For The Record: September

September has been a weird month in that a lot of very credible and interesting albums have been released but not one has shone brighter than anything else. So basically what we have here is a list of albums set to feature in the end of year lists but none that will get anywhere near the top spot. The best thing I've heard this month though has to be Summer Camp's debut EP 'Young'. Showing that there is more to the boy/ girl duo than the previous tales of anonymity and Swedish holiday pursuits - Young takes nostalgia as a launch pad and crafts a host of pop gems around it. Just as soon as you get one nagging chorus removed from your brain another will come along and replace it, resistance is futile.

September's Recommended Releases:

Summer Camp - Young (Album of the Month)
Twin Sister - Vampires With Dreaming Kids / Color Your Life
Robyn - Body Talk Pt. 2
Interpol - Interpol
Les Savy Fav -Root For Ruin
Weezer - Hurley
Grinderman 2
Abe Vigoda - Crush
Glasser - Ring
No Age - Everything Inbetween
Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

Also worth a listen: How To Dress Well, Edwyn Collins, El Guincho, Chromeo, Of Montreal, Teengirl Fantasy, Salem, Egyptian Hip-Hop, Mark Ronson, Lil' Wayne, Magic Kids.

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November/ December: For The Record

The best albums from November

Julian Casablancas- 'Phrazes For The Young' (Album of the month)
Weezer- 'Raditude' (Review)
Cold Cave- 'Love Comes Close'
The Antlers- 'Hospice'
Memory Tapes- 'Seek Magic'
Royal Bangs- 'Let It Beep'
Them Crooked Vultures'- 'S/T' (Review)

Download

JuCas- 'River of Breaklights'
Weezer- 'I'm Your Daddy'
Cold Cave- 'Life Magazine'
The Antlers- 'Two'
Memory Tapes- 'Bicycle'
Royal Bangs- 'My Car Is Haunted'
The Crooked Vultures- 'New Fang'

And as there is only one album coming anywhere near decent in December lets pay tribute to Comanechi.

December Album of the Month

Comanechi- 'Crime Of Love'

Download

'Rabbit Hole'

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Weezer- 'Raditude'

In many ways it must be easier to be in a universally slated band than one which attracts the geeky and obsessed. Though it’s unlikely that Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo wakes up wishing he was Johnny Borrell but he must be envious of the bands who don’t have to constantly worry what keyboard warriors are going to write on internet messageboards about his new material. Weezer have been prolific in recent years having released four albums since the ‘Green’ album in 2000 however with every release the critical vultures have been hovering above the bands head waiting to pick apart the carcass of one of the best bands in the last twenty years.

‘Raditude’, Weezer’s seventh studio album won’t blunt the negative knives dangling above Weezer’s back but it certainly shows that there is still a lot of fun to be had with new songs from the band. As has become customary from a Weezer album, ‘Raditude’ kicks off with a brilliant and catchy lead single. 'I Want You To’ is a pop-punk, beer chugging party anthem packed with a triumphant chorus and brilliant skiffle percussion. It’s classic Weezer and goes to show that the band can write a simple song to such killer effect and will join the bands list of recent classics alongside ‘Pork ‘n’ Beans and ‘Keep Fishin’. Elsewhere on ‘Raditude’ things are kept light and frothy at all times, a trait which is either Weezer’s strength or fatal flaw depending on how you look at it. To make crude comparison Weezer are a bit like Green Day. Both shot to fame in the mid-nineties with college-rock/ punk leaning records which scored millions of fans and establishing themselves as much a part of adolescence as exams and awkwardness. The difference in the bands now is how they have diversified in older age. Where Green Day became a hideous but successful Politik spouting group of Kohl-eyed Dads Weezer have opted for having fun with no agenda or real meaning. It’s difficult to think of a modern Weezer song (i.e anything not on the ‘Blue’ album or ‘Pinkerton’) that actually means something or has an emotion attached to it. Has there been one? ‘Raditude’ is infected with the same detachment. It’s a superb listen, full of energy (‘In The Mall’) and hooks (‘The Girl Got Hot’) and is certainly better than recent efforts but it’s hard to shake the idea that Rivers Cuomo could probably have written these songs over a weekend and recorded them the following day.

This feeling of baseless fun is best shown on the regrettable duet with Lil’ Wayne on ‘Can’t Stop Partying’. Presumably the hook up occurred due to nothing more substantial than the fact the name Weezy sounds a lot like Weezer. This might be cute but it doesn’t mean that say The Manic Street Preachers should be getting in touch with Mike Skinner any time soon. As for the Weezy/ Weezer hook up it’s about as good as you would expect. Rivers and Wayne trade verses over a hook that sounds oddly like ‘The Ballad Of Chasey Laine’ by Bloodhound Gang. Nobody comes out of it well with Weezer looking like David Brent type characters trying to get down with the kids while Lil’ Wayne continues to show he will appear on literally anything being pressed to a CD if the fee is right. It’s a shame this album may well be remembered for this song over some of the best songs the band have written in years like ‘Love Is The Answer’ and ‘I’m Your Daddy’.

Weezer in 2009 feel like a band caught between genius and joke. There is clearly a massive amount of talent from all four members but they continue to channel the talent into teen movie pop-rock lite that does nothing but dilute the memory of their seminal early work. ‘Raditude’ is fourty minutes of great fun and certainly sounds like it could jump start the dead engine the band have looked like becoming in recent years. All that is missing is some depth and resonance and you get the feeling Weezer can make another classic album in the not too distant future.

7/10
Gigwise.com

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Weezer- '(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To'

Rivers Cumo is looking more and more like Woody Allen...



Raditude is out November 2.

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Valentine's Day Playlist

So tomorrow's the big day, the official Hallmark day of romance- Valentine's Day. Has everyone got someone to send a card? Anyone planning any big gestures? A proposal? Anyone ever been dumped on Valentines? I ask as if I care, I don't really but this is a good opportunity to make a playlist. Below is the ultimate Boring By The Sea Valentine's Mix. You can listen to it on Spotify by clicking here or tell me what is missing by leaving a comment.

• Bright Eyes- 'Lua' (I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning)
• Cat Power- 'Sea Of Love' (The Covers Record)
• Friendly Fires- 'Paris' (Friendly Fires)
• Laura Marling- 'New Romantic' (Demo)
• Outkast- 'Ms Jackson' (Stankonia)
• Radiohead- 'No Surprises' (O.K Computer)
• Regina Spektor- 'Us (Soviet Kitsch)
• The Maccabees- 'First Love' (Colour It In)
• The Cure- 'Inbetween Days' (The Head On The Door)
• Those Dancing Days- 'Hitten' (Those Dancing Days)
• TV On The Radio- 'Staring At The Sun' (Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Bastards)
• Weezer- 'Say It Ain't So' (Weezer)
• Eugene McGuinness- 'A Girl My Eyes Shine For' (The Early Learnings Of...)
• Yeah Yeah Yeah's- 'Maps' (Fever To Tell)
• The Smiths- 'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out' (The Queen Is Dead)

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