Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

I remember a whole host of people blabbering on about Mogwai and that I needed to check them out, that my life depended on it, that I really couldn't listen to post-rock as a genre without Mogwai being a part of it, and I just laughed them off for as long as I could until one birthday my dad bought me 'Mr Beast' on vinyl and that was the start of this infactuation with the scottish band that until this day, has yet to cease.

'Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will' is the bands seventh album, and I wouldn't blame anyone who perhaps looks at the band and wonders after such a productive career spanning several albums, eps and a fair few soundtracks, how can they still not only be making music, but still be re-creating their sound and maintaining their relevance in a music industry that has continuously evolved since their birth in 1995, but the fact is, Mogwai have never been so cool that they've gained the popularity to be able to sell out, they've just steadily it seems, gone about their business releasing the music that they want to in that snapshot of time. 'Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will' is another snapshot of time, but unlike their previous efforts, for me showcases the versatility of the band not only for their instrumental rock roots but also showing the electronica and trip-hop sections that the band have been daring to show us for years.

Mogwai of recent, can be so painfully beautiful that you wonder if they've lost their bite, opener 'White Noise' deceives you with its Battles-esque guitar melody before evolving into this beautiful landscape of sound that we've heard from the likes of Sigur Ros before, it's all very lovely but for most Mogwai fans, this is what we've grown to dislike about the band and it is at this point that I'm painfully hoping the rest of the album won't be so gorgeous, so lush, so shoegazing, so...samey. Luckily for me, by track two 'Mexican Grand Prix', that feeling is dispelled completely, it's upbeat, driven by this racey bassline which I'm sure inspired the title of the track, while its trip-hop-esque vocals recall the so far popular tones of The XX, which would generally be a bad thing for me, but with Mogwai, it seems to be an extension of their sound. 'Letters To The Metro' is new Mogwai by numbers, if you ever needed a song to encapsulate the bands prowess at writing a solumn track that has the ability to command a listeners attention within one bar of music then this is it, built upon a fragile piano melody, it puts instrumental music at its finest peak, showing that you don't need lyrics to evoke emotion. Every time Mogwai fool you into thinking they are mellowing in age, they hit you where it hurts and 'George Square Thatcher Death Party' does exactly that, once again built on a relentless bassline, this time punky, really this is a band that are comfortable doing anything, as long as it is making music, any music and it is frightening how many times this album makes me question whether I am listening to the same band.

'The Hawk Is Howling' was a let down for many people (not especially for me though) but 'Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will' definitely will put the band back on form for all fans to see/hear. At times it is fragile, ambient while at others it has a baseball bat and is thoroughly beating you over the head with it, it's post-rock, it's trip-hop, it's ambient, it's punk rock, it is nothing short of attention grabbing and has already made me excited for a new year of music.

4 / 5

Mogwai

Penguins Kill Polar Bears - Vessels & Veins

Seriously, what do the Scottish feed their young children on these days? It must be something special because the list of talented Scottish artists has just grown and grown and grown, with every band a potential successful export. Penguins Kill Polar Bears are on this list and have already been named alongside media favourites Biffy Clyro and my personal favourites The Xcerts, so it doesn't seem like it will really take too long until we've all heard of them.

Four track EP 'Vessels & Veins' explodes with post-rock tendencies, it's all about crashing percussion and effect soaked guitar melodies that often at times recalls a sound that has made Explosions In The Sky popular. Vocally I don't think that Ben Proudlock could sound more Scottish, whether or not that actually works to his advantage I'm unsure, but it doesn't make me cringe and it seems to fit perfectly with the emotional attack of the guitar play. It is only perhaps chorus wise that I feel the band can't quite match up to the heights of their contemporaries. Biffy Clyro have a nack of writing a decent chorus, and The Xcerts, even despite the experimentation of their last album, still managed to create an album with almost anthemic chorus' at times and this is something Penguins Kill Polar Bears need to learn, when to reign in the experimental sensabilities.

'Vessels & Veins' is only the second EP release from a band two years old so it seems a little strong to ask them to be as good as a band like Biffy Clyro who have been going for years, but this release shows a definite potential and I don't doubt for one second that this band will have any problem gaining fans, except for maybe that perculiar name.

3.5 / 5

Penguins Kill Polar Bears Myspace

The Hole Punch Generation - The Hole Punch Generation

Somewhere in the midst of all that glossed over, trendy, auto-tuned bullshit that we call the modern day music industry, there are bands who truly deserve to be listened to, and you won't find them in the five pound January sale section of your local supermarket, you have to dig for them, and it's generally only luck that allows you to find these gems.

The Hole Punch Generation are one of these gems. Formed over five years ago in Boston, they have been compared to Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Arcade Fire and Coldplay, but strangely sound nothing like any of them in general (perhaps tinges of Sigur Ros). What we have here infact, is lush dreamy soundscapes reminiscent at times of the likes of M83, but never losing any form of originality.

Here is music that is happy to sooth you to sleep, here is a band that desperately should not be overlooked.

4 / 5

Conversations by The Hole Punch Generation from The Hole Punch Generation on Vimeo.

The Hole Punch Generation Myspace

Thirteen Senses - Crystal Sounds

When their first album, 'The Invitation', entered the UK top forty chart, there was perhaps only one direction that the once Cornish band Thirteen Senses could go with their somewhat typical Coldplay or Keane-lite mainstream indie sound and that was down. With its follow up, 'Contact' only achieving a seventy six spot in the chart and the following long silence from the band, as well as their release from major label Mercury perhaps signalling for most, the end of this band, it comes as a surprise that here we have it, at the start of 2011, a new album 'Crystal Sounds'. Are Thirteen Senses still relevant though, or will this album be destined to fill the bargain bins, ignored by many.

Recorded and produced by the band themselves in their own studio, one thing is for definite, 'Crystal Sounds' could be Thirteen Senses ticket to experimenting away from the sound that made them popular but also made them too typical. Opening track, the title track, is full of intent, hand claps are built alongside ever growing guitar lines and the use of synth before the almost Arcade Fire-like drums come in, it is almost a war cry in comparison to the Thirteen Senses we've heard before. Lead single, 'The Loneliest Star' has a definite eighties sound to it, which seems a smart move considering the trends in music of late have been in more of that direction. Somewhere in the middle however, Thirteen Senses find some horribly sticky middle ground where the vocals are sickly sweet and sound very Gary Barlow-esque, while musically, it goes down that well tread Keane road once again. Luckily for Thirteen Senses, despite their need to play it safe, they do still have the musicianship to pen a decent tune, and this is showcased in the later stages with the operatic number that is 'Out There', heavily orchaestrated, it shows another side of the band, and makes all these little comparisons I've made to Coldplay and Keane seem somewhat daft.

Thirteen Senses are Cornwalls most successful export it's true, but how long for really? With a wait this long for a third album and the ever increasing difficulty in actually getting fans to buy albums, this could have been Thirteen Senses opportunity to pull it out of the bag, no major label, everything recorded and produced by themselves, it could have been great, and at times it is, but for the most part it is what we have come to expect not only from Thirteen Senses, but also from the pop indie bands from the last decade.

3 / 5

Thirteen Senses Myspace

Codes In The Clouds - As The Spirit Wanes

Ah when I was a young whipper snapper, fresh from my young and naive obsession with both horrendous metal and emo music, I became somewhat connected with I don't want to call it post-rock, so lets just call it instrumental music. Still to this day I have the likes of Explosions In The Sky, This Will Destroy You, Upcdownc, Mogwai, Mono, Sigur Ros and god knows how many other instrumental CDs blissfully placed within my ever growing music collection. My collection however, has never contained British band Codes In The Clouds well received debut album 'Paper Canyon', my reasoning being, I already have Explosions In The Sky albums, why would I need a British version of those albums?

Two years on, we have the official sophomore return of Codes In The Clouds (I'm definitely not going to count the tripe that was 'Paper Canyon Recycled', a somewhat abysmal remix album should never be considered a second album) and I'm not going to beat around the bush, they still won't be making it into my CD collection. There is a whole host of instrumental bands and the general way these bands go around being interesting is by layering their sound into a climatic finale. Codes In The Clouds have this ability and more so, the ability to be more than that. They write some stunningly beautiful music, most of which you can imagine being used for uplifting television adverts, but there is literally no direction to this album, you can get to the end of a song, and wonder what the purpose of it actually was and beauty aside, I'm sure we all want to feel like we've achieved something from listening to not only a song, but a record as a whole and there isn't one track on this release that stands apart as being note worthy, which for a band as acclaimed as they are, is disturbing.

There is no doubt in my mind that here we have a group of brilliantly talented musicians, and I am sure that this album will be well received by most critics, but to me, someone who spent a good few years listening to all manner of instrumental albums (including some god awful ones), this is a band that definitely has the ability to create something better, I just wish they would stop disappointing me and would do just that.

2.5 / 5

Codes In The Clouds Myspace

My Top Five Albums Of 2010


The Xcerts - Scatterbrain
'Scatterbrain' saw The Xcerts move out from that distorted indie pop sound that reminded everyone of Biffy Clyro and put them in a genre of their own. Recorded with Mike Sapone (who also recently worked on Brand New's 'Daisy' album), 'Scatterbrain' is a dark, relentlessly visceral record that I personally feel, is the most vital British album released this year.
www.myspace.com/thexcerts


Meursault - All Creatures Will Make Merry
'All Creatures Will Make Merry' sums up everything that is fantastic about lo-fi records, honest, emotional and with a song craft that has yet to be beaten, this release hasn't seen Meursault explode into popularity but it has definitely set them up for a fantastic 2011.
http://www.myspace.com/meursaulta701


Deftones - Diamond Eyes
After recording the follow up to 'Saturday Night Wrist', 'Eros', bassist Chi Cheng was sadly involved in a near fatal car crash and has been in hospital since. You would forgive Deftones for having a break until Cheng is back, but luckily for Deftones fans they did the complete opposite and recorded a brand new album, 'Diamond Eyes'. Crafting a whole new sound for them, 'Diamond Eyes' is possibly Deftones at their heaviest, but it's Deftones at their best also.
www.myspace.com/deftones


Underoath - Ø (DISAMBIGUATION)
After losing the last of their original members (and perhaps the most talented musician in the band), it seemed almost inevitable that Underoath's latest album would be utterly terrible but by hiring former Norma Jean drummer Daniel Davison, they have possibly one of the best replacements they could ask for. 'Ø (DISAMBIGUATION)' takes a fair few of its cues from Norma Jean, it's angry, it's aggressive and it's utterly brilliant.
www.myspace.com/underoath


Foals - Total Life Forever
I utterly didn't understand the hype behind Foals debut album 'Antidotes', but it's follow up, Mercury Prize Nominated 'Total Life Forever' has me totally smitten. The mature second album, it moves away from the cliché NME friendly art indie sound of the debut and establishes itself as a completely original piece of art, that I really struggle to describe. Foals are a sign of the fantastic level of talent we have musically in this country and if you have any musical sense at all, you HAVE to own this record.
www.myspace.com/foals

Tristram - Accident & Artifice

It is a great time to be a folk band in the UK with the continuing success of Mumford & Sons, not to mention Laura Marling's foray into the top forty charts, and the consistent publication of upcoming folk bands in popular magazines like NME (Villagers, Grizzly Bear and the list goes on...), if anything, the insurgence only looks like it is going to gain speed rather than falter.

With 'Accidents & Artifice', Tristram, a four piece band who met in Brighton quickly moving to London shortly after, show that with this, their second EP to date, they are more than ready to not only work with the success in the genre currently, but to, given the almost stagnant nature of the folk sound, help it to evolve into something more upbeat and original. Most folk bands are happy to rely on a minimal sound, concentrating on the guitar and well crafted lyrics, but from opener 'Dust Disturbed' and its follow up 'Song For Laurie', it's fairly obvious that Tristram have a high level on focus on driving drum beats too, filling any space left with haunting cello. 'Rhyme Or Reason' showcases Tristram Bawtree's ability to write infectious vocal melodies, harking back to Nick Drake's 'One Of These Things First' while fourth and final track 'Coelacanth' sees Tristram slowing down the pace for a more reflective sound.

'Accidents & Artifice' is an accomplished EP, my only criticism is that it is just that, an EP, only four tracks and it seems to be over just after it has begun. Great things await this band if they can ride the wave of folk popularity long enough to record a full length.

3.5 / 5

Tristram Myspace