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Post by Sean on Feb 17, 2010 12:55:21 GMT
I think i shall go get NME shortly. My mate is claiming his album got delivered this morning. stuff like this, remarkably, always seems to happen to him. i reckon (as per) he's full of sh*t but i shall be highly envious if he has he best be full of shit or else i'm extremely jealous. |
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LastGangInTown
Groupie
I was made for this place, I was made for you
Posts: 75
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Post by LastGangInTown on Feb 17, 2010 13:02:58 GMT
I think i shall go get NME shortly. My mate is claiming his album got delivered this morning. stuff like this, remarkably, always seems to happen to him. i reckon (as per) he's full of sh*t but i shall be highly envious if he has he best be full of sh*t or else i'm extremely jealous. tbh mate im 99% confident he's lying. he did this with st. jude and dig out your soul. i stuggle to believe a word he says now haha! i've been to 2 tesco's and 2 newsagents and neither of them have had nme delivered  |
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Post by cb on Feb 17, 2010 13:07:05 GMT
ask him to send you some songs on msn
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LastGangInTown
Groupie
I was made for this place, I was made for you
Posts: 75
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Post by LastGangInTown on Feb 17, 2010 13:11:55 GMT
ask him to send you some songs on msn he's not online mate, i saw it on his status this morning. i'll keep looking out for him coming online and interrogate him  ha. |
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Post by cb on Feb 17, 2010 13:18:02 GMT
ring him and tell him to play them down the phone
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LastGangInTown
Groupie
I was made for this place, I was made for you
Posts: 75
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Post by LastGangInTown on Feb 17, 2010 13:19:19 GMT
good idea |
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Post by Sean on Feb 17, 2010 13:26:39 GMT
Bird of Fray
The Courteeners
Falcon
(Polydor)
Liam and the other three finally take flight on their second album
Are you Blur or Oasis? A semi-metaphorical question that bizarrely seems almost as relevant in fans today as it did sat around the radio as Mark Goodier announced the chart battler result in 1995. 'Art pop' versus 'real rock n' roll', or shandy drinking poofs versus knuckle dragging lager monkeys? It's an age-old tribal divide. It all feels very silly if you're feeling rational. But it remains a jibing rhetoric that motivates roughly 65 per cent of letters that land in NME's mailbag and one that, for our sins, we all secretly invest in one way or another when crucifying/pedestalling some poor newbie act. The Courteeners, 2008's New Manc Saviours, quickly and readily inherited the mantle of pretty much every one of their hometown's previous savours rolled into one. Their talisman, Liam Fray, took every audacious critic's claim square on his puffed chest for better or for worse. Inevitably, then, when debut 'St Jude' arrived in all its Little-Britain-sketch-on the-Libertines semi-glory, it didn't quite live up to the new Oasis/Smiths predictions. What the cavalcade of balls out rock n' roll and hard but sensitive man's troubadouring did do was garner sold out hometown arenas and sow seeds of potential greatness to come. Not to mention breathing vital new life into the old meat's n spuds versus art-school divide. If you came armed with indier than thou cynicism, The Courteeners, for all their own love of sensitive types such as Morrisey and James Booth, were sitting ducks. Today, then, as we find ourselves in a drought of sensational terrace igniting new Brit rock and with the sacred pillars of Gallagher crumbled, Fray and his band of brothers again find themselves under the weight of great expectation. Ranked now a daunting number three behind baptised- in cred Kasabian and a flailing Monkeys in the acts best equipped to inherit the 'real rock n' roll crown, the question is, does 'Falcon' posses what it takes to fulfill their supposed destiny, making them a true band of the 'people'? It has a startlingly majestic start. 'The Opener' - well, Liam's never been one to mince words - vaults into life; brisk, nearly flouncing, all loud/quiet dynamics and Adam Ant panting. It's a dual' missing you' love letter to both his hometown while decamped at his lady's LA pad, and to his missus once he arrived back in Blighty: "I miss your eyelashes, and the streets where I grew tall/I miss getting piss-wet through, getting to your and getting warm". It's hapless romance, honest and endearing. It's also the first instance on 'Falcon' when you realize there's going to be a lot of choruses. Profound, chiming Mancuinan sidewinders. Suddenly the Morrissey- heaped praise makes much more sense. 'St Jude' was plug n play bashed out. Most of Falcon began at Fray's piano and was then jammed out. Hence why nearly the entire thing is mid-paced. Nowhere is it characterized better than on 'Take Over the World', half battle cry, half proposal. Its towering walls of reverb sway and buckle with the refrain every disappointing noughties major-label flop of wannabe arena indie bands was searching for. Inevitably there'll be accusations of Garvey-ism throughout, but in full swing here, Liam could easily stagger arm-in-arm with Guy. It was often noted that The Courteeners sing-song slabs were infinitely more convincing than their stabs at barnstormers. In that sense Falcon delivers tenfold, and Fray has no problem brushing cliche in the name of 'maturing'. But it's not all serious and sentimental. The rollick'n'roll fun element is replaced now by a kinda Hard Fi meets Kasabian on groove centric single 'You Overdid It Doll'. Which, if bodged, would be all kinds of eek. But with a chainmail backhand of a chorus slapped right in the bloomin' middle it's just about the freshest festival fodder this country's had in yonks. But was Fray's self-proclaimed, "gone soft" album ever going to be infallible? At points it's drippy in a way that even the girlfriends at Ashcroft sold gigs would wrinkle their noses at: see penultimate 'Last of the Ladies' track for evidence. Closer, 'Will It Be This Way Forever?' has a swagger that swings between emphatic and driving and clunky and obvious. There are also many couplets, notably in 'Lullaby', that will have the critics guffawing. Try: "Only a paperboy from the northwest/But I scrub up well in my sunday best" on 'Take Over The World' for size. Of course it's not quantum physics, but how sexy is science? At points it's over-ambitious sure, but it feels stuffy to fault reaching for the stars. 'Falcon"s shortcomings are roughly the same as its predecessor. Similarly then, your tolerance will depends on which side of the age-old Britpop divide your heart and mind reside. What's different this time is that not only has the ratio of glories to mishaps been virtually turned on its head, it's that The Courteeners have developed the ability to, at points, blow away tribal allegiances with hooks forged from pure indie gold. As Kasabian have become the thinking fan's guilty pleasure via an arty makeover, The Courteeners opt for unabashed hands-aloft hits. At this album's best it'd be impossible to sneer without feeling suicidally snobbish. The question of whether there's enough anthemia here to take that next stride up to mega band status isn't even worth asking. When The Courteeners fly on 'Falcon' - just like them to do what they say on the tin - they really do soar. So, are you Blur, Oasis... or maybe Courteeners?
DOWNLOAD
1) The Opener
2) Take Over The World
3) You Overdid It Doll
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Post by Sean on Feb 17, 2010 13:27:54 GMT
he best be full of sh*t or else i'm extremely jealous. tbh mate im 99% confident he's lying. he did this with st. jude and dig out your soul. i stuggle to believe a word he says now haha! i've been to 2 tesco's and 2 newsagents and neither of them have had nme delivered there you go, took me bloody forever! |
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Post by cb on Feb 17, 2010 13:30:39 GMT
cheers sean, good review.
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Post by cal on Feb 17, 2010 13:36:09 GMT
good write up. the reviewer obviously liked the album. but he patters on a bit, its a bit to Creative Writing A Level rather than Music Review.
still, Falcon is shaping up to be a cracker.
bring it on
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Post by Sean on Feb 17, 2010 13:41:24 GMT
yeah agree at time cal, tries to be too clever with his words.
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lizzyfray
Stalker
Scratch Your Name Upon My Lips
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Post by lizzyfray on Feb 17, 2010 14:38:26 GMT
I have to say I didn't really get the review. The fact that "the Courteeners" wasn't mentioned until the 5th line say alot but anyway, 8/10 so they had some clue what they where on about.
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Post by Fergal on Feb 17, 2010 15:16:52 GMT
Bit of a poor review really, aye. Complimentary but talks about everything but the album it's reviewing, as appears to be the fashion/easy route these days!
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Post by Brian Powell on Feb 17, 2010 15:27:49 GMT
A bit out order saying Liam and the other three. They're The Courteeners. Yeah, we all know Liam is the chief of the band, but find that a bit disrespectful to Conan, Cuppello & Campbell.
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Post by sirmavers on Feb 17, 2010 16:11:54 GMT
As per, I bought it, cut out the review, and the Falcon advert 1st page in and binned the rest. May be a complimentary review, but the review itself is crap. Talks up too much Oasis bollocks, spends half the time talking about St. Jude days. Then when they finally review something they basically regurgitate a few lyrics from a handful of the album. They gave no reason as to why they liked it, just poor poor reviewing really.
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ha.
