Electrelane - Axes

sorry to be pedantic.

sorry i can't count.

it's odd that I've lost interest in every other band with this sound I used to like, but Electrelane are still so compelling.

also: Axes as in chopping, or Axes as in graphs?

that said I'm listening to a promo and the gaps aren't that distracting.

it's definitely their best yet. every track has grabbed me, except 'business or otherwise' which is a fraction too odd, even for my tastes.

maybe it is a cunning tactic to get people to buy the finished product.

i notice that Albini has gone from referencing Martin Hannett as usual to outright stealing from him with the broken glass sounds on the first track, a la Joy Division's 'Insight'.

(will write more as the album sinks in)

it's fucking horrible. and i LOVED the last one.

Electrelane – Axes (Too Pure)

The all-female foursome from Brighton comes armed with some big ideas for this, their third album. Recorded in Chicago with Steve Albini, it’s a record that frequently treads that fine line between ambition and pretension, but for the most part the band gets it right. The album’s sound is a dense fug of driving guitars, pounding drums, twinkling piano and, sporadically, the elfin voice of Verity Susman. Appearing in support are a male voice choir, train samples and a song heavily influenced by Eastern European folk music. It’s a heady mix, but this is clearly a band that is in full control of its sound.

The album takes a while to hit its stride, with a couple of missteps in the middle (the less said about the unlistenable ‘Business or Otherwise’, the better), but everything comes together for the last few tracks – songs merge into one another and the momentum takes you along with it, culminating in the epic closer ‘Suitcase.’ Another highlight is a furious take on the French Resistance folk song ‘The Partisan’, which was made famous by Leonard Cohen. Full of punk energy and rage (apparently directed at a certain Mr GW Bush), Susman’s wails are almost drowned in a sea of overdriven guitars.

It’s a record that finds equal value in noise and beauty. Fans of Mogwai, PJ Harvey and especially Sonic Youth will find plenty to sink their teeth into here.

7/10

this:
it's odd that I've lost interest in every other band with this sound I used to like, but Electrelane are still so compelling.

is OTM inna OTM stylee.

"two for joy" is the pinnacle of the whole post-krautrock thang. what's it reminding me of? the "aaaaAAAaaaaaAAAAaaaaAAAAAAaaaaahhhh" thing? probably just stereolab, but there's something else.

o wow, the big organ at the end. god, i love this song.

I feel I am the only who not only loves "Business or Otherwise," but finds it totally hilarious.

so. that's what i think of the album. frustratingly inconsistant, but worth it for the majority of the tracks, which are for the most part excellent. electrelane is a band that seems to consistantly put out music that is proegressive, interesting, and compelleing. and it's pretty and kicks ass alot too.

I'm learning "I Keep Losing Heart" on banjo!

I like that song

all four of their albums were spectacular in my opinion

^ they rule

I should listen to the first album again. I'd been put off of it by a middling review (probably from AMG), but recently hearing a few isolated tracks from it has been ear-opening.

This album was always a hit whenever I played it in the bar I worked.

unfortunately it's the only one of theirs i own, and one of the records is warped. if i get drunk enough i can convince myself it's mildly psychedelic, but in a normal state it's nauseating to listen to.

lol

hard to believe they were so ignored, it makes me suspicious of the whole narrative of the 2000-2009 era

I put The Valleys and To the East (other albums) on sooooo many mixes. I don't know why they weren't as big/bigger than Stereolab.

*bowing*

Was hoping this revive was about a reunion, I think I had a dream about that years ago.

You mean in 2011-2012?

But gods I wish they'd get back together too, I missed all my chances to see them live.

Good band

I saw them early on, about 2001, but I'd love to have seen them again later - the first album isn't bad but it's my least favourite (which is unusual for me, I'm usually the early-stuff-is-better guy)

Axes is my favourite of theirs because it's so, like, audacious in its structure

The series of instrumentals into the Cohen cover is one of my favourite sequences on a rock album

So in between "Bells" and "The Partisan"?

Serious question: is the album title supposed to be the plural for axis or ax?

Ya. I guess it's a lot of instrumentals! I love this approach. I think the title means both

'business or otherwise' is one of the genuinely most out-there compositions by a uk rock band in living memory