What a Pleasure EP - Beach Fossils (Captured Tracks, 2011)
With Minks' By the Hedge and now the What a Pleasure EP, Beach Fossils' latest release, the awesome 80s goth-pop revival of 2010 continues into 2011. After the shimmering, summer jangle of their 2010 lo-fi self-titled debut, the band decided to ditch that sound for this slightly moodier feel. While What a Pleasure is still brighter sounding than Minks and Wild Nothing, it is a great companion piece to the recorded output of those bands thus far. These eight tracks feature upbeat tempos, jagged and bouncy bass lines and chimey guitar parts that are somewhat reminiscent of Johnny Marr. This fantastic EP is already one of the best releases to come out in 2011, and "Fall Right In," "Face It" and "Distance" are three of the year's best songs.
Pebble - Lemuria (Bridge Nine, 2011)
I first heard of Lemuria a few years ago and finally decided to give them a chance, thanks to Bravender's incessant raving, with Pebble, their newest full length. And, yup, it's pretty great. Overall, Pebble sounds considerably mellow compared to the few earlier tracks I've heard. But, I think I'm into that. This Bridge Nine debut is more emo than pop punk, with fun boy/girl trade-off vocals, smart and solid drumming and those angular guitar rhythms I love. Sheena Ozzella's voice and guitar chops are impressive, and I'm in awe of what Alex Kerns does on the drums while singing. Everything presented on Pebble adds up, but I think my favorite thing about it is the contrast between Ozzella's powerful, higher pitched vocals and Kerns' modest, lower pitched ones.
The King of Limbs - Radiohead (TBD, 2011)
This should really get its own blog entry. This long awaited follow-up to In Rainbows seems to be Radiohead's most divisive album yet. I guess this makes sense to me, but I think any fan of Radiohead up to this point who says they don't like The King of Limbs is crazy. A false statement that I've read in several reviews is that this lacks all the ambition of every other Radiohead album. That is ridiculous. The King of Limbs isn't otherworldly like OK Computer or Kid A, but it sure sounds completely original to me. Unsurprisingly, the production is impeccable and the individual performances throughout are like nothing the band has done before. For instance, usually the bass and drums are perfectly locked in, but here, Phil Selway chugs along (playing out of his mind, actually, assuming that at least most of the drum tracks were recorded live and just processed) while Colin Greenwood does whatever the hell he wants.
The songs on The King of Limbs are even less song-y than the ones on Kid A. "Lotus Flower" is the only obvious single, as it has a definite chorus, but otherwise, only the second track, "Morning Mr. Magpie" (which might be the best track on the album), also has a chorus, and it is very unassuming. "Bloom," "Little by Little" and "Feral" are all standouts along with the two aforementioned jams. I got goosebumps the first time I heard the piano loop and drums combo of "Bloom." At first I didn't really care for the gorgeous back-to-back ballads, "Codex" and "Give Up the Ghost," but, they offer up some nice breathing room before one of Radiohead's greatest album closers, "Separator." The best moment on the album just might be when the tinkly guitars come in at the end of that track.
I am not going to go so far as to say that The King of Limbs is even close to being one of Radiohead's greatest albums, but it is still excellent and will definitely be in the running for record of the year for me. It is challenging, its contrast of organic vs. inorganic sounds is fascinating and its repetition is a nice change of pace. And, with the amount of time that elapsed between In Rainbows and this, and the fact that it is Radiohead's shortest LP, I have a feeling that this isn't the last we're going to hear from the band recording-wise within the next year.
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