Singles comparison: The Subways / Foals / Disturbed / Little John Rocket
The Subways – ‘Alright’
Infectious 16th June
Foals – ‘Red Socks Pugie’
Transgressive Records 26th May
Disturbed – ‘Inside the Fire’
Intoxication 26th May
Little John Rocket – ‘Basement’
Framingo 26th May
The past few years have seen the commercialisation of rock’n’roll to unprecedented levels: the rebel postures of the past have been turned into corporate poses until the only revolutionary statements are modesty and traditionalism. All four of these bands are winningly willing to battle the boredom: all have punk roots, and all inject a certain ferocity into their sometimes predictable singles.
The Subways are the weakest contenders here: Alright has a forced infectious energy and a skipping guitar melody that covers up the rather uninspired lyrics. Massed harmony vocals disguise a weak vocal- the production here is entirely directed to hiding a pretty vacuous three minutes. Packing an extended guitar solo and a mantra-like chorus into the three minutes reveals how little is really going on.
Little John Rocket are a Glasgow gang who get more sinister with every release. Basement is a serial-killing love song: LJR have moved past punk anger and new wave agitation to explore something quite horrific. This single captures much of their live ferocity- a new wave band who have accepted the implicit nastiness in their jerky guitars and chased into a very nasty alleyway.
The Foals are almost whimsical next to LJR- Red Socks Pugie has a nice drum’n’bass eclecticism, disembodied voices and keyboard motifs floating above an insistent, fractured beat that eventually bursts into indie-anthem glory. Similar to The Most Serene Republic or The Ruby Suns, The Foals are setting course for a new fusion of dance and introverted pop- if it isn’t entirely integrated, they have, at least, a youthful enthusiasm that pushes them forward, sprightly.
Disturbed are heavy: a few electronic sounds, punishing riffs- the sort of thing Rammstein pushed to Germanic parody a few years back, only now given an emo lyric. Music this intense only really works when the subject matter is truly operatic: Inside the Fire sounds like it is about a bunch of alienated Goths, which does make it epic enough. The chorus seems to soften up the uncompromising riffage- and the solo could be on any rock track (despite the amusingly retro metal widdling).
Little John Rocket and The Foals are finding their own identity- even if they both echo the past or expose their influences a little too nakedly- while Disturbed and The Subways haven’t quite found their own personalities.
By Gareth Vile
www.myspace.com/thesubways
www.myspace.com/foals
www.myspace.com/disturbed
www.myspace.com/littlejohnrocket
Click here to read more Subways related news, reviews & interviews!
Buy Subways CDs & Vinyl
Buy Subways MP3s
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Buy Subways Merch
Infectious 16th June
Foals – ‘Red Socks Pugie’ Transgressive Records 26th May
Disturbed – ‘Inside the Fire’Intoxication 26th May
Little John Rocket – ‘Basement’Framingo 26th May
The past few years have seen the commercialisation of rock’n’roll to unprecedented levels: the rebel postures of the past have been turned into corporate poses until the only revolutionary statements are modesty and traditionalism. All four of these bands are winningly willing to battle the boredom: all have punk roots, and all inject a certain ferocity into their sometimes predictable singles.
The Subways are the weakest contenders here: Alright has a forced infectious energy and a skipping guitar melody that covers up the rather uninspired lyrics. Massed harmony vocals disguise a weak vocal- the production here is entirely directed to hiding a pretty vacuous three minutes. Packing an extended guitar solo and a mantra-like chorus into the three minutes reveals how little is really going on.
Little John Rocket are a Glasgow gang who get more sinister with every release. Basement is a serial-killing love song: LJR have moved past punk anger and new wave agitation to explore something quite horrific. This single captures much of their live ferocity- a new wave band who have accepted the implicit nastiness in their jerky guitars and chased into a very nasty alleyway.
The Foals are almost whimsical next to LJR- Red Socks Pugie has a nice drum’n’bass eclecticism, disembodied voices and keyboard motifs floating above an insistent, fractured beat that eventually bursts into indie-anthem glory. Similar to The Most Serene Republic or The Ruby Suns, The Foals are setting course for a new fusion of dance and introverted pop- if it isn’t entirely integrated, they have, at least, a youthful enthusiasm that pushes them forward, sprightly.
Disturbed are heavy: a few electronic sounds, punishing riffs- the sort of thing Rammstein pushed to Germanic parody a few years back, only now given an emo lyric. Music this intense only really works when the subject matter is truly operatic: Inside the Fire sounds like it is about a bunch of alienated Goths, which does make it epic enough. The chorus seems to soften up the uncompromising riffage- and the solo could be on any rock track (despite the amusingly retro metal widdling).
Little John Rocket and The Foals are finding their own identity- even if they both echo the past or expose their influences a little too nakedly- while Disturbed and The Subways haven’t quite found their own personalities.
By Gareth Vile
www.myspace.com/thesubways
www.myspace.com/foals
www.myspace.com/disturbed
www.myspace.com/littlejohnrocket
Click here to read more Subways related news, reviews & interviews!
Buy Subways CDs & Vinyl
Buy Subways MP3s
Buy Subways Tickets
Buy Subways Merch
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