Electrelane – No Shouts, No Calls
No, no and once again, no. I was ruined for this album long before I ever heard it, my dear readers. The reason? Well I saw them live, an experience which blows this record clean out of the water.
Live, the monotonous guitars are a glorious wall of noise which provide a perfect counterpoint to the delicate vocals – like Saint Etienne fronting the Wedding Present. On record it loses all the fire and brimstone and as such this is a timid beast indeed.
I think that’s about all I can say really. I don’t like this album very much and if it was all I knew of them then I’d not bother with another one, but given I know what they really sound like I am at once baffled and annoyed. They are a great group capable of great things, but given I actually don’t know that much about the music industry I can only guess at what went wrong. Any band members out there want to set me right? It would be appreciated.
As far as I can tell they may need to cut loose more in the studio. Their sound rocked live, but physically they were quite conservative so maybe when they play in the studio they resemble their own slightly diffident body language a bit more. Let it go, girls, fucking go for it – you are unbelievable when you let go a bit.
Alternatively, maybe their producer is just fucking dreadful. I can’t imagine how the racket I was so captivated by on stage has turned into this meek record. Stop buggering about with them – they have serious balls, let them show it.
Any other suggestions, because I’m stumped.
Electrelane – To the East
Electrelane – In Berlin
ive been reading alot about electrelane lately, and after a first listen.. it wasn’t what i was expecting. i wanted something more from their recordings… and especially now after reading that you saw them live, and were blown away! its strange how that happens.. but am glad to know there is more to their music than this.
p.s. very nice blog, toad! a pleasure to read