Cage the Elephant

Thank You, Happy Birthday Bi-polar, fun neo-grunge. At times frantic, always chaotic, Thank You, Happy Birthday is a maze of jagged guitars and discordant noise with Matt Shultzs temperamental vocals adding much needed Cobain-esque emotion to shake up a generation of softly spoken, nondescript indie kids. When listening to tracks like the anthemic Around My Head its hard not to be transported to a dirty club in the early 90s, surrounded by kids in jumpers twice their size. The band have even dropped the aviators and neatly buttoned shirts of their debut album in favour of long hair and patched jeans. But this is not to say that Happy Birthday is just a collection of Nirvana tribute songs. Shultzs voice is truly unique, even if the lyrics are unclear at points, he forces his way inside your head, and somehow you just get it. Could this be the voice of a generation? Heres hoping.

DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN

PLUS: ROLO TOMASSI
O2 Academy, Bristol 02.11.10 KKKK NEW JERSEY MATH-METALLERS MELT FRETBOARDS IN SUPPORT OF THEIR NEW ALBUM If youve heard of mathcore, youve heard of Dillinger Escape Plan. Synonymous with ddly guitar parts and more time signature changes than you can shake a calculus at, plus the most intense and often violent live shows youre likely to see outside of an illegal cage ght, Dillinger dont disappoint tonight. " First however, Rolo Tomassi open with their own brand of what they like to call, progressive hardcore. Fronted by the beautiful-yet-terrifying Eva Spence, this band should be a perfect pre-cursor to the madness that is bound to erupt later, however they never quite manage to get going. Shouts from a drunk heckler early on results in awkward playground insults being thrown between him and the band, leaving the rest of the crowd wishing they would just shut up and get on with it. They never quite recover from this and leave the stage having pleased the die hard fans, but certainly not winning over any new ones. " Then on come the big guns. Opening with the manic lead single from their new album, Farewell, Mona Lisa, Dillinger explode onto the stage, sparking madness in the cramped crowd. Musclebound frontman Greg Puciato is the immoveable anvil, centre stage, as hyperactive guitarists it around him, climbing and jumping off anything high enough, whilst still playing a thousand notes a second. They blast out classic crowd pleasers Milk Lizard and Black Bubblegum, but its not until they return onstage after cries of an encore, to play their now dening track, 43% Burnt, that sts really start ying amongst the crowd. Remarkably no one is seriously hurt, and the band leave the battered audience to create more chaos elsewhere, on a tour that looks set to reinforce their reputation as heavyweights of technical metal. Well deserved too.

ALL TIME LOW

NOTHING PERSONAL
Following in the overly jaunty footsteps of the recent outbreak of bands trying to ll the Nike hi-top shoes of Fall Out Boy, All Time Low have amassed a huge following of tweens who are too cool for pop, but not hardcore enough for real rock. Cashing in on the revival of pop punk, it seems you dont need to make original music to sell records anymore, if their latest offering is anything to go by. A distinct feeling of deja vu is present when listening to any song from new album, Nothing Personal, as if youve heard it all before. In fact, its likely you will have done, as the bands colourful, fun videos have become hugely popular on Youtube. Unfortunately, clever music videos wont do anything to improve on the quality of music, but a part of me wonders if thats as important anymore?

THE VACCINES
What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?

Reverb soaked Indie rock

There seems to be one band on everyones mind at the moment, and its a group of outstandingly ordinary, decidedly posh men from London. This band is The Vaccines and in the year since their formation theyve played sold out gigs, had an album in the top ten in the UK and been nominated for both the BBC Sound of 2011 award and the MTV award for Best New Band of 2011. For a band lacking in any charisma whatsoever, thats a big achievement. Off stage, and on for that matter, each band member lacks a sense of urgency. The short songs (few venture past the three minute mark) trundle on, with each band member doing their part, then when they finish they sit backstage and drink tea. Its all very civilised. However, herein lies the beauty of The Vaccines. There is a refreshing honesty about them. The songs on their debut dont try to be anything theyre not. You get the feeling that theyre there, not for any purpose in particular, but just because they are. And its just that which makes this simple, awkward, upper class band one of the most exciting of the year so far.

Collapse Into Now

R.E.M
Fifteenth album continues the return to form.
Throughout the latter part of the nineties, through to the mid 2000s, many fans lost faith in R.E.M. as they released one lack-luster record after another. However, after the success of 2008s Accelerate, hopes were high that the next record would be equally as good, but Michael Stipe and co. went one better, arguably producing their best album in over a decade. Collapse Into Now has the feel of a band finally experimenting again after so many years of making one-dimensional albums. Aside from the welcome resurgence of a number of folksy ballads, there are also saw-toothed guitars, big, up tempo drum grooves and even the reappearance of a mandolin. The new album also features some interesting collaboration, such as Eddie Vedder on It Happened Today and, surprisingly, Peaches lends her vocals to Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter. There is nothing particularly new on Collapse Into Now, rather the band has looked over their long thirty year career, taken their best moments, then elaborated. As with any album, there are moments which could have been improved, but once you listen to the glistening Blue, or the upbeat That Someone Is You, you will soon forget about them. If this, paired with their last album is anything to go on, after many years drifting in the wilderness, R.E.M. have finally found themselves again.

DEADMAU5 4x4=12
If youre reading this magazine and you havent heard of Deadmau5, youre probably reading the wrong magazine. Deadmau5, or Joel Zimmerman to use his real name, has been playing in clubs since the early 90s, but it wasnt until the mid 2000s that he started to get noticed for the genius that he is. Alongside his busy touring schedule hes found time to work with loads of top DJs and producers, including Kaskade, MC Flipside and Rob Swire, to name just a few. And on top of all that he still nds time to record and mix an album! Incredible! And what an album it is too. Featuring some of the biggest, fattest house beats of the last decade (check out the stonking Some Chords), but still incorporating fresh new sounds, Deadmau5 must be congratulated for not losing touch with his roots in electro house. Remaining true to his original fanbase, rather than going more commercial and being forgotten like so, so many great DJs of the past few years, 4x4=12 is an album you NEED to own.

Cage The Elephant Thank You, Happy Birthday

Whilst Cage the Elephants eponymous 2008 debut was the perfect mix of angst ridden punk, grunge, blues and feedback, their new album, Thank You, Happy Birthday, feels disjointed and awkward in comparison. Like a child whos grown up to be a bit of a disappointment and now just lies on the sofa all day eating crisps, I really wish I could just pick the album up and tell it to sort itself out. There are points in the record where I sat listening to it, thinking; why would you ever do that to a piece of music? Because thats whats there, hidden under layers of shouting and out of tune guitars are the foundations of good, solid, garage rock songs. But then again, maybe thats the point. To challenge the norm and to do things differently. Saying this, the album does have its redeeming factors, lead single Shake Me Down being one of them; a moment of clarity amongst madness, taking its varied dynamics from influences like the Pixies and Mudhoney. As singer Matt Shultz belts the line Ill keep my eyes fixed on the sun, you can truly feel the passion in his voice. Unfortunately there are not enough redeeming factors to warrant this song the album it deserves. Thank You, Happy Birthday, has the feel about it that Shultz and his crew decided that, since they were now older and more mature, they should make a more mature record, but didnt quite know how to go about it. The poorly mixed production and Shultzs frankly annoying vocals constantly get in the way of what could otherwise be a half decent collection of songs.

Noah & the Whale - L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. " As their rst single from new album Last Night On Earth, L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. is denitely a departure from what most listeners would expect to hear from Noah & the Whale. With lines about a girl who went down on almost anyone, they are certainly dumping the cutesie folk sound of their rst album and instead we see here a blend of electro folk with vocal melodies and harmonies reminiscent of The Steve Miller Band. And boy do we love it.

Lady Gaga - Born This Way " You can hear that Born This Way began with a promising, catchy vocal hook, but instead of creating a wacky pop song which dees the laws of pop songs, it seems Lady Gaga is going more conventional on her new album. Instead of a zany, backwards pop track, we get a lack-luster dance track with generic pumping synths, a generic, repetitive drum loop and...well generic everything else too. At least Gaga managed to get one of her signature, spoken, monotone-drone raps in, but even that cant lift the track out of pop mediocrity, it just makes it easier to identify the culprit.

Jessie J Ft Bob - Price Tag " Jessie Js sentiment on new track, Price Tag, is simple; forget about money and enjoy yourself, and why not? She certainly has reason to. New girl on the block, shes taken the charts by storm, with Price Tag rocketing straight to number one, and her rst single, Do It Like A Dude, peaking at number two. Then again, when you listen to the songs its easy to see why. Its hard not to immediately love Miss Js cheeky vocal delivery, and even if the fake jamaican accent does begin to grate after a while she is certainly set to be one of the biggest artists of 2011.

Radiohead
The King of Limbs
Radioheads eighth album, The King of Limbs, is a subtle, dreamlike affair. Drifting from skittish drums and percussion to various ambient, eerie sound effects which constantly twist and turn, avoiding the main melody of the song, the whole album serves to put you into a deep trance as you listen to it. Thom Yorkes wavering vocals fade in and out of focus, with his typically ambiguous lyrical style only adding to the dreamlike state. However, the album rarely strives to pull itself out of the comfort of the glimmering soundscapes it creates. After listening to the album, if I were asked to choose a favourite moment, a favourite lyric, a favourite song even, I would struggle to recall any specic moment, as the songs tend to blur together to create one long atmosphere which seeps into your subconscious until you barely know its there. No single track has enough captivation of its own to have the listener hanging on its every twist and turn. Instead The King of Limbs becomes more an album of trippy, atmospheric music. Extremely good trippy, atmospheric music at that, but it is unlikely to ever nd its way into someones list of their all time favourite albums.

Landings
Richard Skelton
" Whether you know Richard Skelton by his real name or by one of his many alter egos, his blend of art music concepts with ambient melodies is instantly recognisable for its ability to transport you immediately to another place. In the case of Landings it is to Northern England, where, on the seemingly endless hills, it was painstakingly recorded over four years. Utilising simple samples of violins, acoustic guitars, homemade percussion or just background noise, huge soundscapes are sculpted, painting pictures in the listeners mind which somehow feel very personal. Like a painter, Richard lays down the base coat of twinkling cymbals or of wailing violin strings and paints owing streaks of sound on top, interweaving with each other, growing more intense then fading away again. From the beautifully ugly opener, Noon Hill Wood, with its violin screeches and warm ambient hum, each track takes the listener on a journey, until they are not even aware of their surroundings, and all they can see is the mental pictures of dark imposing trees and twinkling woodland streams. Landings genius is in it simplicity, its ability to strip away everything unnecessary and leave just whats most important. It is a gateway into Skeltons mind, and I have to say, its a very pleasant place to be.