Having roots that stretch back as far 1994, My Life’s Despair is a doom and goth metal band centred around drummer/multi-instrumentalist Larshus. Although he spent a decade working with other underground bands somewhere between hatching his original idea for the project and the time of its actual fruition, it’s easy to hear that a lot of thought went into making things more theatrical than your average doom metal band. ‘Invoked With Passion and Pain’ is My Life’s Despair’s first full length and is a surprisingly enjoyable affair with some of the musical ideas showing a defiant sense of grandiosity that befits the album title. Provided, that is, you’re happy to overlook the demo quality of the production, the thin drum sounds (possibly programmed) and just concentrate on the actual material. This is one of those albums whereby it is best not to look at what it is, necessarily, but rather more what the band were aiming for.
Monthly Archives: November 2015
WILDHONEY – Your Face Sideways
This third release from Wildhoney is very much a record of two halves. Side one finds the Baltimore shoegazers in a fairly poppy frame of mind on five joyous janglers that combine some greatly uplifting musical sounds with a few thoughtful lyrical concerns, while the flip-side is a flip-side in every sense. These two styles ensure that ‘Your Face Sideways’ defies convention by bravely trying to please most fans of dreampop and shoegaze movements in one hit – and actually succeeds. Those who want definite songs get some real belters, while those hoping to lose themselves in an other worldly haze are given ample opportunity as the record progresses.
THE SOFT SPOTS – Life Is But A Dream EP
At the beginning of 2015, Philadelphia’s The Soft Spots fused electronica, dream pop and a touch of ukulele twiddling on their debut EP ‘Gently Down The Stream’, resulting in a surprisingly enjoyable listen. Issued a few months later, their follow-up, ‘Life Is But a Dream’ brings more of the same – its five numbers clearly designed to compliment the earlier release.
MARMOZETS – Live @ Reading Festival, UK 2015
On the back of a couple of independent EPs, Marmozets released their debut album in 2014 to great critical acclaim and commercial success. Rightly so, too, since their blend of alternative rock, math rock, metal and a smidgeon of punky attitude resulted in one of the year’s best discs. [Full review here]
THE GRAND – Incapacitated, Ill Fated and In Love
The Grand’s 2015 full-length debut ‘Incapacitated, Ill-Fated and In Love’ pushes the band’s brand of indie rock into the dusty corners of the psyche, often setting out as much to unnerve as entertain. Such an appropriately named album: the ten tracks take the listener through states of confusion, denial, anger, spite, heartbreak and more general upset in about forty minutes than most could ever manage. From a musical standpoint, experiencing this album is like hearing Arcade Fire dropping in on some of the bleaker themes from John Grant and Richard Thompson’s lyric books…and it’s bloody great.