Vampire Weekend were sued by the woman on the cover of Contra but that element of distaste left nothing in the mouth once the album was heard. Eschewing a real sense of fun and whimsy, the sophomore album nicely balances the use of humour and nostalgia to bring about a sweet, at times non-sensical, journey into the world of Generation Y. From the evocative lyrics of 'Horchata':
In December, drinking horchata
I'd look psychotic in a balaclava
Winter cold is too much to handle
Pincher crabs that pinch at your sandals
to the hilarity of 'California English':
Blasted from a disconnected light switch
Through the condo that they'll never finish
Bounced across a Saudi satellite dish
And through your brain to California English
to the softer and seriously tender 'Taxi Cab':
You stand this close to me,
like the future was supposed to be
Vampire Weekend really excel at conveying the contradictions of modern youth. Contra is a welcome confirmation of their breakout debut.
Stepping out from the shadows of her famous previous employer, Tom Waits, Jesca Hoop released a new album in 2010 entitled, Hunting My Dress. Reminiscent of Australian, Sarah Blasko, or English chanteuse, Laura Marling, Hoop uses the melancholy tone to her voice effectively throughout the ten-track album. What she does lack, however, is a consistent sense of melody and whilst the sheer fun of tracks such as, 'Four Dreams', and the intriguing quirk of 'The Kingdom' and 'Feast Of The Heart', ring true and signify someone with something to say, the album as a whole doesn't quite convince. This won't be a break out but it may well send enough ripples through the music-listening world to remember her name for next time.
Dayve Hawk's debut album under the moniker, Memory Tapes, is unlikely to be his break out either, however, like Hoop there is enough here to identify a musician with a significant point of view. The electronic genre has boomed over the past decade and with the likes of MGMT, LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip and M.I.A. racking up the fans it's not entirely surprising to see some new faces on the scene. Not entirely new, as he was the former frontman of Hail Social and he has released other pseudonymous work, Hawk brings a sense of the mellow to Seek Magic. There are some real moments of sheer beauty in tracks such as, 'Swimming Field', 'Bicycle' and 'Plain Material' that are matched by a willingness to take risk at a potentially significant cost. For example, the odd construction of 'Graphics' creates an illusive quality that markedly hinders the listener from grasping the story being told and the Neil Young sound to 'Green Knight' falls slightly flat, sounding less assured than it should. On the whole though there is enough here, as mentioned, to warrant keeping Memory Tapes in the back of your little black book. Risk pays off sometimes and it's likely that it may indeed do so for Hawk in the future.
Marking a debut as one of the year's best is always difficult, but for King Midas Sound (Roger Robinson and Kevin Martin) it has proven rather simple. Put together a real ambiance with a real lyrical understanding and an intelligent mellowed sound and you have quite an album. From the impassioned 'Earth A Killya':
'My stomach is no graveyard for the dead'
to the pained experience of 'One Ting':
'How can you do this to me?'
to the sheer gentle rhythm of the piece, King Midas Sound have aimed soft but big. Waiting For You... is a triumph.
Endeavouring to create the same sense of melancholy is the Richmond Fontaine LP, We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River. That title probably gives everything away without listening to the album in that there is just too much present. The four-piece band, hailing from Portland, Oregon, is a stalwart of the Pacific Northwest live circuit and success has seen them tour both the UK and Europe and release eight albums. What's missing here though is a real sense of nuance. The simplicity of the title track is when they're at their best:
We came home one night and the door was open,
most our things...broken
but it's a journey within each song that somehow makes a mess of things. For when the honesty of the lyric rings true, as in the above, then Richmond Fontaine sound great. When it doesn't as is the case in 'The Boyfriends':
I don't like that, I don't like that
it sounds bland. The album plays out like a BLOG set to music and the interest level, much like a BLOG, peaks and wanes. It's just that the troughs make it really hard to keep on listening for the possibility of future peaks.
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