STACK J#165 Jul 2018

MUSIC REVIEWS

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Lily Allen No Shame

Panic! At The Disco Pray For The Wicked Adapt or die, they say. Of the golden-voiced teen-angst A-Team, the only ones left have traded power chords for stadium pomp. Panic!’s Brendon Urie comes to it as naturally as Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump, the result likewise being an incredible showcase of vocals that draw emotion out of every syllable. Soaring over scattered samples and what sounds like a four-million-piece orchestra, Pray For The Wicked is deluxe, maximalist pop. Take a nap before you go in — there’s no time for rest here. While other megastars turn inwards and therefore more intimate for their introspection, Urie is pulling out his insides and tossing them over the audience like streamers. (Warner) Jake Cleland

The bubblegum bruiser that marked Allen on debut as a necessary antidote to pop’s artificial sweetness: gone. This is a different Lil entirely, turning that bite on herself and tearing chunks out of her facade, leveraging darker tones and tension-building rhythms to put herself on trial. Curiously, where Allen’s vocals are usually well on top of the mix, here they’re swallowed by space, with Allen sounding distant while she introspects. Well, you have to step back to see yourself clearly. On No Shame , Lily Allen is clearly not taking any sh-t. (Warner) Jake Cleland

Nine Inch Nails Bad Witch EP It’s amazing how hand-claps on the beat instantly feel cheerful and inclusive, but a burst of applause mid-song is a freakish, unnatural shock. They’re both just different ways humans smack their paws together after all, but they both feel very, very different within Sh-t Mirror , the opening track of Nine Inch Nails' fascinating new EP Bad Witch . Trent Reznor

and Atticus Ross play with all kinds of instrumental personification, always messing with our expectations of how analogue and artificial sounds should behave. They even manage to hijack your actual biology: there’s a lyric in Sh-t Mirror that’s impossible to hear (short of manipulating your playback) because, although it's surrounded by silence, your ears are still recovering from a wall of sound that’s been cut off at the knees – it’s like the aural equivalent of your pupils taking time to dilate when you switch off a light. Incorporating the warmth of saxophone and marimba (and voice – the Bowie-like beauty to Reznor's vocals in the lyric "Time is running out, I don't know what I'm waiting for" in Over And Out is astonishing), alongside bawling guitars, spacejunk jazz effects and those dependably powerful industrial beats, NIN have truly pushed the envelope in this final entry to their EP trilogy. (Caroline) Zoë Radas

The Jayhawks Back Roads And Abandoned Motels The Jayhawks have been a shining light and huge influence for many artists of the alt-country/ Americana sound since 1985. With a few breaks along the way they have continued to release albums full of their charming word craft, nestled into harmony-fuelled, jangly country rock and folk. On their tenth studio album the focus is on songs which frontman Gary Louris has co- written with artists such as Jakob Dylan and The Dixie Chicks, for various projects. They transform these tracks as if they always belonged in The Jayhawks catalogue, along with two new Louris compositions. Familiar like an old friend and heartening like you’d expect. (Legacy Recordings/Sony) Denise Hylands

The Rubens LO LA RU

East Brunswick All Girls Choir Teddywaddy

Gang Gang Dance Kazuashita A persistent myth holds that every seven years each cell in the body is replaced, making us essentially new people. Biological evidence points to a different story – various cells have different lifespans; some change rapidly and others last a lifetime. Both these views seem relevant when talking about the latest album from Gang Gang Dance. It's been seven years since the experimental New York band released the era-defining Eye Contact . In some ways we recognise them immediately in the innovative rhythms, vocals, samples and melodies. In other ways the band are as different as 2011 and 2018. We can trace lines of change and growth in these new songs full of tension and beauty. Bandmember Lizzi Bougatsos says "I think if we had a religion, nature would definitely be our religion." The ability to harness these forces gives an unstoppable power to their music. Gang Gang Dance are back. Gang Gang Dance never left. (4AD/ Remote Control) SimonWinkler

There’s something interesting about hearing songs performed live before you hear their recorded versions, and that’s how I was treated to my first few glimpses of LO LA RU when The Rubens toured a few months ago. This is the group’s third studio album, and they’ve followed up the success of Hottest 100 #1 Hoops with a collection of songs all worthy of the countdown’s top spot. Their soulful, hip hop-infused R'n'B sounds are back with a vengeance. You’ll have already heard Million Man and Never Ever on the radio, but also keep an ear out for I Know – a standout of their live show, and just as worthy of a listen on disc. (Ivy League) Alesha Kolbe

Suspended cinematic strings, an electric guitar thrum, a heavy drum beat, and the feeling of holding your breath in a vast, airless place. This is how it starts with Steeple People , the opening track on the anticipated second LP from East Brunswick All Girls Choir. And it ends with Teddywaddy 's final minutes, a storming crescendo and the words of singer Marcus Hobbs through a trail of distortion: "The river's dried up like the dam did, we saw it." We almost taste the dust. Hobbs portrays each landscape, each inhabitant with intense detail, immersing the listener in a vivid, troubled world. The music also strikes with expressive skill, offering exquisite melancholic moments of reflections, cathartic punk, and soaring rock ballads. (Milk! Records/Remote Control) SimonWinkler

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JULY 2018

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