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.
UNUSUAL USELESS – And You Shall Use Less
Unusual Useless bill themselves as an “Unusual Chilean Band”, which seems quite fitting, since they’re a band not so easy to pigeonhole and they’re a band who have no clear idea of their own musical identity. That would be cool, if like some, they managed to push boundaries with their art. As it is, on their 2015 release ‘And You Shall Use Less’, they start out as a jangly indie rock outfit, but it’s not long before they give up on that and wheel out the ukuleles and hammer us with twee pop-folk that’s, in the main, so poorly formed you’ll have to wonder who’d want to even listen. Being in a band should be fun, and sometimes it’s clear they’ve got that right, but the twelve tracks that form this LP are by and large a genuine chore to listen to. As such, Unusual Useless all too often come across as an unprofessional mess.
ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA – Zoom
Fifteen years after their last major hit (‘Calling America’) and subsequent break-up, Jeff Lynne revived Electric Light Orchestra. The move seemed to come from necessity, since his own recording in the interim (‘Armchair Theatre’) was not as successful as many predicted it would be. It was by no means a flop – and Lynne, too, achieved critical and commercial success as a member of Traveling Wilburys in the wake of his former band – but it seemed that any recordings made with the bespectacled and bearded Brummie at the helm (supergroups notwithstanding) stood a far better chance of acceptance if the ELO moniker came attached.
ENTHRING – The Art Of Chaos EP
This second r
elease from Finnish black metallers Enthring is an interesting affair. Sometimes more symphonic than flat-out grindy, the multi-layered aspect of their music is strongly evident from the very first notes and although comprising just three tracks, it gives a broad enough glimpse into their craft without becoming overbearing. Provided, that is, you’re not averse to the occasional bit of extreme metal, in which case, this just won’t be for you.
SOULTHERN – Rock You Till Die EP
Glance at the band logo for this fledgling Brazilian band and there’s every chance you’ll assume they’re called Southern and you might expect something along the lines of Black Stone Cherry. A closer look and that stray and somewhat mysterious L appears, but there’s no soul on offer here either. As you can probably guess from the band photo on the sleeve – a design that conjours up memories of 7”s with DIY wraparound artwork – we’re in very retro metal territory with this demo quality release. In fact, ‘Rock You Till Die’ [sic] is so unashamedly old school metal with a capital M, you might even think these three guys had been in a coma since 1984.