Skip to main content

ALBUM REVIEW: "Relatives In Descent" by Protomartyr

   Protomartyr songs often don't contain a clear beginning, middle and end, and this disregard for standard form or structure made the band's fourth album Relatives In Descent daunting and impenetrable for me. Not to say I didn't enjoy it, but this isn't necessarily an entertaining album as such - you don't put these songs on a playlist, you don't put the album on at a dinner party, you don't casually listen to it. It asks to be explored and worked at over time, to be experienced rather than listened to. Lyrically this album is a whole lot to take in, and impossible to fully understand, I suspect. Not really for me, to be honest, but this blend of spiralling post-punk and poetic dirges into depressive passages certainly has my appreciation and respect. I guess the word I would give to my experience of this album is oppressive - it only runs for about 43 minutes, but that time seemed to crawl by.

   Rating: C

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1 YEAR LATER: "22, A Million" by Bon Iver

   Bon Iver's third studio album turns 1 in about a week (where did that year go?), so I thought it would be interesting to talk a bit about how my impressions of the album have changed - or how they haven't - over the last 12 months. When this album was released I was more excited than I think I ever have been to hear a new album. For Emma, Forever Ago is one of my all time favourites, and I love his self-titled second album too, so I had huge expectations for this album, but was also wary that expectations might ruin my experience of the music. This was particularly the case for 22, A Million , because it is unlike anything else Justin Vernon has released. There have been hints at this more processed, electronic direction previously, like the song "Woods" on the Blood Bank EP and occasional flourishes on Bon Iver , but 22, A Million is a drastic departure from the Bon Iver sound we had grown accustomed to at this point in time. Or at least, that's what I thought...
Post a Comment
Read more

ALBUM REVIEW: "Mesmer" by Northlane

   On Friday Northlane released their fourth studio album Mesmer without any warning, and it's pretty awesome. Fans that were keeping up had been getting hints for a while, with cryptic announcements and a seriously cool chatbot, but Mesmer was a complete surprise for everyone, and one that has brought with it a more cohesive and complete sound for the band.    2015's  Node was a great way to open up the second chapter in the band's trajectory and featured a fantastic performance from new singer Marcus Bridge, but definitely felt like a transition album for a band that had forged such a signature sound and was in the middle of great change. Mesmer immediately feels a lot more comfortable than Node  for a bunch of reasons, which is to be expected now the band has been touring with Bridge almost non-stop for more than two years. While the production on Node didn't quite fit the sound they were going for and seemed a little flat across the board, David Bend...
Post a Comment
Read more