Review: Fear of Men - Early Fragments

Originally published on www.soundblab.com

Self-described alternative indie-pop band Fear of Men are entering the world of albums in a very unique and unusual way. Hailing from Brighton, the quartet are releasing their debut of 90s-influenced music, which technically isn't a debut at all. How is this?, I hear you ponder to yourself. Well, the band are currently working on their debut album as we speak, but to get us excited the band is releasing Early Fragments, a compilation of previously released singles.

After releasing singles on various UK indie labels, this album contains eight songs which span their career so far, from their debut single in 2011 all the way up to the present day. The band have made quite a name for themselves after touring extensively, in fact, they are still touring at the moment, and have been compared to another indie-pop band: Veronica Falls.

Unlike albums from Veronica Falls, this is much easier to listen to. In common Veronica Falls, they do have a few singles that sound the same, but whereas you tend to zone out because the Veronica Falls singles sound similar, you just don't with Fear of Men, perhaps something to do with the fact that all the songs were singles. Aside from this comparison, the band at times remind me a little of The Cranberries. You can hear the obvious 90s influences shining through. Maybe 90s indie-pop/rock is making a comeback.

There are two songs which stand out more than the rest: 'Mosaic', with its haunting yet summery sound which makes you want to dance around and reminisce about times gone by, and 'Ritual Confession', a catchy and infectious song with brilliant music and excellent vocals which you get lost in from the moment it starts. The remainder of the songs on the album are good but don't quite match up to these two, except for 'Spirit House', which is just a yawn-inducing sleep-fest that blends into the background and makes you want to switch off. No wonder it's the last track on the album.

Aside from this, the album is good and is just enough to get you a little excited for their first full-length. However, I've heard this sound before and, with only one or two standout tracks among the already released singles, the band are going to have to turn it up a notch for their first proper album.

Review: Rita Ora - Radioactive

Originally published on www.sosogay.co.uk

Not content with having chart domination throughout the majority of 2012 with a number one album, two solo number one singles and another as a featured artist, Rita Ora is back with her fourth solo single and from the sounds of it she may get her another top ten.

Opening with a slow build up of dance music, which is slightly different to her previous releases, ‘Radioactive’ focuses on the vocals of the London-based singer before breaking into an eclectic mix of dance music that appears to be inspired by chart hits from the 90s to now.

The song itself seems a little darker than her previous singles and makes you feel like you should be dancing-till-you-drop in the darkest corner of a seedy nightclub somewhere. Although the verses are a little slower than her other singles, there’s no denying the shouty and chanting chorus will have everyone dancing along in the coming weeks.

We’re also treated to a mini musical breakdown towards the end of the track before Ora returns to the song telling everyone that ‘we rise tonight’ and to ‘unite’.

Rita Ora is a musically eclectic breath of fresh air with her mix of many dance inspirations coupled with R&B, and is most definitely on her way to becoming the British equivalent of Rihanna. However, it has to be pointed out that she has a much better voice that her bad girl counterpart.

All in all this is an excellent dance song that will have people moving around until the small hours for quite some time. With ‘Radioactive’ she definitely has another hit on her hands.

Review: Veronica Falls - Waiting for Something to Happen

Originally published on www.soundblab.com

London-based indie-pop quartet Veronica Falls return with Waiting for Something to Happen, the follow-up to their self-titled 2011 debut album. The 13 track album, produced by Rory Attwell, who has also produced work by The Vaccines, tells the story of someone slowly coming to terms with the process of growing up and learning to face adult responsibility.

The album itself is not what I was expecting. For some reason, I had it embedded in my head that this band was going to sound like some ear-puncturing second-rate group who should never have released an album. However, this couldn't be any further from the truth, as the group blend melancholic lyrics and themes into ethereal and happy, ghostly music to create something which hasn't been heard in a while.

I say this because the band appears to have drawn on 1960s, hippie influences and combined it with inspirations from a number of 90s indie-pop bands. In a way, they kind of reminded me a little of Echobelly crossed with the more recent The Long Blondes. They aren't quite as feisty as The Long Blondes but you can definitely hear the influences.

What the group are particularly good at is harmonies and the blending of their vocals. The fact that you could hear both female and male vocals, without one drowning out the other, reminded me a little of The xx, although otherwise their music couldn't be more different. When it comes to the actual songs, 'Broken Toy' stands out as does 'Everybody's Changing' with its uplifting sound, telling the story of growing up but wanting to stay young.

However, this is as far as you get with saying which songs you like, as they all kind of sound the same and blend into one. This is a bad thing, as you can enjoy dancing around to them, but as they do sound similar there is the problem of tuning out at times. Overall, this is a great second album for any band and it would be great to see them get more attention. Yet, with no standout track, it's a shame to say I feel this unusual and new work will sadly go unnoticed.

The Pink Pound and the Music Industry

Originally published on www.vadamagazine.com

In today’s music industry many artists dominating the charts take time out to lend their voice to good causes. They may relate to problems such as world famine, body issues, war and lately even gay rights. This may seem like something truly commendable as famous individuals lend their name (and hundreds of thousands of twitter followers) to a cause in order to give it a greater voice. However, in relation to gay rights just how much of this advocacy is truly on behalf of those suffering and how much is for personal gain?

This may sound a little cynical to some who believe these stars are truly helping gay men and women across the world become more accepted, which to extent they are. However, whilst having a big name star promoting a cause is a guaranteed way to make a mark for it, for the star it is also a way of gaining yourself a loyal fan base that will stick by you. The audience think you ‘get them’. The cynicism enters when thinking about gay men and women as the power of the pink pound and its appeal to PR executives everywhere is remarkable. Leading mostly metropolitan lives and statistically freer from the financial black-hole of childrearing, our demographic are often thought to have more disposable income. For many this is mostly true.

When you think about gay rights advocacy and celebrities today, one of the biggest stars that come to the forefront of most people’s minds is Lady Gaga. Now I am by no means accusing her of not believing in equality for everyone, in fact she has done quite a lot over the last few years to help LGBT advancement, but you cannot help but feel there is a slight marketing push behind it.

After watching her concert on DVD you are left with the feeling that the chanting about gay rights is a little too much overkill. Sometimes it feels as though she is trying too hard to ensure that those in the audience who are gay know that she loves them. Also when you listen to her album Born This Way, the running theme of gay rights throughout it is incredibly obvious, so much so that it starts to annoy you. It has to be said that the title song of the album was a brilliant way to gain exposure across the world for gay rights (I know it advocated rights and equality for everyone but the message for the LGBT community was much stronger), but also a great way to guarantee gay men and women would buy the single and the album and that it would be played as a gay anthem for years to come.

Now I do not want this to sound like I am ripping into Lady Gaga, after all she wouldn’t be the first star to have a large gay following, although she seems to be one of the first to specifically target them. That said her predecessor Madonna did this but in a much subtler way.

‘Vogue’ was a massive hit worldwide back in 1990 and it is well known now that voguing was very popular on the New York gay scene. Madonna helped bring this facet of gay subculture into the mainstream. However, back then it would have been much harder to publicly back LGBT people through song in the way Gaga has today due to widespread homophobia, the legacy of the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 80s and the fact that as a community, equality was still a long way away in many more countries than it is today.

So when you look at it that way pandering to a gay audience has been going on for some time, whether it has been obvious or not. Rewind to the 50s and 60s when the biggest gay icon of them all Judy Garland was selling out concerts all across the world that were known to be frequented quite prominently by gay men. However, back then there was no marketing or pandering to gays and as Judy quipped when asked about her gay following, “I couldn’t care less. I sing to people.“ I’m quite sure that if being gay wasn’t the crime it was back then, some marketing savvy individual would have had her shouting out for gay rights across the globe.

So maybe it’s not the stars, maybe it is the marketing companies and their strategic soapboxing of stars that grinds my gears. By advocating a certain fight for equality they tap into a lucrative market in an attempt to exploit it for all they can. After all, stars such as Madonna and Lady Gaga just want to sing, entertain, love their fans (so they say) and be appreciated. As most people know, companies involved in marketing, advertising and PR are out for one thing and one thing only: Money.

So yes maybe stars are pandering to the capital of the pink pound, but is it because the teams behind them are exploiting them, and in turn exploit the pockets of fans across the world? I’ll let you think about that one.

Review: Placebo - B3

Originally posted on www.soundblab.com

It has been three years since Placebo last released a new album and over a year since their last EP. However, unlike the last one, which was a recording of a live performance, the B3 EP is a collection of five new songs to help you get excited about the next album.

With a slated release date of March 2013 for the new record, this EP gives you an idea of the direction the band are going, which seems a little different/experimental, and it appears that this will be the case on the next album as all five tracks here are completely different, in a good way.

We obviously have the heavy drums and guitars that Placebo have become well known for, coupled with Brian Molko's angst-ridden vocals, which still sound exactly the same as they did over a decade ago - quite some feat I must say. Thrown into the mix of angst, guitars and drums, we have a few synth sounds which almost make me think of space, but that's probably just because I've recently embraced my inner sci-fi geek.

The album has two tracks that stand out from the others: 'The Extra', which is slow, upbeat and rocky all at the same time, and sounds like some of their older stuff but also fresh and new. The other stand-out is the last song on the EP, 'B3', which starts with some synths before the guitars and drums burst in, giving us a blast from the past when it comes to the band - yet it doesn't get boring.

Track number two, 'Time is Money', is the only song which doesn't quite match up to the rest of them. At just over seven-minutes-long, it gets a little repetitive and boring, almost bordering on overly mopey. But I can look past that given the quality of the other songs.

With all five tracks having a different sound and feeling a little experimental, it will be very interesting to see how the next album turns out. If this EP is anything to go by, Placebo fans should be in for a treat in the new year.

Review: Garbage - Not Your Kind of People

Originally posted on www.soundblab.com

90s rock band Garbage have returned with their fifth studio album, which also happens to be their first in over seven years. It may not feel like its been seven years, but sadly some of us have been sat in a world for nearly a decade where the only garbage around is the sort you'd throw away. But it has to be said Garbage's latest offering is definitely something for fans to keep hold of.

Reunited by drummer and Nirvana producer Butch Vig, the album mixes an eclectic blend of rock and electronic sounds mixed well with Shirley Manson's rocky yet soft vocals, with a tinge of haunting ambience thrown in for good measure. The album is just flat out brilliant, lets get that in there first, and there are no bad songs from beginning to end. Admittedly there are a few that stand out more than others, but the band could have selected any track from this album to lead with.

With a new tour on the horizon for the band, an album packed with this many great tracks, that would fit in perfectly next to their back catalogue, is enough to get anyone excited before running out to buy their front row ticket.

Particular highlights from the album include; 'Automatic Systematic Opening','Blood for Poppies', 'Control', 'I Hate Love' and 'Man on a Wire.' These tracks just stood out as the best of the best with their mix of electro rock and with riveting and exciting lyrics and vocals from Manson, they're more than anyone could have expected.

The only down point of the album was the track 'Sugar', which was a little too slow and just didn't have the fire and passion behind it that the other tracks did. That being said it is still listenable and you definitely wont skip it.

Overall this is a brilliant album, and excellent come back record for the band, as it sounds just like vintage Garbage, which is what we have come to love them for, with a few electronic rock tweaks to make it sound a little more fresh and exciting. Bring on the tour.