Bell X1 – Blue Lights on the Runway

Funny and cute.

Album that contains the lyrics “You’re still picking your nickers from your arse, like you’re playing a one string harp” will instantly be a hit with me.

Bell X1, are Irish and they play music that will make you chuckle along to the imaginary that they present you with, the example above being one of them. Think Mouldy Peaches meet the Hoosiers and you might have some idea of what to expect.

Bell X1 play music that is kind of minimal soft rock that is very word based. they are not a band that will make you want to dance or cry or rebel or anything like that, but they do seem to touch a nerve inside of me that really endears me to them and I end up wanting to go and hug the band.

I listened to this album mainly while walking too and from work and it made a really nice soundtrack to everyday life. I’m listening now while writing this in my bedroom and it doesn’t sound nearly as effective. Blue Lights on the Runway has a kind of gritty realism that allows their sideways glance at the world but it’s not too heavy with it.

This kind of poncey rock music is a genre that some people would dismiss quite quickly and I tell them, “Don’t” and they should listen, because this album is nice, the sounds sound good and the lyrics are funny and interesting. There could have been a bit more variety on the album, the songs all fit quite a similar pace and style, and this may cause me to bore of the album quicker than some.

Bell X1 have something, I think, that’s a bit new within a genre that has been dragged by it’s bollocks for far too long, but Bell X1 seems to have picked it up, dusted it off and given it a new set of clothes. It’s a nice amendment to my collection.

I have just flicked through youtube, for some songs from their other albums, and none that I have heard are a patch on anything from Blue Lights on the Runway.

Listen to this album: And experience a real, but not too troubling slice of life.
Rating: 84%

Flogging Molly – Float

Lets all wear kilts, get drunk and fight. All in the name of fun.

Flogging Molly are a band that virtually everybody can enjoy and they consistently create good music. This album doesn’t disappoint, it is one of the most entertaining albums I’ve heard this year. The band may not be the most technically perfect, may not have the best singing voice, but for sheer enjoyment, passion and entertainment, they are up there at the top.

It always makes me like a band more when you can really tell that they love doing what they do.

This album isn’t as good as some of their other albums, and will never compare to the iconic ‘Drunken Lullabies’ but is still a great album, it just can’t compete with such great works that it seems to pale in comparison.

Listen to this album: While drunk.

Rating: 85%

Extracts from ‘Requiem for a dying song’ and ‘Man with no country’

“Float”