19th August - Artic Monkeys' Humbug

Artist - Album: Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
Released: 19th August 2009
Sounds like: cohesive rubbish (the words of my flatmate)

Not only is today the birthday of the Arctic Monkey's third album, but it's also the day of birth of another of the city of Sheffield's finest exports, Amy. Happy birthday girly! She's actually in London today, so I'm blogging about Humbug during the half time break in the Manchester City v Newcastle game.

By 2009, The Monkeys had come a long way from their The Jam inspired tighter-than-a-tight-thing beginnings. Unfortunately, not all of it was in the right direction. Some songs here - 'My Propeller', 'Dangerous Animals' and 'Secret Door' in particular - are just a touch lethargic, and lack any of the hooks and boisterousness that made their debut album such a hit. That said, there are some great moments: 'Crying Lightning' has a rolling stately elegance, whilst 'Cornerstone', the clear standout of this set, is perfect indie pop, with Alex Turner producing his best impression of fellow Sheffielder Jarvis Cocker with trademark wit and intelligence.

In truth though, for all the potential here - I've not yet mentioned that it was produced by Queen of the Stone Age Josh Homme - the album fails to deliver regularly enough. Which is not something you can say about that Manchester City front line after their rousing 4-0 victory.

Analbumaday... rating: 7/10

1. My Propeller - 3:27
2. Crying Lightning - 3:43
3. Dangerous Animals - 3:30
4. Secret Door - 3:43
5. Potion Approaching - 3:32
6. Fire and the Thud - 3:57
7. Cornerstone - 3:18
8. Dance Little Liar - 4:43
9. Pretty Visitors - 3:40
10. The Jeweller's Hands - 5:42

Listen to 'Cornerstone':  www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIQz6zZi7R0

30th July - The Strokes' Is This It

Artist – Album: The Strokes – Is This It

Released:  30^th July 2001

Sounds Like: This is it

Is This It was the first game changing record of the 21^st century. It sold bucketloads worldwide, contained three awesome singles and topped most end-of-year - and even end-of-decade - lists. It made it cool again to let your hair grow scruffy and long, to squeeze into a pair of the skinniest, crotch framing jeans possible and to strum away at your electric guitar. It paved the way for the success of The Libertines, Kings of Leon and Franz Ferdinand (admittedly by pilfering quite liberally from the likes of The Velvet Underground, Television and Tom Petty), and single-handedly made alternative rock cool again. Which is not too shabby for a debut.

Some of its success can be put down to the fact that it was brought to us by five good looking, hip New Yoikers, and it certainly helped to have such a celebrated list of influences, but ultimately it did well because it so good in itself. With a selection of songs as good as this it simply couldn’t fail. ‘Last Nite’ is the perfect encapsulation their sound: driving beats, explorative bass, whining guitars and Julian Casablancas’ laidback, cool delivery. Singling out one track over the others doesn’t really do it justice though, as they’re all special: ‘Is This It’, ‘The Modern Age’, ‘Soma’, ‘Someday’, ‘Hard to Explain’ and ‘Take It or Leave It’, they're all great.

Following the abominable terrorist attack by Al Qaeda on the Twin Towers the September after this album’s release, the Officer Krupke-style police bashing ‘New York City Cops’ – featuring the chorus of “New York City cops, they ain’t so smart” – was understandably pulled from the US version of the record. The seismic effect of 9/11 causes me to refrain from calling the album one that changed the world; however, it's impossible to deny the huge impact it had on 21st century popular music.

 

Albumaday... rating: 10/10

 

1.       Is This It – 2:35

2.       The Modern Age – 3:32

3.       Soma – 2:38

4.       Barely Legal – 3:54

5.       Someday – 3:07

6.       Alone, Together – 3:12

7.       Last Nite – 3:18

8.       Hard to Explain – 3:48

9.       New York City Cops – 3:36

10.   Trying Your Luck – 3:28

11.   Take It or Leave It – 3:16

Listen to ‘Trying Your Luck’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzCTobvdsxo

Also released on the 30^th July:

2002: Bruce Springsteen – The Rising

14th July - The Vines' Highly Evolved

Artist – Album: The Vines – Highly Evolved

Released:  14^th July 2002              

Sounds Like: Nirvana... NOT!

Reading back over the various reviews of this album it’s clear that the record split opinion. In the red corner, there’s the majority of the British press who oddly labelled the band as the new Nirvana, gave the album rave reviews and listed it amongst the best of the year, or, what temerity, best of all time. In the blue are the unimpressed Americans, who claim that if they do sound like Nirvana it’s only because they’re trying so hard to do so – the album is as devoid of original thought or emotion as a clone. FIGHT!

In truth, the album doesn’t really warrant such a strong reaction from either point of view. It’s good, not great, and certainly not revolutionary. Meanwhile, yes, the Vines do wear their influences on their sleeve, but so did many of the bands during the garage rock revival of the early noughties. They don’t deserve to be singled out or punished for it by any means.

Just listening to it without any of the hype or disappointment makes it clear that there is a decent band here, with plenty of ideas, if a definite lack of focus. The grunge tinged garage punk of ‘Highly Evolved’ and ‘Get Free’ are barnstorming anthems that count amongst the best of their type since the turn of the millennium, but it’s surprising that similar attempts such as ‘Sunshinin’’ and ‘In the Jungle’ fall so far wide of the mark. Similarly, some of their slower efforts, such as the wonderful ‘Autumn Shade’ and ‘Mary Jane’, are excellent lackadaisical rock tunes, but the likes of ‘Homesick’ are just too sincere. I’m pretty confused by ‘Country Yard’ and ‘Factory’ which at times sound inspired and at others make me want to throw the ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’ sounding bag of shite out of the window.

It’s patchy, but the best bits are well worth investigating.

Albumaday... rating: 6/10

1.       Highly Evolved – 1:35

2.       Autumn Shade – 2:17

3.       Outtathaway – 3:02

4.       Sunshinin’ – 2:43

5.       Homesick – 4:53

6.       Get Free – 1:59

7.       Country Yard – 3:46

8.       Factory – 3:12

9.       In the Jungle – 4:15

10.   Mary Jane – 5:52

11.   Ain’t No Room – 3:28

12.   1969 – 6:27

Listen to ‘Autumn Shade’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZteVcjwqGtE

Also released on the 14^th July:

1994: Elliott Smith – Roman Candle

Also released on the 14^th July:

1998: Beastie Boys – Hello Nasty

3rd July - The White Stripes' White Blood Cells

Artist – Album: The White Stripes – White Blood Cells

Released:  3^rd July 2001

Sounds Like: Bloody good

So, another day, another White Stripes album. Today’s White Blood Cells joins Elephant, Get Behind Me Satan and Icky Thump as another of the Detroit duos albums to get the Albumaday... treatment. And you know what? This could be the best of the lot.

It doesn’t take long to be immersed in its rambling rock and roll genius. The swaggering garage rock of ‘Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground’ is followed up terrifically by the bumbling county rock of ‘Hotel Yorba’ in probably the finest opening one-two of their career. With these two being trailed by the sweetly behind the times ‘I’m Finding It Harder to Be a Gentleman’ and the frankly peerless indie rock of ‘Fell in Love with a Girl’ (so good not even the foghorn vocalled Joss Stone or my high school band could spoil it), the album sets off on one hell of a roll. Equally impressively, they keep it just as energetic, playful and witty throughout.

And... we're done!

Albumaday... rating:  9/10

1.       Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground – 3:04

2.       Hotel Yorba – 2:10

3.       I’m Finding It Harder to Be a Gentleman – 2:54

4.       Fell in Love with a Girl – 1:50

5.       Expecting – 2:03

6.       Little Room – 0:50

7.       The Union Forever – 3:26

8.       The Same Boy You’ve Always Known – 3:09

9.       We’re Going to Be Friends – 2:22

10.   Offend in Every Way – 3:06

11.   I Think I Smell a Rat – 2:04

12.   Aluminium – 2:19

13.   I Can’t Wait – 3:38

14.   Now Mary – 1:47

15.   I Can Learn – 3:31

16.   This Protector – 2:12

Listen to ‘Fell in Love with a Girl’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q27BfBkRHbs

15th June - The White Stripes' Icky Thump

Artist – Album: The White Stripes – Icky Thump

Released:  15^th June 2007

Sounds Like: They’ve gone mental!

Things kick off on Icky Thump, The White Stripes’ sixth and final studio album, with the band not straying too far away from their standard stuff. The Led Zeppelin influences are on full display on the title track, whilst the bluesy garage rock of ‘300 M.P.H Torrential Outpour Blues’ has the vibe of their earlier work but with a slightly more polished feel.

On the fourth song though, things take a turn for the weird. Jack White wails “Connnn-quest!” like a psychotic matador, whilst mariachi trumpeters and flamenco guitars provide a suitably theatrical and exciting backdrop. It’s by far the most enthralling, interesting and, well, insane song on this album, and it’s only once you look at the album’s writing credits that you realise that this centrepiece is not a White Stripes song at all, but a near like-for-like copy of Patti Page’s 1950s dramatic pop. You barely have time to get your breath back during the pleasant but hardly ground breaking ‘Bone Broke’ and ‘Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn’ before you’re thrown back into the crazy with ‘St. Andrew (This Battle Is in the Wind’ ), a psychedelic  rocker complete with bagpipes and spoken word verses. Following that is the abrasive and harsh ‘Little Cream Soda’.

Whilst these flights of fancy can be fascinating and original, they’re mostly just baffling. There’s also the inkling that they’re only doing this for the sake of being weird – check out the pearly king and queen outfits on the album cover for exhibit 1, totally unnecessary. Not only do the bizarre bits swing and miss, but when the band decide to go back to basics and rock out they can still occasionally disappoint. Unfortunately, for the first time they sound like they’re no longer making classic rock but just imitating Classic Rock. It’s a decent album, but nowhere near as vital as their earlier output.

Albumaday... rating: 6/10

1.       Icky Thump – 4:17

2.       You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You’re Told) – 3:54

3.       300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues – 5:28

4.       Conquest – 2:48

5.       Bone Broke – 3:14

6.       Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn – 3:05

7.       St. Andrew (This Battle Is in the Air) – 1:49

8.       Little Cream Soda – 3:45

9.       Rag and Bone – 3:48

10.   I’m Slowly Turning Into You – 4:34

11.   A Martyr for My Love for You – 4:19

12.   Catch Hell Blues – 4:18

13.   Effect and Cause – 3:00

Listen to ‘Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X69EVJCOKWM

Also released on the 15^th June:

1989: Nirvana - Bleach

Also released on the 15^th June:

1999: The White Stripes – The White Stripes

Also released on the 15^th June:

1999: Santana - Supernatural

7th June - The White Stripes' Get Behind Me Satan

Artist – Album: The White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan

Released:  7^th June 2005

Sounds Like: The White Stripes start getting behind

Since bursting out of the pub scene in Detroit Michigan with their 1999 self titled debut album, the White Stripes followed a seemingly unstoppable upward trajectory, receiving widespread critical acclaim for their second album De Stijl, third album White Blood Cells and the power punk classic single ‘Fell in Love With a Girl’. Taking up the blues rock mantle that had remained mostly untouched since the early 70’s, the group were critics darlings and had garnered a considerable audience, despite their generally cult-ish leanings (try the fact that the divorcees pretended to be siblings early in their career). In 2003, they absolutely exploded, releasing the incredible album Elephant - subject of 1 April's blog and recipient of a rare-ish ten out of ten, check it out!) and the ubiquitous ‘Seven Nation Army’ (now heard worldwide in sports stadiums, in what most be one of the most unimaginative and annoying chants ever. Aaaaaaah Robin Van Persieeeee). Not long after, Jack White married a British model and wrote the theme tune to a James Bond film so, you know, things were going pretty well. With their 2005 release Get Behind Me Satan though, things felt like they had kind of plateaued.

As commendable as the change of style to electro-rock on lead single ‘Blue Orchid’ was, The White Stripes have always been masters of simple blues songs, and this feels stilted and edgy. In fact, slight changes to the group’s signature sound is one of the main points of focus here and, while nothing’s offensive to say the least, it’s the tunes that are effectively more of the same that work best. The spindly marimba sound of ‘The Nurse’ is interesting and the poppy ‘My Doorbell’ is a real highlight, but otherwise its the same old same olds such as 'The Denial Twist', 'I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet) and 'Little Ghost' that are the stand outs.

For me, this is a good record but, following the brilliant ascent of the band from their humble beginnings, it contains just a whiff of stagnation. 

Albumaday... rating: 7/10

1.       Blue Orchid – 2:37

2.       The Nurse – 3:47

3.       My Doorbell – 4:01

4.       Forever for Her (Is Over for Me) – 3:15

5.       Little Ghost – 2:18

6.       The Denial Twist – 2:35

7.       White Moon – 4:01

8.       Instinct Blues – 4:16

9.       Passive Manipulation – 0:35

10.   Take, Take, Take – 4:22

11.   As Ugly as I Seem – 4:10

12.   Red Rain – 3:52

13.   I’m Lonely (But I Ain’t That Lonely Yet) – 4:19

Listen to ‘My Doorbell’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlcMRq3gb1s

Also released on the 7^th June:

2004: Junior Boys – Last Exit

Also released on the 7^th June:

2004: The Killers – Hot Fuss

30th May - Art Brut's Bang Bang Rock & Roll

Artist – Album: Art Brut – Bang Bang Rock & Roll

Released:  30^th May 2005

Sounds Like: Look at us! We formed a band!

In 2003, Art Brut formed a band. Then they wrote the greatest song ever about such a process and titled it ‘Formed a Band’.

Complete with jagged guitars and Eddie Argos’ tongue-in-cheek vocals and instantly memorable lines (“Honey pie, I don't know when it started, just stop buying your albums from the supermarkets. They only sell things that have charted, And Art Brut? Well we've only just started”), the song swiftly wooed indie critics and on-the-ball music fans. Thankfully, Argos wasn’t kidding when he said they’d only just started – the album that followed offered exactly more of the same ironic brilliance.

‘My Little Brother’ and ‘Modern Art’ are infectious rock tracks in the same vein as their first single, all snappy guitars and witty one-liners. The title track is borderline too clever, with Argos claiming that he “can’t stand the sound of the Velvet Underground”, against a backdrop of Cale-ish screeching violins and backing vocals chirping “white light/ white heat”. On songs like ’Rusted Guns of Milan’ they show they don’t just deal in giddy joyous matters as they tackle the issue of impotence – the little-engine-that-could-esque chant of “I know I can” at the coda is disarmingly laboured.

The two real highlights though, aside from ‘Formed a Band’, are ‘Emily Kane’ and ‘Good Weekend’. The latter is a contagious and quirky pop song about, well, as Eddie Argos declares it: “got myself a brand new girlfriend.” He’s “seen her naked TWICE!” The former is a surprisingly delightful love song, written years before, dedicated to an old high school flame. In true Art Brut style, he doesn’t just miss his sweetheart though, he can actually count, to the second, the last time he saw her (“10 years... 9 months, 3 weeks, 4 days, 6 hours, 13 minutes, 5 seconds”). It’s a fantastically smart take on young love that most of us can relate to, with pleasing honest lyrics such as “I was your boyfriend when we were 15, It's the happiest that I've ever been, Even though we didn't understand, How to do much more than just hold hands”.

All the cerebral wordplay and frivolous guitarwork can become slightly draining, and it’s not an album to keep on repeat. But as debuts that don’t take themselves to seriously go, this is one of the very best.

Albumaday... rating: 8/10

1.       Formed a Band – 2:58

2.       My Little Brother – 2:23

3.       Emily Kane – 2:41

4.       Rusted Guns of Milan – 3:45

5.       Modern Art – 2:23

6.       Good Weekend – 2:49

7.       Bang Bang Rock & Roll – 2:14

8.       Fight! – 2:37

9.       Moving to L.A. – 3:29

10.   Bad Weekend – 3:03

11.   Stand Down – 2:51

12.   18,000 Lira – 1:13

Listen to ‘Good Weekend’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY4dQHsPdiI

Also released on the 30^th May:

2006: The Radio Dept. – Pet Grief

18th May - The Black Keys' Brothers

Artist – Album: The Black Keys – Brothers

Released: 18^th May 2010

Sounds Like: Good old fashioned blues rock

This is an album by The Black Keys. The name of this album is Brothers.

This album is their sixth studio album. Lots of people bought the album. Over 1,000,000 Americans have purchased it and so it has been certified platinum. More than 60,000 but less than 100,000 UK residents have bought it. This made it only silver certified in this country. The Americans got it right.

The album has also been critically acclaimed. Pitchfork gave it a 7.7/10 which is good. Most people seem to have given it 4 stars out of 5. This seems fair. Critics like the garage blues-rock stylings and the rough but well-crafted songs. So do I.

I like ‘Everlasting Light’ and ‘Tighten Up’ especially. ‘Howlin’ for You’ is also good but it reminds me of an advert. I do not like this. The advert itself might not be bad. I don't remember. But the fact that it reminds me of one is not good. Still there is an absence of bad songs here. Which is good.

It is simple and straightforward and good. I recommend it to you.

Albumaday... rating:  7/10

1.       Everlasting Light – 3:24

2.       Next Girl – 3:18

3.       Tighten Up – 3:31

4.       Howlin’ for You – 3:12

5.       She’s Long Gone – 3:06

6.       Black Mud – 2:10

7.       The Only One – 5:00

8.       Too Afraid to Love You – 3:25

9.       Ten Cent Pistol – 4:29

10.   Sinister Kid – 3:45

11.   The Go Getter – 3:37

12.   I’m Not the One – 3:49

13.   Unknown Brother – 4:00

14.   Never Gonna Give You Up – 3:39

15.   These Days – 5:12

Listen to ‘Everlasting Light’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jr0194uC-M

Also released on the 18^th May:

2010: Band of Horses – Infinite Arms 

10th April - The Hives' Veni Vidi Vicious

Artist – Album: The Hives – Veni Vidi Vicious

Released: 10^th April 2000

Sounds Like: They came, they saw, they had a couple of hits

The Hives had so many gimmicks when they first burst into the international rock scene in the early 00’s – as a Swedish, suit wearing collective with decidedly old fashioned hair styles, reportedly formed by the fictional songwriter and general music genius Randy Fitzsimmons, and fronted by the kitschly named Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist spouting out mock anger to songs with silly titles – that it was hard to actually take in the music they were bringing to the table. In the cold light of the 4,748 days (13 years if you’re going to be slapdash with your time keeping) since its release, all the stunts have faded away, leaving just a plain great garage group with almost as many hooks as attention seeking turns.

‘The Hives Declare Guerre Nucleaire’ and ‘Die, All Right!’ are blustering guitar-led riots that tear through their tunes as though they had somewhere infinitely cooler they really should be. They probably did. Most of the album carries on in a similar freewheeling and volatile vein, but if delicious snippets of faux-punk aren’t all that you’re after, they do do a surprising turn at 60’s style pop with their cover of Jerry Butler’s ‘Find Another Girl’.

To be fair, it was always pretty clear on the catchy singles ‘Hate to Say I Told You So’ and ‘Main Offender’ that we were dealing with more than a flash in the pan rock group. Perhaps the only surprising thing about their career since this point is that they’ve not really managed to kick on. Garage rock undoubtedly had its heyday a decade ago, but the band showed enough nous, chops and even a surprising slight variety in the pace of their act to suggest that they’d be able to weather out ever changing pop fashions. For some reason they haven’t really, but don’t let that deter you from trying this stomping sophomore effort.

Albumaday... rating: 7/10

1.       The Hives Declare Guerre Nucleaire – 1:35

2.       Die, All Right! – 2:46

3.       A Get Together to Tear It Apart – 1:52

4.       Main Offender – 2:33

5.       Outsmarted – 2:22

6.       Hate to Say I Told You So – 3:22

7.       The Hives Introduce the Metric System in Time – 2:06

8.       Find Another Girl – 3:12

9.       Statecontrol – 1:54

10.   Inspection Wise 1999 – 1:37

11.   Knock Knock – 2:10

12.   Supply and Demand – 2:26

Listen to ‘The Hives Declare Guerre Nucleaire ’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWAaSVm_Y60

9th April - Alabama Shakes' Boys & Girls

Artist – Album: Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls

Released:  9^th April 2012               

Sounds Like: A landmark

People of the world rejoice! I am a hero! Fanfares toot for me, fireworks spell out my name in the clear night sky, and, in pubs up and down the country, best friends will cheers a hearty cheers, sip their drinks and shake their heads with a wry smile at my tremendous achievement. For today, I’m sure you’re aware, is the 100^th day of 2013. Which means that – ahhh yes, you’ve got it – this is my 100^th album review. 100 days, 100 blogs. Thank you. Thank you.

The subject of this post, apart from my blatant awesomeness, is Alabama Shakes’ Boys & Girls; an album that was only released last year and is therefore the newest I’ve listened to during this whole stupid boy project. However recent it may be, it’s also steeped in rollicking rock history and therefore a good rowdy record to be listening to on my centi-post.

Right from the first track, the irrepressible ‘Hold On’, with its slumbering introduction and the hollered chorus “You got to... wait!”, the albums revels in its bluesy roots rock heritage. It’s not hard to hear Janis Joplin in Brittany Howard’s raw vocals, but there are also echoes of the great Creedence Clearwater Revival, AC/DC and even early Kings of Leon in their music. ‘I Found You’, ‘You Ain’t Alone’ and particularly the brilliant ‘Be Mine’ sit next to the opening song as the best bits here and are well worth seeking out.

Unsurprisingly for a band that so proudly wear their influences on their sleeves, nothing here is groundbreaking. However, it’s still a great debut, and, at least for me on this momentous day, a landmark album.

Albumaday... rating: 7/10

1.       Hold On – 3:46

2.       I Found You – 2:59

3.       Hang Loose – 2:24

4.       Rise to the Sun – 3:08

5.       You Ain’t Alone – 4:44

6.       Goin’ to the Party – 1:45

7.       Heartbreaker – 3:47

8.       Boys & Girls – 3:25

9.       Be Mine – 4:14

10.   I Ain’t the Same – 2:55

11.   On Your Way – 3:05

Listen to ‘Be Mine ’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uEGjucLt9A

Also released on the 9^th April:

1984: R.E.M - Reckoning

3rd April - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's B.R.M.C

Artist – Album: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – B.R.M.C

Released:  3^rd April 2001

Sounds Like: Deep Purple meets Jesus & Mary Chain

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club scored a moderate indie rock hit in the early 00’s with the brilliant ‘Spread Your Love’, a great big dirty rocker that had it’s roots in 60’s psychedelic garage rock bands and the heavier stuff released in the 70’s by the likes of Deep Purple. I remember it being sung at school, I remember watching the video on MTV, and I was thrilled when I found it on a compilation album that I had bought. But, since then, B.R.M.C have kind of just drifted around.

Their albums are generally well received by critics and the public alike, but it’s hard to find anyone outside of their actual fans that could name a second song by them. Some of it may be due to an apparent lack of direction by the band. Other head bangers from the first album include ‘Whatever Happened to My Rock and Roll’ and ‘Love Burns’, but elsewhere the album sounds influenced by The Jesus and Mary Chain and shoegaze, whilst the closing couple of songs are gentle acoustic ballads. Everyone likes an album that mixes it up a bit but here it feels a bit confused, and the shift in tone from song 9 to 10 was baffling.

Later albums followed a gentler, almost gospel tinged feel, and perhaps that’s where their hearts really lie. Who knows? All I’d say is that this debut - good in parts, great even at times - still sounds like that of a band who don’t quite know what they’re trying to achieve yet.

Albumaday... rating:   6/10

1.       Love Burns – 4:05

2.       Red Eyes and Tears – 4:00

3.       Whatever Happened to My Rock ‘n’ Roll (Punk Song) – 4:38

4.       Awake – 6:12

5.       White Palms – 4:55

6.       As Sure as the Sun – 5:52

7.       Rifles – 6:59

8.       Too Real – 4:55

9.       Spread Your Love – 3:45

10.   Head Up High – 5:35

11.   Salvation – 6:06

Listen to ‘Spread Your Love’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abKjC7EX2Zs

Also released on the 3^rd April:

1968: Simon and Garfunkel - Bookends

Also released on the 3^rd April:

2000: Doves – Lost Souls

1st April - The White Stripes' Elephant

Artist – Album: The White Stripes - Elephant

Released:  1^st April 2003

Sounds Like: Fools Gold

The White Stripes first rose to prominence in 1997, when the Amish ghost couple Meg & Jack Van White finished as runners up in the talent show America’s Got Singing. Despite only finishing second to the irrepressible Aqua, critics and the audience were taken in by their ancient garage blues rock (as well as Jack’s wonderful carpentry performed in between songs).

Naming themselves The White Stripes as they are the duo’s favourite bits of a zebra, they liked the name so much that they also called their first album it. They would have liked to have named all of their albums similarly, but were eventually talked down by their record label. ‘De Stijl’ (in English, ‘the stilt’) and ‘White Blood Cells’ followed, and cemented the groups reputation as one of the finest rock bands around.

Elephant, their fourth album, took the two-piece to another level as songs like ‘Seven Nation Army’ and ‘I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself’ stormed up the charts, and ‘The Hardest Button to Button’ was named influential actor George Takei’s favourite song of the week. The latter is a good example of the themes investigated in the record – set during the Second World War, it’s follows the story of the German scientists who worked to develop the world’s most difficult fastener in a ploy to distract the Allied Forces.

Not really, April Fools!

It’s just an utterly brilliant album, one of the best of the last decade. Go find out.

Albumaday... rating:   10/10

1.       Seven Nation Army – 3:52

2.       Black Math – 3:04

3.       There’s No Home for You Here – 3:44

4.       I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself – 2:46

5.       In the Cold, Cold Night – 2:58

6.       I Want to Be the Boy to Warm Your Mother’s Heart – 3:21

7.       You’ve Got Her in Your Pocket – 3:40

8.       Ball and Biscuit – 7:19

9.       The Hardest Button to Button – 3:32

10.   Little Acorns – 4:09

11.   Hypnotize – 1:48

12.   The Air Near My Fingers – 3:40

13.   Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine – 3:18

14.   Well It’s True That We Love One Another – 2:43

Listen to ‘The Air Near My Fingers’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_xbEMC8lHM

Also released on the 1^st April:

1976: Rush – 2112

Also released on the 1^st April:

2008: The Black Keys – Attack & Release