Category Archives: emo

MARCEL LEGANE – Heart Life EP

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leganeMarcel Legane’s second release has a striking clarity; his well-crafted songs are given a great boost by crisp production. The solid drum sound and sharp guitars lend themselves well to his brand of radio-friendly brand of emo influenced pop-rock. We’re not talking instant gratification though; Legane’s song writing style is one where those great moments only really present themselves after two or three listens…but once you’ve familiarised yourself with his sound, it’s obvious he’s a man who knows how to mix occasionally quirky arrangements with memorable hooks.

The opening number ‘Heart Receding’ has a sound which captures the listener’s attention from the start thanks to a great drum sound courtesy of Ollie Waton. There’s great interplay between his spiky drum pattern and Ross Chapman’s ringing guitar chords, which are both under pinned by a semi-busy bass line from Adam Double. Legane’s vocals have elements of softness throughout the verses, but as the choruses kick in, his voice sounds strong. There’s a small amount of auto-tune at play (as a stylistic choice, I think), but the track didn’t really need it – I’m sure Legane’s natural delivery would have shone through. The second number builds on the strengths of the opener; Legane sounds more confident delivering an extremely tuneful vocal line over slightly quirky pop-rock. The musical high points here come courtesy of another busy bass line and new wave inspired keyboards.

‘Superior/Inferior’ is this release’s absolutely essential track. Waton delivers a playful drum part which has a very percussive style. The verses are built around sparse rhythmic qualities, but for the pre-chorus and louder sections, his pounding drum style echoing the lyrics “don’t cast my dream aside/the sound of your judgement pounding out”. Legane’s vocal range isn’t especially broad, but his style is well suited to the musical style. The simplicity of the vocal line is at odds with the relative complexity of the drum part, but the result is one which seems effective. It’s a track which stands up to many repeated listens.

After a strong intro dominated by Waton’s drums, ‘Games’ becomes a little sickly, as Legane launches into a tune which sounds a little too boy-band, but that alone may have been okay (as far as these things go), but the whole of the opening verse is drenched in auto-tune. If you imagine the kind of auto-tune Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump has to help him with those long notes, only slapped across absolutely everything and you’ll get the picture. It’s a couple of notches short of the inhuman qualities explored by Cher on ‘Believe’ (and utilised on countless hideous pieces of r ‘n’ b), but it still has an unnecessary inhuman quality. As the music progresses, things don’t seem so bad, particularly on the slightly rockier moments, but even so, the over commercial edges of this number don’t capture Legane at his best. ‘Friendly Fire’ closes the release with something mellow. Legane’s performance is okay (substantially less auto-tune than before) and it’s more of a slow-burner than the first couple of tracks, but Ross Chapman and Ollie Waton shine throughout – particularly Chapman’s crystal clear guiltar lines.

Compared to his previous release (2010’s ‘Battle EP’), Legane has improved greatly as both a song writer and arranger. In becoming far surer of the sound he wants to achieve, on this EP he finds himself in a position to enlist better musicians – and this alone ensures ‘Heart Life’ offers a decent listening experience, even despite those auto-tuned elements.

March 2010

THE LASHES – Get It

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get it

The Lashes’ debut EP, ‘The Stupid Stupid’, was issued on the almost legendary Lookout! Records label, once home to many top-notch punk bands. By The time of their full length release ‘Get It’, two years later, the band had been snapped up by Sony, obviously spotting potential in the Seattle sextet’s fusion of power pop, hard rock and emo.

Opening this album, the intro keyboard wash of ‘New Best Friend’ reinforces the power pop elements of The Lashes’ sound. Nearly all of the band’s traits are here in this opening track: punchy guitars, solid rhythms and keyboard filler (and do I hear handclaps?); and from that perspective ‘Get It’ is an album with very few surprises. ‘A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody’ takes The Lashes’ love of classic new wave-ish rock/pop further, without compromising any of the guitar punch…and in just over three minutes – and via a big debt to Weezer – they have you reeled in. If you’re a sucker for guitar driven melodies coupled with decent hook, then you’ll probably love this.

The spiky ‘Safe To Say’ carries elements which call to mind the 00’s garage revival of bands like The Strokes, but more tuneful. While one of the weaker numbers from ‘Get It’, it showcases the bands slightly more aggressive side and also highlights how it doesn’t always work when they try something outside their comfort zone. This is counterbalanced some way by ‘Dear Hollywood’, a rumpty-tumpty piece of rock/pop with a greater focus on the piano than most of The Lashes’ other material. Again, this only strengthens any claim that power pop is at the heart of The Lashes’ craft, as opposed to anything punkier…

‘Daddy’s Little Girl’ has the makings of a classic. Via its great hooks and decent tune, I’m reminded a great deal of the criminally ignored mid-90s glam-pop band Beat Angels, thanks to slight Cheap Trick-isms and handclaps. In terms of stuck-in-your-head-goodness, ‘The World Needs More Love Letters’ is an equal match with its pop-driven chorus and Greg Hawkes inspired keyboards. ‘Dear Hollywood’, the album’s lightest offering, is piano-driven pop with hints of Ben Folds and Jason Falkner at their most bouncy. Also worthy of a mention is ‘Sometimes The Sun’, which is poppier than a lot of the material here, slightly jaunty, but not too obviously quirky. It’s another track which shows The Lashes playing to their strengths. Musically, it hangs off a simple guitar twang which doesn’t really carry a tune in itself; the melodies are crafted via a particularly overstretched vocal approach, which eventually arrives at a simple but pleasing hook.

Given The Lashes’ influences and knack for a decent chorus, on the surface ‘Get It’ should be an enjoyable ride, due to its disposable qualities. Sadly, there’s a weak link throughout – and that weak link is Ben Clark’s vocal. It sounds like a strong voice, but he’s chosen to sing with an irritating emo like affectation. It’s trashy enough to suit most of the songs on offer; however, when pushed to the levels a lot of these songs require, it can become an annoyance. …And for me, that’s enough to stop ‘Get It’ ever obtaining that cult classic status it could’ve been capable of achieving.

January 2010/July 2010

30 SECONDS TO MARS – This Is War

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I heard the second album by these guys back when it came out; despite lots of decent press, it didn’t impress me.  Their sound was solid enough, but none of the songs made any lasting impression.  I was told to forget about that, since this third outing for Jared Leto’s band was a vast improvement.

It’s a little worrying that this is supposed to be better. To be truthful, it’s so formulaic that it hurts.  30 Seconds to Mars are more than musically accomplished, this is true, but ‘This Is War’ offers very little in the way of variety, with one song blending into the next, almost indistinguishable from each other.

The album features 12 songs (okay, 11 songs and an intro) which, at best, are pleasant, but nothing more.  At worst, this album is the musical equivalent of queuing at the post office – nothing much exciting happens and by the end, you feel like it’s gone on forever.

Most of the songs follow a set pattern: quiet-ish verse building to louder chorus, where Leto changes his vocal pitch (or listening to this, a studio engineer helps change his pitch).  If you weren’t sure whether the band were trying to make their formulaic, safe, emo-influenced tunes sound like anthems, they force the issue by adding backing vocals of live audiences going ‘whoah’ on nearly every track.  ‘Hurricane’ is slightly different, in that they inflict their irritating qualities over the duration of six minutes instead of four – and yes, they use the crowd noise yet again.  There’s not even enough variety overall to warrant Real Gone’s usual detailed approach of breaking each track down to expose particular musical highlights.

The single ‘Kings & Queens’ is fine for what it does.  It’s certainly the best thing on the album, but that’s not saying much.

I wish 30 Seconds To Mars all the best, but ‘This Is War’ leaves me cold.  Sorry.  Go and buy an Angels & Airwaves album instead.

January 2010