The Album Review Club - Week #146 - (page 1935) - Ocean Rain - Echo and the Bunnymen

[GornikDaze]

I think there's loads of fun beats in there, had it in on in the office yesterday and my lo-fi hip hop loving junior programmer thought I was having some sort of turn.

You need to 'get up on your feet and get down for a bit' :-)

I was on my bike - it’s very difficult to shake one’s tooshie!! ;)

 

[threespires]

I was on my bike - it’s very difficult to shake one’s tooshie!! ;)

Yeah in fairness it's definitely not bike riding music.

 

[GornikDaze]

Yeah in fairness it's definitely not bike riding music.

It wasn’t too bad tbf. Lyrically it’s a bit tricky, but I’m able to zone out for 40 mins and give music a good listen without any distractions (breathing aside!)

 

[Coatigan]

I was on my bike - it’s very difficult to shake one’s tooshie!! ;)

Surely happens by default?

 

[GornikDaze]

Surely happens by default?

I think you might be thinking of the Fat Bottomed Girls video!

 

[Coatigan]

Crawler - Idles

Before this album was nominated, I was listening to The Doors’ debut album. Like the album under review, that album finishes with a song called “The End”. Like the Idles, The Doors had a frontman who was adored by some and loathed by many, yet what wasn’t in question was the quality of the music played by Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore. The music that sits behind Jim Morrison’s poetic or pathetic words, depending on your viewpoint, is both well played, involving and stands up 50 years later.

Listening to Crawler by Idles was more than the challenge that @Coatigan promised; it brought home to me the dire state of at least some quarters of the music industry.

“MTT 420 RR” was OK, a bit miserablist and mumbly, but the music is suitably dramatic, but, like an annoying fly trapped in your bedroom, the awful vocals that are introduced on “The Wheel” never really go away.

“Car Crash” is, well, no punchline needed and “The New Sensation” is appalling in every conceivable way. “The Beachland Ballroom” was marginally less painful than what had come before.

Despite the awful vocals, “Meds” is probably the band playing at their most interesting. Drums and bass create a good rhythm and there’s even an attempt at some guitar and something that could loosely be described as some middle eastern influence.

The music very much takes a backseat on this album, almost as if the band is saying that it’s all on the lyrics and the vocals. Which would be OK if they had a half-decent singer. For me, any album where the music is relegated to a sideshow would not be to my taste, but an album where the vocals are so excruciatingly awful makes this approach an even worse decision. Joe Talbot is calling attention to the way he is singing rather than what he is trying to say, so any message is lost.

I think commercially, they are a clever band. With the right kind of marketing, they know that this rubbish will attract a following because it’s different. But there are probably a thousand ways you could be different without screaming and growling your way through the musical equivalent of a sheet metal facility operating at full tilt. But singing in a foreign language, adding a few oddball instruments to your musical palette, arranging your music in odd, quirky time signatures or sampling the nocturnal sounds of animals in Chester Zoo wouldn’t sell as well, right? We all know why they are peddling the nonsense, and it’s nowt to do with love n’ hugs.

Incredibly, this album was nominated in the Best Rock Album category at the Grammys, which just goes to show how far what was previously a fine institution has fallen.

Act like a dick indeed. Two listens is enough, and I’m out.

We are down in The Streets territory here, but this album has a little more credibility in that I can listen to some of the echoes and drones made by the band on at least some of the tracks and recognise them as vaguely musical. 2/10.

In fairness, I can see that side of it and don't disagree with any of that really as an opinion. Apart from that 'music' takes a 'back seat', but there is too much wrong with that to get into, at a fundamental level. Appreciate giving it a real go, which is evident.

 

[RobMCFC]

In fairness, I can see that side of it and don't disagree with any of that really as an opinion. Apart from that 'music' takes a 'back seat', but there is too much wrong with that to get into, at a fundamental level. Appreciate giving it a real go, which is evident.

The music side is just personal preference. It's all very bitty - no meaty riffs or solos or instrumental passages - but I appreciate that not everybody wants that or that it suits every type of music.

 

[Coatigan]

The music side is just personal preference. It's all very bitty - no meaty riffs or solos or instrumental passages - but I appreciate that not everybody wants that or that it suits every type of music.

I see what you mean.

When it comes to musical 'skill', it is pretty obvious their ability individually is far above that of many more conventional bands. But they use it in a way to generate a sound where that isn't the focus.

 

[BlueMoonRisin’]

Crawler - Idles

Before this album was nominated, I was listening to The Doors’ debut album. Like the album under review, that album finishes with a song called “The End”. Like the Idles, The Doors had a frontman who was adored by some and loathed by many, yet what wasn’t in question was the quality of the music played by Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore. The music that sits behind Jim Morrison’s poetic or pathetic words, depending on your viewpoint, is both well played, involving and stands up 50 years later.

Listening to Crawler by Idles was more than the challenge that @Coatigan promised; it brought home to me the dire state of at least some quarters of the music industry.

“MTT 420 RR” was OK, a bit miserablist and mumbly, but the music is suitably dramatic, but, like an annoying fly trapped in your bedroom, the awful vocals that are introduced on “The Wheel” never really go away.

“Car Crash” is, well, no punchline needed and “The New Sensation” is appalling in every conceivable way. “The Beachland Ballroom” was marginally less painful than what had come before.

Despite the awful vocals, “Meds” is probably the band playing at their most interesting. Drums and bass create a good rhythm and there’s even an attempt at some guitar and something that could loosely be described as some middle eastern influence.

The music very much takes a backseat on this album, almost as if the band is saying that it’s all on the lyrics and the vocals. Which would be OK if they had a half-decent singer. For me, any album where the music is relegated to a sideshow would not be to my taste, but an album where the vocals are so excruciatingly awful makes this approach an even worse decision. Joe Talbot is calling attention to the way he is singing rather than what he is trying to say, so any message is lost.

I think commercially, they are a clever band. With the right kind of marketing, they know that this rubbish will attract a following because it’s different. But there are probably a thousand ways you could be different without screaming and growling your way through the musical equivalent of a sheet metal facility operating at full tilt. But singing in a foreign language, adding a few oddball instruments to your musical palette, arranging your music in odd, quirky time signatures or sampling the nocturnal sounds of animals in Chester Zoo wouldn’t sell as well, right? We all know why they are peddling the nonsense, and it’s nowt to do with love n’ hugs.

Incredibly, this album was nominated in the Best Rock Album category at the Grammys, which just goes to show how far what was previously a fine institution has fallen.

Act like a dick indeed. Two listens is enough, and I’m out.

We are down in The Streets territory here, but this album has a little more credibility in that I can listen to some of the echoes and drones made by the band on at least some of the tracks and recognise them as vaguely musical. 2/10.

I have only sampled a few seconds of each track so for but that seemed like a good review and I doubt I'll be able to add much to what you've already said. But I'll give it 3 listens to be able to sum up how I feel about the album.

 

[GornikDaze]

I see what you mean.

When it comes to musical 'skill', it is pretty obvious their ability individually is far above that of many more conventional bands. But they use it in a way to generate a sound where that isn't the focus.

Completely agree with this - I think the sound they create is the sum of their parts. If you don’t like that overall sound/feel it would be pretty difficult to take it much further. For my early thoughts, it’s a sound I like (my earlier comment was a bit tongue in cheek). My only issue on first listen is the lyrics (not the vocals) which I’m struggling to associate with in my FOC years.