NEW ALBUMS

Not many releases this week worth talking about…we checked out the new Hot Chip album, the Soft Pack album and a release from Los Campesinos…

The Soft Pack ‘The Soft Pack’

The main theme of this band is ‘fun’ with their music likely to cause spontaneous outbursts of jumping around from listeners. Their music isn’t complicated, or especially technical, but thats not its aim. The band (formerly nicknamed ‘The Muslims’) are indie rockers from San Diego, and their first full length album remains in the same vein. The album keeps a continuity with tracks such as ‘C’mon you’re in‘ and ‘Down On Loving‘ being guaranteed sing along anthems..and although there are a few tracks that deviate from their formula the overall sound is the same. This is not a bad thing, with good lyrics, a raw sound and a style that sits nicely between sharpness and Lo-Fi. This is just simple good music to bounce around too.

Los Campesinos ‘Romance is Boring’

The seven piece indie band from Cardiff release their third album in as many years, and shows the bands growth over their career. Their lyrics are even more powerful, they are technically bloody good, and the whole album is a step forward. The two standout tracks ‘The sea is a good place to think about the future’ and ‘Who fell asleep in’ are simply epic with the latter track showing the band still know how to pull at the heartstrings. This band should have been called Joy and Heartbreak, because this album will take you on an emotional roller-coaster..with the heartbroken left feeling especially queasy.

Hot Chip ‘One Life Stand’

The London five piece have not released anything since 2008…so the fact that they have still been gnawing at your ears everywhere since then shows how infectious their tunes are. Their new album cements their ability to write a catchy hook, so expect their new album to follow in the same veins. The title track alone is being considered their best song to date, and the dreamy ‘Thieves in the Night’ is another classic in the making. If the band could have got all their best singles together and put them on one album…it would have been a certified classic…unfortunately their are tracks on each of their releases which you could happily die having not heard. Hot Chips albums-all good, but not great.