The Verve – Forth
The first time round for The Verve, back in the good old 1990’s, I was a bit too young for them – I remember finding them a bit depressing, summed up by the simultaneously beautiful and bleak The Drugs Don’t Work. Actually, I think a lot of people found them a bit depressing, so when Forth came to me to review I did wonder if The Verve are still a bunch of miserable bastards.
The answer is a resounding ‘yes’ but tunefully miserable bastards nonetheless. Maybe missing the boat on the Verve the first time round was a good thing in terms of this review because I had no expectations for Forth. Unlike the music press who have been rapt in the kind of eager anticipation normally seen in Wile E. Coyote waiting for Road Runner stop on the painted bull’s-eye. Richard Ashcroft never helps matters either, the album cover (clouds split by soft sunbeams) can surely only be a reflection of the man’s God complex. Is his head really that far up his own arse or is it all Northern swagger?
At 73 minutes long (I’m including two “bonus” tracks here), Forth does seem a little excessive. Ok so the Verve are never going to go for a three minute romp of catchy cheer but the seven and a half minutes of Appalachian Springs does go on somewhat. A musical exploration is one way you could put it. However, there’s a lot you can do in seven and a half minutes and I’m not sure this would be my first choice. Then again, I would rather that than listen to Ashcroft talk about the Verve for 450 seconds.
One big, big issue I have with this album is the single, Love is Noise. Not a great comeback single by a long stretch of the imagination, it is made infinitely worse by what I can only describe as a sample of a flock of geese flying overhead. Used repeatedly throughout the song, it utterly astounds me that a band once so highly regarded after 1997’s Urban Hymns thought it was a good idea. Maybe they thought a strong reaction either way is better than none at all. If so, adding possibly the worst sample I can ever recall hearing in a song, to Love is Noise, will do just nicely.
Noise Epic, whilst also unbelievably long (I’m beginning to sound like I have problems with my attention span, ) does provide a welcome respite from the maudlin overtones of Forth, never more apparent than track five Numbness. But on the whole, it may be worth putting a little sticker on the album with the Samaritans hotline number just in case the Verve leave anyone contemplating ending it all.
By Mark Williams
Second Opinion:
As a huge fan of The Verve I’ve been looking forward to this coming in, I’ve now played it several times. When The Verve are good no one can touch them, when they are poor they are dire and sadly I found both elements in here, though the good far outweighed the bad. Sit and Wonder is a great track with plenty of ‘Verve’ sounds going on in there, but I wasn’t impressed with the liberal peppering of ‘oh oh’s.’
Love is Noise, again another good track but a little too mainstream for my taste, and the backing gets a tad irritating, as Richard’s voice certainly doesn’t need any support. Rather Be was a fascinating track, the tune itself I found vaguely reminiscent of ‘Check the Meaning,’ this a truly excellent song, and the vocals are to die for. I See Houses is another stunning track, the lyrics are awesome, this is both powerful and evocative, amazing stuff I loved it. Noise Epic, this promises much with the title alone, and boy does it deliver, this will convince you, if nothing else does, that The Verve are back. It begins deceptively slow with some amazing guitar work then builds gradually with varying vocals, it’s extremely cleverly worked and you really feel this track growing until it finally explodes into the ‘noise,’ this should excite early Verve fans as it did me and at over eight minutes long, this truly is an epic I can’t wait to hear this live. Amazing stuff!
Valium Skies seems a little sedate especially as it immediately follows Noise Epic but it is yet another outstanding track, which is much softer but excellent. Overall I loved this album the guys are on form, it’s good to have you back!
By:
J.GREENWOOD
Bloc Party – Intimacy
London’s Bloc Party return with surprise third LP ‘Intimacy’, a scant 18 months after their second release, the lukewarm ‘A Weekend In The City’. Obvious questions are: is this a selection of leftovers in the mould of Radiohead’s ‘Amnesiac’, or is it the band’s attempt to redeem themselves after ‘Weekend’’s underwhelming reception. Further Radiohead comparisons are evoked by ‘Intimacy’’s release strategy – a lack of preparation time (the album was only announced two days before the initial release), preceding a digital release in August (via Bloc Party’s official site), followed by a physical release in October.
‘Weekend’ was disappointing because first album ‘Silent Alarm’’s fast-paced, eclectic genre experimentation was replaced with a penchant for straightforward ballads, and a more cut-and-paste approach to experimentation. For ‘Weekend’, small fragments of dubstep or radionoise elements were crudely inserted into otherwise unremarkable tracks, and frontman Kele Okereke’s vocals were compressed to the point that they sounded ridiculously fake, and untranslatable to a live setting.
‘Intimacy’ on the other hand starts promisingly. ‘Ares’ combines ‘Setting Sun’ by The Chemical Brothers with siren-esque guitars and urgent, cyclonal drumming dimly recalling ‘Helicopter’ from ‘Silent Alarm’. ‘Mercury’ is a dirty rocker with an unpredictable melody and stammering, cut-up vocals as if put through a blender, while potential single ‘Halo’ combines choir samples, synths and frenetic beats to create something genuinely emotive. The perhaps euphemistically titled ‘Trojan Horse’, despite some slightly cringe-worthy lyrics – particularly the delivery of “you used to take your watch off before we made love” – combines violent guitars (particularly in the solo) and scrambled electronics in a manner much more urgent and effective than anything on ‘Weekend’.
‘Better Than Heaven’ succeeds in demonstrating the crossed genres that the band have seemingly been aspiring towards throughout their brief career. Its resultant concoction of rocking out, sonic experimentation and straightforward crooning achieve an emotional crescendo far beyond anything on ‘Weekend’.
So, although ‘Intimacy’ is not the revelation that ‘Silent Alarm’ was on first listen, this third release is very much a satisfying, cohesive album in its own right (not leftovers from ‘Weekend’), and suggests a return into the right direction for an intriguing young band who are back to playing to their strengths.
By Ryan Daff
Five O’Clock Heroes – Alice
Having successfully used the seductive draw of guest vocalist, Agyness Deyn on previous single, ‘Who’ Five O’Clock Heroes now return to the frolicking, folk tilted push of Anthony Ellis to continue the momentum with playful percussion combo led trot, ‘Alice’. It is taken from Da Heroes sauntering second album, ‘Speak Your Language’.
It is difficult to make jangling indie centred around feelings towards a member of the opposite sex sound fresh, but Ellis gives it a good go. This is mainly due to the way that he seems drop his high notes perfectly onto the slight skiffle veined guitar lob. Five O’Clock Heroes are determinedly making up for ground that was unfortunately lost with their debut album. They seem to be doing so with chirpy, free-spirited abandon.
By Dave Adair
Pride Of The Revolution – Pride Of The Revolution
These are a 3 piece band from Sunderland.Their musical style is indie/alternative and they have a slight 7Os sound.There’s something rather bleak about this album,like a black blanket across it.
According to their myspace blurb,”POTR is a band which makes music in a room with corpses buried in the walls”. Yes,really.There’s even a photo on there to prove it….
There are eleven tracks on this album,and this band has been around since 2004,supporting the likes of Maximo Park,Futureheads and Nine Black Alps onstage.
This album is a documentary of the band’s music.It was released on 4th August this year,prior to one band member leaving in September to go to Iraq.
It is a gritty listen,tight and punk-influenced,bleak and deep.
The tracks are rather samey,the musical tone is excellent,but with that dark somewhat negative tone.
A curiosity.
By Juliet Robertson