was make-believe and battles were fought between plastic figurines. This song is obviously made to be a single, although it's a lot more pop than the rest of the EP.

My favourite track is “Night Kills Day”, a swaggering ballad that gives glimpses into an affair of love and deception. The song begins under the guise of a common indie rock ballad, even to the end of the first listen, but unexpectedly blooms after a few minutes of listening. The 7-track EP contains a few more gems, but I don't want to spoil them all track-by-track this time.

An EP usually has a different feel than an album, sometimes with a more direct theme, or the raw sound of a new band making its debut, or a well-established band branching off briefly in a new direction. Ghostbird's debut EP sounds more like an album than an EP, well-polished and brimming with memorable rock songs. Their style does not diverge far from that of the biggest indie and alternative rock bands of recent years, but that's not so important when their music is simply better than most of those bands.

The Ghostbird EP is out now on CD and iTunes.

MUSIC & VIDEO

Ghostbird - Night Kills Day
Download MP3* (zshare) (YSI) or listen on their site
*For sampling purposes only. If you like the music, support the band!


Ghostbird - Toy Soldiers (HD)

BUY THE EP
Digital: iTunes
CD: Ghostbird Shop

a-ha - Foot of the Mountain (Album Review)

In 1985, Norwegian synthpop group a-ha released their first single, “Take On Me”, which topped nearly every national music chart in the world and went on to become one of the most recognisable songs of the 80s. Through the late 80s and into the 90s they followed the trend towards a more alternative rock sound, but now on their 9th album, they have returned to their synthpop origin with Foot of the Mountain.

The album overall is relaxed and soothing, as synthpop should be. It takes on a beautiful ambiance that flows from the first track through to the last. The Verve's last album Forth is hardly a close genre comparison, but the alluring mood of the music and the smooth, graceful vocals are the same.

The most radio-friendly and standout tracks on the album are “Riding the Crest”, which picks up the pace for a moment, and “Foot of the Mountain”, the gorgeous title track. The rest of the album glides by unpretentiously but unbroken in its symmetry.

I would mention my other favourite tracks, but they seem to change with every listen of the album. Listen to it with intention, if you feel so inclined, or put it on in the background and let it play all day. This 44-minute album is truly worth many hours of your time.

Foot of the Mountain is out now in their home country of Norway and releases worldwide July 27.

8.2/10

MUSIC & VIDEOS

a-ha - Foot of the Mountain
Download MP3 (zshare) (YSI) or watch the video below

“Foot of the Mountain” is also downloadable directly from Universal Music Norway.


a-ha - Foot of the Mountain

SHOPS
CD: Recordstore | CD Universe | Amazon US | Amazon UK
Digital: Amazon MP3 US | Amazon MP3 UK | iTunes

TOUR
a-ha are scheduled to tour Europe this fall.

Miss Derringer - Winter Hill (Album Review)

Miss Derringer, a rock band heavily influenced by outlaw country and 60s girl pop, is fronted by singer and underground artist Liz McGrath and her husband Morgan Slade. Their third album Winter Hill releases next week on Triple X Records.

From start to finish, the album maintains a vintage garage sound, pouring random proportions of pop, punk, country and rock into each song. There are many tracks that stand out, but together they form a devastating album.

Winter Hill begins with an opening theme, “Click Click (Bang Bang)”, which sounds like it could open a big budget Western film as easily as a concert. The style changes a bit towards girl punk in the next track, “Bulletproof Heart”, a great rock song but not too memorable.

After those first two, come three smashing tracks in a row. The lead promotional track for the album, “Black Tears”, stands out with Liz's girl pop vocals over surf guitar and drums. Next up is “Don't Leave Me Now”, a mellower ballad that sways soulfully as Liz channels Diana Ross, with the band backing her.

The album as a whole is stunning, but the standout track is definitely “Death By Desire”. The reverberating guitar melody echoes Liz's vocals, sweeping across the muted rhythm guitar. The drums fill all the right spots, while the bass bolsters them all.

Without warning, the band makes a three-minute detour to straight up rockabilly in “All the Pretty Things”. The lyrics seem a raucous backlash to the romance of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' “Please Read the Letter”.

The band proves that they can do more than ingeniously mash genres together in “Tell Me So” and “Heartbreaks & Razorblades”. When all the fillings of pop, country, punk and soul are scooped out, there is still a sweet rock & roll crust underneath. The drum-led “Drop Shot Dead” is fast and dance-inducing—the preceding few tracks often fade to the background of my daydreaming, but this one snaps me back into focus every time.

Winter Hill closes with “Mausoleum”, a dark song that brings the album to a dramatic climax. This is the only song on the album with an air of epic beauty.

The album holds a strong focus on the electric guitars and Liz's vocals, moulding them around more 60s music genres than anyone should ever be able to mix at once, but they do it skillfully. Miss Derringer describes it as “the soundtrack to a 1960's Irish Mob War”. After a few listens of the 30-minute album, pay attention to the drums. The band seemingly tries to torment him with their relentless genre-shifting, but he flawlessly takes it in step, finding the matching beat for every song.

Among all the hidden gems I've uncovered in the recent surge of faux vintage music, Miss Derringer is the only one that has pushed beyond one or two fun, earcatching songs and created a superb album that can be savored in its entirety.

8.9/10

MUSIC & VIDEOS

Miss Derringer - Death By Desire
Download MP3 (zshare) (YSI)

Miss Derringer - Black Tears
Download MP3 (zshare) (YSI) or watch the video below



SHOPS
Digital: eMusic | Amazon MP3 US | Amazon MP3 UK | iTunes
CD: Interpunk | CD Universe | Amazon US
The official release date is July 14, but some of these shops are already selling it.

TOUR
Miss Derringer is touring the west coast of North America with Girl in a Coma this month.

Little Boots - Hands (Album Review)

Victoria Hesketh, aka Little Boots, floated casually across the radar of many music fans and critics during the past year, usually mentioned among the ranks of rising British popstars like La Roux, Marina & the Diamonds and Florence & the Machine. Little Boots is the first among them to release her full-length, and it seems that she's swiftly surpassing the reputations of the others.

When I first heard Little Boots, I loved “Meddle”, but her other single at the time, “Stuck on Repeat”, sounded like a Madonna/Timbaland reject and her more recent “New in Town” was mediocre at best. Truthfully, I was far more excited for the upcoming albums by Marina, Florence and the lovely French girl with the gingerswoop. Low expectations aren't always bad.

From start to finish, Hands sounds smoother than its preceding singles and EPs. The tone of “New in Town” is warmer and, although the structure of the song is the same, it's gone from mildly unpleasant to well-deserving of it's track 1 placement.

The reworked “Stuck on Repeat” is shortened by half and no longer sounds like it's...stuck on repeat. The song that hooked me the first time I heard Little Boots, “Meddle”, is mostly unchanged, with a few tweaks that give it a more polished sound.

After going over the songs I already knew and finding shocking improvements, I listened to the rest of the album. It turns out, Little Boots not only renewed the singles that led up to her album, but has even more single potential. The electro hip-hop beat of “Remedy” is sure to bring her comparisons to Madonna's last album, but really, most of that album was shallow and pale next to the inspired wonder of Little Boots.

My new favourite, “Symmetry” is a spacey synthpop duet that matches Little Boots with Philip Oakey of The Human League. At four and a half minutes, it's the longest song on the album, fitting for an dark, glimmering dancefloor track that has many years of club potential.

Overall, the album plays like Ladyhawke's debut—there are a few radio-friendly songs that will catch your ear, but this is an album to listen to as a whole. Many of the songs are exceptional on their own, but together, the album is phenomenal.

SCORES

Vocal ability	7.5/10
Production value	8.0/10
Replayability	8.5/10
Road-trip stimulant	6.5/10
Late-night relaxation	9.0/10
Total	7.9/10

MUSIC & VIDEOS

Little Boots - Meddle
Download MP3 (YSI) or Listen on MySpace



Little Boots - Remedy
Download MP3 (YSI) or Listen on YouTube



SHOPS
iTunes | Amazon MP3 UK | 7digital
Little Bootique (CD+vinyl+remixes) | Pure Groove (exclusive vinyl!) | Norman Records | Recordstore | Rough Trade