February 2013: Albums Summary

Another month, another hefty batch of new music blessed upon to us. For the shortest month of the year, February this year has been jam packed with new albums, some good, some disappointingly fulfilling. Here's our monthly round up of all the releases we covered, and our verdicts on the best and worst of the rest:

Reviewed

The Joy Formidable - Wolf's Law (6/10)

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II (7/10)

Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse (8/10)

Veronica Falls - Waiting For Something To Happen (8/10)
Beach Fossils - Clash The Truth (7/10)
Mazes - Ores & Minerals (7/10)

Atoms For Peace - AMOK (6/10)

Johnny Marr - The Messenger (7/10)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away (7/10)

Album Of The Month

My Bloody Valentine - m b v (9/10)

"There’s something for everyone to take away from m b v. Loveless fans, those hoping for more in the direction of ‘City Girl’ and people who’ve been to see MBV live and wanted a recording that even attempted to rival the shattering noise of their shows. Kevin Shields mentioned in an interview that when Loveless came out, it fitted in with journalists’ usage of flowery language and this time around, it’s not going to be any different. My Bloody Valentine have still yet to disappoint." Aurora Mitchell

The Rest

Eels - Wonderful, Glorious (8/10)

10 albums in and ‘Wonderful, Glorious’ sees Eels arrest a late period slump with their best record since 2005 and arguably their most focused since 1998’s ‘Electro-Shock Blues’. Out go the songs about suicide bombers and endless bluesy choogling and in comes a sense of wide-eyed wonder as E discovers that maybe he’s found his place in the world. His songwriting is sharper, punchier and wittier than he’s been in years; taking in twangy Duane Eddy guitar on ‘Bombs Away’ and no shortage of the catchy, entertaining arrangements he’s perfected over the course of two decades over triumph and heartbreak. Playing sad songs with happy chords has always been his raison d’etre but ‘Wonderful, Glorious’ managed to be both a life-affirming triumph and a reminder that we’ll always need a man like E around. Max Sefton

Darwin Deez - Songs For Imaginative People (7/10)

Many people have dismissed Darwin Deez somewhat unfairly, as a gimmick. A kind of comedy hipster prototype who does little else than add some twee sensibilities to the fabled indie music legacy of his homeplace NYC. It's fair to say, Darwin's second album crushes all those murmurs, even with the opening line of the self-conscious (800) Human as he spits "Are you sick of not existing?". There's plenty of moments of impeccable songwriting throughout the record, with the carefree Pavement-esque "life is a greenhouse gas" bounce of Free (The Editorial Me), and the more thoughtful tracks like All In The Wrist, a story about teaching a prison inmate to read. It's not necessarily as danceable or accessible as his debut, but Darwin Deez is clearly an imaginative man writing great songs for imaginative people. Toby McCarron

Iceage - You're Nothing (5/10)

As statements of intent go, Danish punks Iceage's debut album New Brigade was a pretty explosive one. Ruthless, nihilistic and youthfully exuberant, it was crammed with energy and rebelliousness, shrugging off fractured limbs as by products on Broken Bone and spitting unabashed hatrid into the face of order elsewhere. Now streamlined soundwise, Iceage sound regretful and defeated. The sheer waywardness of the debut has been replaced by self-loathing and angst in a way that's more confusing than exciting as lead singer Elias strops his way through sloppily played out numbers with an air of hopelessness in his voice. There are moments of promise with lead single Ecstasy's off kilter approach, but You're Nothing does not deliver the venom it promised. Toby McCarron

Jamie Lidell - Jamie Lidell (7/10)

Jamie Lidell's self titled effort for Warp is a joyous 'will it blend?' type experience. Merging his soulful and often impressive vocals, with deep lying electro grooves and elements of straight-up disco, he comes across as a modernised Prince like figure. There are moments however, where the pure unabashed pop can be cringe-enducing or even contrived, but the big bombastic danceable songs like 'You Naked' and 'What A Shame' are catchy enough to lift up any album. Toby McCarron

Foals - Holy Fire (4/10)

A divisive record this, and one that sees Foals have a bit of an identity crisis. On one hand it's clear they still want to be a clever uplifting indie band who are perpetually on the grasp  of stadium wide adoration with neat guitar lines and catchy hooks as displayed so expertly on their debut album 'Antidotes'. And from the two singles dropped from Holy Fire, 'Inhaler' a big dumb nu-metal like beast of a track, and 'My Number' a naive catchy as hell indie pop banger, it looked like Foals might finally be ready to have some fun and stop taking themselves too seriously. But unfortunately, Holy Fire just comes across largely as a watered down version of Foals' second record 'Total Life Forever'. Where that album had meaning and profound themes of love, death and the future, Holy Fire just sounds a bit weak. Tracks like 'Bad Habit', 'Out Of The Woods' and 'Stepson' are bland and unmemorable largely due to the deliberate air of hopelessness Foals try to intersperse around the record. An interesting idea, to base an album on the concept of giving in and folding over, but not very exciting to listen to and winds up more Holy Dire than Holy Fire. Toby McCarron

Giraffage - Needs (7/10)

An often overshadowed figure in modern electronic music, is San Francisco based producer Giraffage who dropped his second mixtape 'Needs' this February. An eclectic mix of sounds beckons, with sequenced samples dizzyingly flying up and down and off the walls. Stuttering beats, and some rather sleek slow jams set Giraffage up as a contender to the crown of best new electronic producer along with contemporaries XXYYXX and Bondax. Also, good luck getting the infectious 'Money' out of your head. Toby McCarron

The Courteeners - Anna (1/10)

The less said about this the better...

Iceage - Coalition

Back with the follow up to their critically lauded and brutal debut 'New Brigade', are everyone's favourite Scandinavian punks Iceage with a new album titled condescendingly 'You're Nothing'.

This new cut previewed on their blog 'Coalition' is just as snarling and snotty as we've come to expect, with frontman Elias spouting in a slightly more comprehensible manner than in the past. However, the ramshackle element of the debut has been streamlined somewhat into something more accomplished and cohesive, the song may be a barrage of noise, but it is obviously a very well put together one. Hopefully this won't lead to Iceage completely compromising the raw emotion that makes them so exciting, but 'Coalition' is full of energy and a hell of a lot better than anything any other modern punk bands have been coming up with.

Toby McCarron

Sound Influx - Albums of 2011 Part 1: 20 - 11

20. Summer Camp - Welcome To Condale

For two people who started off anonymously and claimed to be a group of Swedish teenagers, Summer Camp have come a long way. After releasing their debut EP Young late last year, the internet went berserk for comparing the band to 80s teenage movies and similar popular culture references. Who could blame them with song titles like ‘Veronica Sawyer’ and ‘Jake Ryan’ that directly reference cult films Heathers and Sixteen Candles. Welcome To Condale sees the duo ease up slightly on references and brings forth a concept album based on the fictional place of Condale, based in America and you guessed it, its set in the 80s. Elizabeth Sankey sings about getting rid of whoever it is she’s singing about for a large part of the album and there’s a fiery independence in Sankey as she’s not afraid to voice her true opinions. As with any couple who happen to form a band, there’s a song that showcases both of their musical talents and makes you audibly ‘aw’ and that happens to be ‘Losing My Mind’. Despite singing about leaving the other and not loving someone anymore, Sankey and Warmsley manage to sound like they’re talking about being loved up and in general, it’s hard to not to fall for the charms of a girl/boy duo. For an album that focuses on the comedown of relationships and unrequited love, Welcome To Condale remains to be incredulously catchy and hard to ignore. By Aurora Mitchell

19. The Weeknd - House Of Balloons / Thursday

Sleazy, heartfelt, heartbroken and euphoric; The Weeknd’s recorded output thus far has been a myriad web of clashing styles and grand ambitions. Abel Tesfaye’s damaged slow jams became a word of mouth sensation and provided the platform from which he could preach his bad-vibes sermons. Veering from heartbroken to creepy in the space of one track like on the claustrophobically intense "What You Need" or crooning terrifying come-ons over a fucked-up carnival waltz on "Life of The Party", Tesfaye taps into the stereotypical male hip-hop mindset and gets busy messing it right up. The albums (they’re referred to as mixtapes, but it’s obvious from the quality of the material that these are fully fledged albums) can be seen as hugely evocative mood pieces, two slow burning beasts that invite casual enjoyment and reward repeated listening. But they also exist as reminders that the boundaries between hip-hop, dubstep and mainstream pop can be blurred with relative ease, and that when they are, the results are simply gorgeous. By Ned Powley

18. Iceage - New Brigade

Punk is a genre easily abused. Its lack of grace can be used as a mask by artists without vision or talent, who see it as a shortcut through the complexities of functioning as a band in this day and age. Iceage are, from the outset, punk as fuck. Their debut lasts a breathless 24 minutes in length, previous live shows have seen frontman Elias Bender Ronnenfelt taking every precaution to cause maximum damage to both himself and every audience member present and they publish a fanzine, titled "Dog Meat". All of this could be seen a smoke screen. A diversion to draw people’s ears as far away as possible from the only thing that really matters: the songs. So thank the lord that Iceage can bring them on an unparalleled level. There have been punk bands before them and there will be punk bands long after they’ve gone, but Iceage have got something special. Maybe it’s meant to last or maybe it’ll all disappear in a pool of beer and a puff of off-brand fag smoke, but right now, they’re the most exciting young bastards on the planet. By Ned Powley

17. Johnny Foreigner - Johnny Foreigner Vs Everything

It’s difficult for me to summarise an album that is 17 tracks long and amazing from start to finish. Johnny Foreigner have proved that you can do quantity and quality in equal measure and execute something incredible. It’s been thrown around that it’s the album to "make them or break them" and if this album does not make them, then nothing will. From the heart breaking sounds "new street, you can take it" to the shout along lyrics of "if i’m the most famous boy you’ve fucked, then honey yr in trouble" this album has proved to be a masterpiece and it cannot be faulted. If you’ve never listened to Johnny Foreigner before, then there’s no doubt about it that "Johnny Foreigner vs Everything" will make you fall in love with one of the most dedicated, fan loving bands in the world. By Julia Christmas

16. Suuns - Zeroes QC



In an age where lines between genres are becoming increasingly blurred, it’s becoming more and more difficult for artists to well and truly break new ground. Trawling through the thousands of new bands out there making the same kind of lo-fi boring shoegaze influenced music often leads to nothing but apathy and the general feeling of wanting to smash your face into your keyboard. Imagine my elation then when I discovered Suuns, a Canadian band who make the kind of music that you daren’t put in a box. There’s no doubting that Suuns are peculiar, and are by no means an instant band for many. ‘Zeroes QC’ however is a collection of songs so broad in sound yet so distinctive it’s impossible not to get sucked into it. There’s the borderline incomprehensible mumbles on tracks like ‘Up past the nursery’ and ‘Arena’ that sounds like Clinic stuck in a washing machine. There’s mutated synth noise blasts like ‘Armed In Peace’ and ‘Pie IX’ the latter sounding exactly like what David Lynch’s Crazy Clown Time should have, unpredictable, haunting and very very weird. And if that wasn’t diverse enough there are furious math rock guitar anthems like ‘Maurader’ and ‘Gaze’ to quicken the pulse, and even a choice cover of lost Marc Bolan relic ‘Organ Blues’. A truly astounding album, from one of the most promising and perhaps overlooked bands around. By Toby McCarron

15. James Blake - James Blake

Whilst it appears likely that dubstep, a genre that felt like it could genuinely go in any direction and even reshape the face of pop as we know it, has been sabotaged by dreadlocked frat-boy cretins intent on creating music of such bludgeoning stupidity that even nu-metal bastards Korn have adopted it. James Blake’s debut appears to be one of the final reminders we’ll have of this era, so thank god it’s a thing of tremendous beauty. From the atmospheric overload of ‘The Wilhelm Scream’ through to jerky ballads like ‘To Care (Like You)’, Blake showcased technical proficiency and heart in equal measure, crafting an album that defied genre conventions whilst testing the very limits of pop. Treasure it, because we sure aren’t going to see a record like it for a very long time. By Ned Powley

14. Drake - Take Care

 In 2011, Drake returned to the scene with second album ‘Take Care’ and within moments of opening track 'Over My Dead Body', you knew he meant business. Lyrically, Drake has upped his game with the majority of the album centred around a past love that he's tried to replace by getting with many other women. Classy Drake. However, amongst the seedy bravado, a very personal and intimate side of the Toronto rapper comes out. This, coupled with production duties being mainly left to Noah "40" Shebib, brings out the best of the ex-child actor and helps the album one of the standout rap albums of the year. Stand out tracks include the Jamie xx produced title track and 'Marvin's Room', Drake's answer to the drunken phone call. However, with "bitches" and "niggers" still in heavy use, it's not the perfect album for the indie section to wilfully sing along to. By Robbie Baxendale

13. Florence & The Machine - Ceremonials

Florence + the Machine seemed to go from the darling of the UK indie scene to sensational superstar taking America by storm overnight. So it was understandable that fans might have been worried that Florence would go all commerical on us with her second album, Ceremonials. But we needn't have. Ceremonials is one of the most grandiose records you will have heard all year, complete with gospel choirs, strings and of course harps. Despite all this, it is still undeniably Florence, proving that she still has one of the biggest voices in the entire industry while at the same time writing songs which connect emotionally. It's more mature than Lungs, but no less brilliant. By Jessy Parker

12. Arctic Monkeys - Suck It & See

After the controversial release of ‘Humbug,’ it left fans and critics alike wondering where on earth Arctic Monkeys’ sound could go to next. Would they retreat back to the recording studio, tail between their legs, minds clouded with nostalgia and longing for the days when they wrote about pubs, clubs, girls covered in sticky fake tan, and scummy men? Two years later, they return from The States adorning leather trousers, enough hair grease to fry breakfast with and an album even more different than their first than the last. You can hardly deny that in true Arctic style they "stick to the guns, don't care if it's marketing suicide, won't crack or compromise…", with riddling lyrics, Helder’s relentless drumming and proof that all those cigarettes have only made Alex’s voice more alluring, ‘Suck it and See’ is a testament to good old fashioned rock and roll and an indisputable musical highlight of 2011. By Bella Roach

11. Patrick Wolf - Lupercalia

In 2011 the ever-evolving Patrick Wolf returned with his fifth, triumphant album, concentrating on love at first sight and showcased what a powerful and uplifting emotion love can be. However he never loses the quirks that mark him out from the mess of bland, autotuned rubbish out there. First, there's the voice, then there's the stellar songwriting, and then of course the multitude of instruments that appear on the record. This album is his most emotion filled and cohesive offering to date, and fully deserving of a place on this list. By Holly Read-Challen