Category: Pop rock
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The Last Vinci: The Last Vinci
This radio-friendly rock album from Turin/Cork based The Last da Vinci came out on 2nd March according to the Press release but we’ve had it before — it came out sometime last year, we think. It’s a hard album to review: they’ve put a lot of love and effort into making this record and in…
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Flowers: Do What You Want, It’s What You Should Do
We think Flowers are one of those trendy bands that everyone is going to rave about; big spreads in the NME after a handful of gigs, that sort of thing. This album is produced by Bernard Butler and the Press release talks about their genius. Sadly we are unconvinced. The opening song from the trio…
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Champs: Vamala
This isn’t The Champs who had that hit with the famous Tequila, but just Champs — it’s brother Michael and David Champion. The music is mournful folk/pop, as if Simon and Garfunkel were very sad about something like getting old or having silly hair. Or about being remembered for writing a song about rabbits. There’s…
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Duke Special: Look Out Machines!
Duke Special (he’s Irish and really called Peter) has been producing impressive pop albums for some time. Rather like Rufus Wainwright, he can both hit and miss his target, though he’s never less than totally ambitious and it’s always lovingly produced. This new album is a definite bull’s-eye. Opener Wingman sets the tone, his slightly…
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Echosmith: Talking Dreams
This is an excellent pop album, with all the benefits and disadvantages that entails. On the upside: think Ladyhawke. Catchy/lively pop/dance tunes that rapidly wend their way into your brain. They’re all catchy and instantly likeable; not least Come Together, the opening track, and Cool Kids, which is all about wishing you were as cool…
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Jack Savoretti: Written In Scars
Mr Savoretti is, we guess, going to be the cool sound of 2015 (if he’s not already). This is a really classy album, packed with style and beautifully arranged. If you want to be critical — which is supposed to be our job after all — he reminded us of Paolo Nutini, who similarly sells…
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The Subways: The Subways
It must be quite good being in The Subways. Despite being mocked by the NME, they probably have a solid fan base who will buy the album, pay to see them and then buy lots of merchandise. So they make a living from music without the hassle of being stopped in Tesco by weird people.…
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Roxette: The 30 Biggest Hits XXX
Roxette are one of those bands about whom we know nothing. This was quite a surprising fact: we asked other people, who knew equally little: they just had lots of good tunes and there was two of them. Someone suggested that the woman had a nice hairstyle; someone else remembered that a song was in…
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