Hadouken! – Music For An Accelerated Culture

Like being put in a blender that’s been hooked up to blend in time with the music.

This, I think is probably the best album to come out this year, so far. It is utterly fantastic. I had a couple of this week’s releases on my mp3 player, on shuffle and ‘Crank it up’ came on and I immediately went back to the start of the album and played it through. There aren’t many albums that I’ll listen to on the way home and be rushing home just so I can write about it.

It’s like a hardcore mix of Dizzee Rascal and Mindless Self Indulgence. It has a real sense of dynamism that really draws you into the music. The mixture distorted simplistic drum patterns to the synth and the guitar, all overlain by a very skilled lyricist who’s not afraid to be loud, this is a very talented band that deserves your support.

This album, brilliant as it is, is not without fault. The songs ‘Mr Misfortune’ is a real thorn in the foot of this album, really being a let down to itself. It’s like the kid at school who’s rubbish at everything and nobody really wants to work with it, so it ends up working with the teacher.

The song, ‘Wait for you’ start off as though it could be Mr Misfortune’s best friend, but drags itself out of the pit of despair. It’s just that it’s a much slower song and in relation to the other songs, it seems really out of place, but on the second listen, you expect it more and it comes as less of a shock to the system, letting you enjoy the merits of the song, rather than compare it to the others.

This band are one of those that you can tell that their live performance is going to be awesome by listening to the album, and as I got home today, I immediately checked out their tour dated to see if they were playing close to me, and they are. So I am happy.

Listen to this album: In a dirty hole in the ground in the middle of a city.

Rating: 93%

‘That Boy That Girl’

Mindless Self Indulgence – If

Some of the most engrossing music ever.

Techno-metal-punk-type stuff all boxed in a small explosive package that is left in a bin in a train station.

I find it strange reviewing an album of a band that I have liked for a while. I become very biassed and want to just rave about the album. I also end up just comparing the album to other albums by the same artist and become very objective about it.

MSI’s style is very unique and contains big drums with keyboards, punk guitars and the very unique vocal style of Jimmy Urine.

MSI are one of my very favourite bands and you definitely need to hear them and also see them live. I saw them live and it blew my mind, they are just so animated and fun and entertaining. But this isn’t about the gig, it’s about their new album. It’s just important not to take MSI too seriously.

The first song introduces everything I would expect from an MSI album. It’s loud and lewd and brash. It makes me very excited and I start to perspire. After this song  I wonder what happened. ‘Evening Wear’ is weak and melodic and it’s not very good. We then go into a rhythm of one on, one off until ‘Get it up’ which is just abismal. ‘Get it up’ may not only be the low point of this album, but the low point of the entire album. It’s quite simply an awful song.

Then we get to ‘Revenge’ and suddenly, out of the ashes of a crumpled, weak version of a band that I love comes a ten armed monster attacking me and ripping my head off. Songs 7-15, quite literally blew my socks off, so as far as I’m concerned, MSI owe me some new socks.

Why they couldn’t be this good for the whole album is beyond me, but all I know is that the first 6 tracks fade into my distant memories as I am filled from toe to head with a mist of love for a band that I was begining to doubt and I’m sorry for this.

The final song is a bit wierd and contains a number of interludes and strange singing bits. This is like a little extra bit of nonsense that bares little relation to the rest of the album, but is interesting nonetheless.

Overall, there are a couple of weak points in this album, and I’m probably a little over sensitive about it, becauase I love the album so much, but don’t let me put you off.

Listen to this album: With big comedy boots on.

Rating: 78%

Extracts from ‘Never Wanted To Dance’, ‘Evening Wear’, ‘Get It Up’, ‘Revenge’ and ‘Mastermind’

‘Animal’