Mumford & Sons-Sigh No More (2009)

Track Listing:
1. Sigh No More
2. The Cave
3. Winter Winds
4. Roll Away Your Stone
5. White Blank Page
6. I Gave You All
7. Little Lion Man
8. Timshel
9. Thistle & Weeds
10. Awake My Soul
11. Dust Bowl Dance
12. After The Storm

Best Track: The Cave

Folky insights blended with pop nous

Folk pop/rock has never really been my strongpoint in musical terms. Not because I dislike it as such more because I've never had that much time for it. The only real folk album in my collection is Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, which is considered to be one of the very best ever folk rock albums and to be honest I was a little underwhelmed by it. And so when all the hype about Mumford and Sons started picking up recently I was a little wary. Which is mostly why I've waited until now to review it.

The album opener and title track was a real splash of cold water in the face, if you'll excuse the metaphor. The song slowly builds up nicely with lead vocalist Marcus Mumford giving a nice roaring finish to the song. Starting off strong is good in my books, and The Cave continues this with a quiet acoustic guitar melody that counterpoints the rather strong uplifting lyrics, before the twangy banjo hits in to keep up that folk image. How could anyone not feel inspired and strong after that powerful final chorus, by the way? The Cave represents a good balance between the calm and the storm in musical terms. Winter Winds has a nice rolling banjo sound and a heavy and yet steady drumbeat, before the song peaks with a rollicking trumpet lead final chorus. It's enough to melt even the coldest hearted metalhead to enjoy this rural folk sound, and even the pop sensibilities of this record wouldn't put many people off as it has a very down to earth and rootsy style.

Roll Away Your Stone is your par-for-course folk-pop song, but White Blank Page starts off as a slow ballad with Mumford opting for an almost whiny tone to an ex lover, before the song starts to rise into a faster tempo interspaced with a Celtic sounding violin solo that reminds me of The Corrs. I Gave You All is quite a personal acoustic strummer that gives it an intimate style. The wonderful bass rolls of Little Lion Man underpin some great lyrics which uses swearing in a glamorous style that goes against the normal feeling of swearing in a song. The next song Timshel reminds me a lot of some of those later Pink Floyd acoustic ballads, without the darkness associated with the Floydians. Thistle and Weeds features some quality melancholic piano from Ben Lovett, which mixes nicely with the harsh vocal pleadings of Mumford ("IIIIII will hoooolllllldddd on!").

Awake My Soul's best feature is a brilliant vocal hook outro which makes attaches itself to the country banjo twang in a pleasant manner. Dust Bowl Dance is an interesting anomaly on this album in that it contains the hardest rocking part in the whole record. The song starts steadily, with soft piano chords and a little banjo, before the vocals go harsh and reasonate with religious overtones which makes it dark and brooding. And then the song bursts into raw chaos with pumping electric guitars, heavy piano chords, zooping bass and thumping metallic drums. Just before it starts to stick out too much, the storm of sound drops off back into the style of the intro. This Folk stuff isn't too bad then hey? The finale After the Storm fills it's brief to the letter; it represents an island of calm after the heavy storm of Dust Bowl Dance. The death fearing lyrics are quite fascinating, as they start off dark and scared before ending in an uplifting and life loving manner. For this album it represents an appropriate way to finish the record off.

And so yet again the hype that is given to bands that I have doubts about is well deserved. The pop sensibilites here keep it accessible and yet it sounds as if it was made in an English meadow such us it's natural and un-processed nature. My only hope is that Mumford & Sons can project this excellent album's quality in to future work, but I'm sure if they stay in that meadow they'll be alright.

13/15

The Kaiser Chiefs-Employment (2005)

Track Listing:
1. Everyday I Love You Less and Less
2. I Predict a Riot
3. Modern Way
4. Na Na Na Naa
5. You Can Have It All
6. Oh My God
7. Born To Be Dancer
8. Saturday Night
9. What Did I Ever Give You?
10. Time Honoured Tradition
11. Caroline, Yes

Best Track: You Can Have It All


Oh my God, yet another British pop-rock group!


The Kaiser Chiefs represented an interesting combination when they appeared on the music scene in 2005. Their musical style was one of quite different styles; one part representing the tongue-in-cheek hook filled Britpop of Blur, another coming across as a throwback to the early punk days with aggressive fast songs with a third being the synth drenched New Wave of the early '80's. Combining these three styles into a cohesive record would not be easy, but neither impossible.

The threeway combo is immediately manifested in the jumpy opener Everyday I Love You Less And Less, with a synth riff hammering through a hook laden song that is easy to get caught replaying in your head over and over. The formula is repeated again in I Predict A Riot, with vocalist Ricky Wilson shouting out "I Predict a Riot" in a heady British drawl. Add a pint of typical English tongue-in-cheek humour and some great flicky drumming and you get an even more catchy song. Modern Way has lyrics that are a brilliant throwback to Blur's Modern Life is Rubbish with lyrics about escaping modern life and how it's affecting people's brains. This isn't an original lyrical idea, as of course they were emulating Blur who in turn emulated The Kinks, but the point still stands that the lyrics are well crafted and contain a solid balance of realist views on our comtemporary scene and a touch of dark humour. Sounds like a British sitcom to me!

Na Na Na Naa bursts out as a ball of pure musical fun. Firstly how could you not love that hook? So simple and easy but yet very addictive. Pump in a quick and loud solo from Andrew White and some flashy drums and you end up with something that the charts and the critics will love. You Can Have It All has a sweet synth opening from Baines who seems to be channeling his inner Yes (specifically their virtuoso keyboardist Rick Wakeman). The song has a happy rolling nature that counterpoints the more wild songs before it, with lovely Beatle-esque harmonies and soft chainsaw guitars. Their first single Oh My God is another humourous take on modern life with nice chorus with the bass, guitar and vocals all linking together perfectly to make a heavy almost metal like hook. The last chorus is great really fits this view, doing so in a way that is memorable and can also be headbanged to. Even for the non metalheads like myself!

Born To Be A Dancer is a poorer attempt at Everyday, with the hook being a bit cluttered and the guitar parts being a bit average. However it does have a nice synth line. Saturday Night is a disappointing attempt trying to be an American Pop-punk group. The verses are horrid, and the chorus isn't too much better. The guitar solo works nicely but it only goes for a short time meaning that it can't save the song. What Did I Ever Give You has a cool creepy keyboard riff that complements Wilson's vocals that remind me of Roger Waters during the verses for some strange reason. The pre chorus uses some echoey harmonies effectively which leads into the typical catchy pop rock chorus. And there's even a little organ flourish before the last chorus for any Ray Manzerak lovers out there. (Including me of course)

Time Honoured Tradition has an old fashioned music hall verse with a chorus being nothing but a collection of "oh ohs" and weird shrieks latching on to some good rhythm guitar playing and percussion. Caroline, Yes is a cheeky little Beach Boys reference but the song is still very British. Boozy synths and vocals that remind me of tired men at the pub (that have great harmonies.) A clashing keyboard and guitar musical standoff is the peak of the song, but the "wooo owooo owooo ooo" outro is a pretty touch to finish the song.

In short it's to hard to find many faults on Employment but occasionaly the punkier elements can get grating on the ears and ruin the song. All the same this album remains a funny and danceable indie pop-rock keeper that has enough melodies and hooks to keep you interested for ages.


13/15

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