Suuns - Images Du Futur

After just eighteen months Montreals’ Suuns are back with the follow up to their 2011 debut ‘Zeroes QC’

A minute of distorted guitar ‘Powers of Ten’ introduces Ben Shemie snarling in a drawling growl that has all the tenseness of Radiohead’s ‘Bodysnatchers’. When he suddenly gets drawn into a loop singing ‘and ever / and ever’ the intensity is palpable and the song threatens to buckle beneath its own weight but it’s followed by ‘2020’ with its unsettling unspooling guitar notes and by that point you know you’re out in strange territory. You may have suspected it from a glance at their unusual moniker and you’d had that suspicion confirmed if you ever came across one of the quartet’s interviews: this is a band not afraid to be thought of as pretentious and though compared to its predecessor ‘Images du Futur’ relies more heavily on compressed and treated guitars than twitchy synthesizers, to give them credit where it’s due there’s nothing here to suggest that they’ve made a retrograde rock record – everything here sounds like it could only have come from the future

Mirror Mirror’ might well be the catchiest song they’ve ever written; a morbid stomp that reimagines Sgt Pepper as a cavernous Joy Division-style epic whilst ‘Bambi’ plugs a deep, disco rhythm that balances precariously against a drifting spacious vocal from Shemie that sounds like a cut from a mythical Radiohead session between In Rainbows and King of Limbs at which they actually tried to write some tunes. This comparison reoccurs on the menacing ‘Music Won’t Save You’ on which Shemie’s intonation of ‘rock n roll’ serves to undermine several decades of cock-rock foolery, before a complex chiming guitar riff and the sound of distant laughter and applause combine to make a deeply unsettling but strangely beautiful moment. It’s outsiderdom reimagined in sonic form and all the more vivid for it.

In the past Suuns had the attention span of Crystal Castles after a four day pill bender so it’s nice that they’ve taken a rather more refined approach to song structure here and there’s even the odd song on which you can make out what Ben Shemie is singing. At their heaviest the deep, disconcerting grooves are layered in shimmering showgaze-y atmosphere that gives it a strange beauty amidst what is otherwise quite a cold album. There’s a similar nocturnal feel as the early Interpol albums, though like that band, your enjoyment of ‘Images Du Futur’ may well be bound up in your ability to stomach their frontman’s queasy Ian Curtis impression.

At just ten tracks, at least one of which is entirely instrumental there’s sometimes a lack of meat to sink your teeth into but when Suuns tell you this is an image of the future it’s hard to argue.

8

Max Sefton

Porcelain Raft - Strange Weekend

 

I first heard Porcelain Raft on Resonance Fm, the avant-garde arts radio station with connections to Wire magazine. However, I first heard Mauro Remiddi, the man behind Porcelain Raft, in indie pop group Sunny Day Sets Fire, a band who threw melodies in your face like custard pies. Unsurprisingly, Remiddi’s debut album as Porcelain Raft is a grand combination of these two introductions; a pop record unafraid to experiment.

Having spent nearly three decades travelling across Europe and the US recording tapes of music and performing in various bands, ensembles and even circuses, Remiddi has finally put out an - if you like - ‘official’ solo record. But whilst the music he picked up on his travels undoubtedly flows subconsciously from the capsules of his memory, Strange Weekend remains spectacularly fresh and modern.

Remiddi kicks off Strange Weekend with a spinning piece of electronica that, like its title, drifts in and out. The album gets properly under way however with ‘Shapeless & Gone’, a burst of colourful psychadelia that is not unlike Secretly Canadian label mates The War on Drugs. Its mesmerising guitar line and resilient beat assist Remiddi’s vocals that, on this song particularly, draw comparisons to those of Andrew VanWyngarden on MGMT’s sophomore album Congratulations. His musical influences become clear on songs like ‘Put Me to Sleep’, which recalls 80’s new wave, and ‘The End of Silence’, a track that uses ‘that classic’ Phil Spector drum rhythm (bum-ba-bum tsh, if you like) but in Remiddi’s own processed and skewed way.

Whilst much of the record focuses around Remiddi’s production trickery and versatility, closing tracks ‘The Way In’ and ‘Picture’ prove that this is a record for both the head and the heart, with the formers sentimental lyrics (“you don’t need help, you can make it for yourself”) becoming drowned in warm and inviting synthesizers. ‘The Way In’ sounds somewhat like the soundtrack to a drive through a snowy winter’s night, and even evokes the schmaltzy 80’s pop of Wet Wet Wet and Deacon Blue. It’s effect is that of a lullaby, lulling in the end of the album.

For all its successes, Strange Weekend does have its faults. ‘If You Have a Wish’ is forgettable to say the least, and for the most part, ‘Is It Too Deep for You’ is repetitive and grating. These moments are partially obscured by the intrigue and depth that Remiddi brings with his production and ambience, yet I can’t help but feel that something is missing. A distinction, a lasting effect (maybe even a clichéd ‘wow’ factor), but nonetheless a moment of brilliance that makes an appearance on ‘Shapeless & Gone’ seemingly doesn’t return. If it does, it is slightly diluted, or less effective. Strange Weekend does however manage to come away feeling like a good pop record, and whilst it may not last a life time, it is at least an enjoyable and interesting listen.

8/10

By William Hall

The War On Drugs - Come To The City

Philadelphia-based band The War On Drugs started off with songwriter Adam Granduciel and Kurt Vile, but slowly evolved into a fully fledged band, almost a collective. After their debut albumWagonwheel Blues, they have spent 3 years writing and recording their sophomore effort Slave Ambient which is out August 16th on Secretly Canadian.

Single “Come To The City” sounds just as stadium-rock friendly as Arcade Fire. With a theatrical introduction, echoing drums and vocals that any frontman would be jealous of, you can’t help but speculate that The War On Drugs are headed for the same commercial success as Arcade Fire. The whole production is tinged with 80s influences, notably Bruce Springsteen along with Dinosaur Jr. which is not surprising as J Mascis and Kurt Vile have toured together earlier this year. All bands aspire to evoke emotions in their music and convey a sense of atmosphere, “Come To The City” is epic and grandiose, designed for fist pumping and those “I’m going to sort my life out” epiphanies.


By Aurora Mitchell