MUDKISS FANZINE

This is Dan's first music review for Mudkiss, he brings a selection of his favourite new albums of the month to review for us. Dan's our youngest contributor to date, so he's hoping to bring us a more youthful and fresh outlook. We hope he enjoys his stay with us. Thanks Dan.

Delphic – Acolyte

Many bands have tried to fuse together the sounds of dance and rock/indie, and many have failed. Manchester band Delphic have also tried, and come up with an album that stands out from the rest. The listener is immediately greeted with ‘Clarion Call’, which commences as a fairly chilled out track, gradually bringing in those sounds you would expect to hear when you’re out on a Friday night. Parts of the track ‘Red Lights’ sound like something that would be played in Ministry of Sound back in the late 80’s, after listening to Visage and Yazoo. Title track ‘Acolyte’ is almost all electronic, as is ‘Remain’, although you would probably be listening to these in the chill out room. Some of the bass work may seem a little repetitive, but Delphic have triumphed here, with a record full of New Order type electro-indie magic. I urge everyone to get a copy as soon as possible.

Lostprophets – The Betrayed

They certainly know how to keep us waiting in suspense. After almost 4 years, 'The Betrayed' is finally here. The band actually had a record, which they spent $500.000 dollars making, but it was scrapped. So was it all worth the wait? Lets see.

This album sees Lostprophets return to their darker, more raw sound, with a couple of exceptions though. 'Where We Belong' and 'Its Not The End Of The World But I Can See It From Here' are those exceptions. These are the more radio-friendly anthems, similar to 'Last Train Home' and 'Rooftops', with more focus being put on Ian Watkins songwriting skills. 'Dstryr/Dstryr' is a typical display of the bands power, like we remember hearing on their first album 'The Fake Sound Of Progress'. Guitarist Mike Lewis certainly showing his hardcore roots, with his mean rhythm guitar playing. Its hard to pinpoint influences, there’s Faith No More, and Nine Inch Nails definitely. It sort of brings together the different sounds they have explored up to now, there’s a good balance of harsh, heavy songs, as well as the anthems mentioned earlier. Essentially this album is full of the same Lostprophets that we all know and love. They have stepped up their game with fat riffs and big choruses, which keeps us happy. The most important thing is, they are back, and they mean business

Them Crooked Vultures

I’m sure I don’t speak for myself when I say that when I first heard about Dave Grohl joining up with John Paul Jones and Josh Homme, nothing short of a masterpiece was expected. 
As soon as ‘No One Loves Me' & 'Neither Do I’, begins playing, you simply cannot mistake who is playing the drumbeat, and then JPJ kicks in the bass along with Homme’s smooth vocals. Josh’s vocals are simply stunning, sounding like Damon Albarn on ‘Interlude With Ludes’, and then moving into the dreamy ziggy territory of David Bowie's ‘Warsaw' on 'The First Breath You Take After You Give Up’. Homme really is the man of the moment, having helped out Arctic Monkeys and Biffy Clyro on their current albums.  The whole feel of this album is that it’s three guys jamming having a laugh and that is a stroke of genius.  

Vampire Weekend – Contra

The American indie quartet’s second album isn’t full of any major surprises or revelations, but that’s not to say it’s a disappointing record. Ezra’s vocal delivery is quite heavily influenced by Paul Simon, and that’s great to hear. There’s a presence of violins and strings, which make the general sound of the album richer, along with some experimental circuit-board type electronic sounds. 'Horchata’ is a great opener, an extremely rhythmic song, about a hangover-curing drink that you can’t help but sing along to. ‘Holiday’ sees reggae influences brought in as well, it makes you just want to go and chill out on the beach. ‘Cousins’ sees them revert back to the funky indie theme of their first album, which adds to the variety of songs. ‘I Think You’re A Contra’ nicely rounds off the album with some of those murky electronic sounds, with Ezra showing his musical talent by playing the piano on the track.

All in all it’s a very likeable album. It does take a couple of listens to ‘get it’. The band are clearly moving on, but still keeping some old charms. However, they still remain one of the most unique bands around at the moment.

Dan Clark 19/01//10