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Rating: In a British music scene clearly struggling for inspiration, a band emerges that seems capable of bringing back a bit of hope.
Late of the Pier are often mistakenly associated with the Nu-Rave scene. In my opinion, they have nothing to do with bands like the Klaxons and similar ones, and with a scene that is annoyingly self-satisfied, musically sterile, and inconsistent.
Here we have a group that draws from influences as numerous as they are varied: from the futurist synth-pop of Gary Numan to 70s rock, from glam to post-2000 electronics.
What distinguishes them from the myriad of backward-looking bands that shoot by like meteors are mainly two things:
•1. a remarkable personality in the reworking of influences
•2. finally an ambition well-supported, leading them to do unpredictable things, mix genres within the same song, and generally shuffle the deck a bit within the old, noble song form.
Sure, there are many danceable rhythms, but these are not songs subordinated to dancing; after all, rhythm is treated like any other element in the construction of the song.
Already the intro, short and blazing, introduces us to a complicated and amusing universe; the first track is exemplary: a hodgepodge of sounds and influences that seem on the verge of collapsing, come very close, but don’t actually do so. And you haven’t even reached "Bears are coming": a sonic assault of electronics played with the energy and physicality of rock. This might be the key to understanding Late of the Pier. They play electronics with the violence of rock'n'roll and rock as if it were electronics.
Then there are the tracks in the style of Gary Numan from 2008: "Heartbeat", which pulses and runs like an old synth-pop warhorse. It's a very varied and well-played album, although not yet fully mature as a debut, it's truly interesting.
One must not forget the other key to reading the album: irony. A healthy light-hearted vein, fun and amused, contributing significantly to making the listening experience pleasant and worthy of repetition.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Broken (04:11)
Didn't sleep last night
Couldnt calm down
The cold water running past my window
Kept me crying out
Give me sunlight
The good medicine
It's all part of the open pressures
Of growing up
Met a friend but then again
You could get around town like they do
Have a shower, then drive around
Looking out for Northfields Avenue
The journey's sour, the fire is out
Love achieving sounds sell a heart of glue
Have a listen, a dirty mind
Moving matters untold residue
Its all evolution's fault now
It's all down to echoes in the crowd
03 Space and the Woods (03:44)
Suicide is in my blood
It always was
but it doesn't evaporate in the light any more
And this world is no place
For a mind or a thought
No its not
Well thats been said before
But space and the woods still know who I am and I know they don't owe me anything not after what I've done.
Put on my radiation suit and slip away
I'm on the run from what I've become
And this life (like suicide)
Runs at a lot of different speeds
and I know they don't owe me anything
not after what I've done
late on a Monday night
I'm on the grapevine
beating around the bush
adds to the bassline
thinking about the time
when I was dancing slow
and out of control
im shit hot so say what you think about me im not gonna cry cos i dont care
I've done nothing
I've done nothing
but they forgive anything
like how I don't stop you
breaking my arms
and chopping me down
so I fit in your laptop
I've done nothing
04 The Bears Are Coming (03:24)
"Snap away" she said
As they danced towards the moonlight
Run away he did
As she cast off another night
So intuned were we
By the thought of what could never be
So consumed were we
By feelings felt between the sheets
What do they mean
Seamless dirty dreams
Why must you scream
Please don't make a scene
She thinks she plays
Is it all a game
No need to be tame
Sugar melts the acid rain
I saw you wading in the water
I saw you ride along the sea
Shine on a nightmare
Shine through the trees
Ahhh-ahhh. ahhh-ahhhh x4
06 Heartbeat (03:02)
A motion you cannot define
The 20th century shine
in and out for the count
having a shower before the drought
a heartbeat a flicker a line x 4
its just a line x 12
pineapple pieces in brine
fucking around with your mind
a heartbeat a flicker a line x 4
its just a line x 12
a heartbeat a flicker a line
its just a line x 12
12 Bathroom Gurgle (07:05)
We have all been wasting our time
For sunlight
There's only so much we'll take
Far from the only light brown ocean
She was only bidding her time following
dimes
Working nine to five in the store
Wasting tiiiiiiiimme "gorgrllr"
There's only so much we'll take
Far from the only light brown ocean
Find yourself a new boy (X3).. boy
Find yourself a new boy
(unknown chorus)
So put your hands on your wasteline
And move your body to the bassline
And get your hands on some cheap wine
And get out get out like motherfucking child get ya
So put your hands on your wasteline
And move your body to the bassline
And get your hands on some cheap wine
And just move it till you feel finnnnee.
(unknown chorus)
So put your hands on your wasteline
And move your body to the bassline
And get your hands on some cheap wine
And get out get out like motherfucking child get ya
(unknown section)
(unknown chorus)
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