Glasvegas- 'A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like A Kiss)

Glasvegas
A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like A Kiss)
December 1 st
6/10

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What a year 2008 has been for Glasvegas. They started the year by coming 4th in the BBC’s Mystic Meg goes pop ‘Sound of 2008’ poll behind Adele, Duffy and The Ting Tings respectively, released their critically acclaimed album in September and now round the year with a Christmas record that singer James Allen has been talking about since the band gained fame and success. What was originally going to be a stand alone Christmas LP has transformed somewhat with the stench of corporate meddling all over it. Standing at six tracks, one of which is a cover of ‘Silent Night’ this EP is available via download or tacked onto a ‘Deluxe’ edition of the ‘Glasvegas’ album proper. Some fans may feel slightly cheated.

One thing that strikes the neutral about Glasvegas however is that they inspire devotion on levels not seen since Arctic Monkeys launched in 2006, which will surely help shift copies of this EP. Personally I have never understood the Glasvegas phenomenon, often thinking of them as ‘The Emperors New Sound’. I vaguely remember Alan McGee TYPING IN CAPS LOCK AND DECLARING THEM TO BE THE BEST BAND EVER around 2004, things failed to take off for them then and I assumed they had been confined to the casket of also-rans. So when in November of last year NME and Guardian journalist Tim Jonze set up the Sane Man label to release ‘Daddy’s Gone’ I assumed it was an ill fated project.

However, switching on MTV2 recently and seeing some live footage of said song being performed in Aberdeen made me sit up and pay attention. The volume of the amassed throng bellowing the chorus back stage-wards was an inspiring moment. That song, and this band, really means something to people and regardless of what you think of the music that’s something you can’t ignore. They might be a major label indie band but they bypass the Kooks-esque hum along distraction music and lodge their songs in people’s emotional cortex. So with that in mind my ears are opened to the Christmas EP. Where before I felt the music was schlock and emotionally puerile I now want to find something that makes me feel the way that crowd in Aberdeen felt.

Sadly I’m not sure it is here. The bleak midwinter atmospheric setting is established immediately with the choral emptiness on ‘Careful What You Wish For’, a sort of short pre-cursor to the impending doom awaiting the listener. Next up is ‘Fuck You, It’s Over’ a stomping gargantuan vehicle of anger and bitterness, it is quite possibly the best thing Glasvegas have ever recorded. Whilst lyrically simple the pain and frustration in Allens voice is clear for all to see, as the song builds to a crescendo it’s hard not to join in. ‘Cruel Moon’ which follows such a high is inevitably somewhat of a let down, maudlin and self pitying the listeners patience is tested somewhat and the heavily accented croon loses these ears completely. ‘Please Come Back Home’, presumably a sequel to ‘Daddy’s Gone’, follows in previous Glasvegas 7” output with the Irivine Welsh meets My Bloody Valentine reverb heavy big pop song aesthetic. It works as well as anything the band have put out before but fails to create a stir in your belly, mainly as one suspects someone in a suit asked for ‘another hit’. As the EP title track rolls into the ‘Silent Night’ cover the music starts to wash over, nicely but non effective. What is striking about the album is that bar the first and last tracks no real spirit of Christmas is evoked at all. Whilst nobody is asking for jingle bells and Noddy Holder it seems odd that for such a talked about project ‘A Snowflake Fell’ could have worked as a series of effective B-sides or ‘Bonus Tracks’ on the aforementioned Deluxe album package.

Whilst my love affair with Glasvegas remains firmly on the rocks this EP is a perfect accompaniment to the bands album proper and will provide ample new material to play when the band tour in 2009. They have something special Glasvegas, but I’ll be damned if I can work out what it is.

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Glasvegas- 'Glasvegas'

http://www.gigwise.com/reviews/albums/45991/glasvegas--glasvegas-sonybmg-released-080908

Glasvegas
‘Glasvegas’
September 8th
Sony BMG
2/5


People get very angry about hype in relation to music. Many a band are dismissed as “Just a load of hyped up rubbish’ often followed by “All style no substance.” Often these people have a point (The Horrors) often they are wrong (Klaxons). Now Glasvegas have had more than their fare share of hype in the past few months. From the NME declaring them the best band in Britain to Alan McGee claiming they were the most important band to come out in 20 years the four black clad Scots have established themselves and press and fan darlings with seemingly nobody daring or wanting to say anything in opposition. This always struck this reviewer as being odd given the bands obvious limitations and very clear inspirations. It is however not my job to be subjective here, objective is the name of the game, so why are this band being tipped so highly and collecting superlatives at every turn?

On the strength of the bands debut album ‘Glasvegas’ it’s really very hard to understand why at all. Much of the pre game talk was about the sincerity, emotion and passion of singer James Allens lyrics, how he documents modern day Britain through his own harrowing tales of abandonment and anguish. Allen’s lyrics focus on bad things happening. From child death to stabbings and how his own Father became estranged from him at an early age. Whilst nobody would wish these things on a fellow human being it does not put Allen and Glasvegas above criticism on their lyrics. Put simply they lay it on thick, really thick. Take ‘Flowers & Football Tops’ for instance is about a mother losing her young son with its title taken from funeral paraphernalia. “My baby is six feet under, just another number, my daughter without her brother” Allen sings with earnestness not seen since Comic Relief appeals. As if that wasn’t hammy enough the song ends with a verse from ‘You Are My Sunshine’ to truly brighten your day. ‘Geraldine’ meanwhile masquerades as a love song for three minutes, talking of saving lives, holding hands and providing company before the an amazing turn face occurs and Geraldine is revealed to be a social worker, evidentially those longing looks across the care home were government sponsored.

If you feel sympathy for Allen then he provides reasons to hate him on ‘It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry’. “Everybody’s doing it so why can’t I, I tally up tonight’s strangers and stragglers that I’ve kissed” he says. Presumably you are meant to become Freud at this point and say “Well his father left at an early age and he has serious issues regarding intimacy and love so I should forgive him and give him a big hug.” However the opposite view here would be “Please stop whining you big baby. Yes some bad stuff happened to you in the past and you cheat on your girlfriend. Please stop subjecting my ears to this nonsense.”

The second half of the ‘Glasvegas are amazing’ argument appears to be that they write anthems destined to be sung back by enormous crowds next Summer. This is obviously inevitable and to cement it Dave Sardy has been roped in on production to give a cinematic feel to proceedings. This he does effortlessly but at what cost? Many times throughout the album things seem to be playing to a crowd when they need to be aimed at the individual. The layers of reverb across all the tracks make everything ostentatious, putting a luxurious black cape over the listener. Add to that the thick Scottish brogue running through Allen’s voice and his inclination for adding chant friendly moments into songs and you have a winning combination for the live shows. This is no bad thing and Glasvegas certainly excel at whipping the listener up into an emotional frenzy but it all seems so easily deconstructed that it lacks the real killer punch.

Glasvegas are by no means an awful band, they are no worse than say The Enemy, Fratellis or View. It is the unadulterated levels of love and worship that have got this writers back up as the musical output simply does not match up accordingly. The uniform of gloomy self pity in uninspiring as it is uninspired and the cod anthemics simply don’t wash. Next for Glasvegas is a Christmas album, expect to hear about how the holiday is cancelled as Santa left home after cheating on Mary and leaving the elves with nobody to take them to play football on a Sunday. Oh and for it to sell fucking millions.

Daddy's Gone' on Jools Holland.

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