MUSIC REVIEW - Creature

Creature – No Sleep At All

This is an incredibly poppy band. I’ve actually been trying to get this CD ever since I read a 6-word review of their song “Bridgette Bardot”, but have not been able to find it in stock ANYWHERE. I received a copy for my birthday and was quite pleased – I’d forgotten why I’d asked for it, but one go through made me remember in full. The album is chocked full of infectious pop music with a decidedly retro vibe. The first song (“Who’s Hot Who’s Not”) will undoubtedly turn some people off, as it is channeling Blondie’s ‘rap’ song “Rapture”, but it picks up from there, veering more towards dance-pop. No Sleep At All follows in the band’s stated ethos, described in their liner notes, of “dancing like nobody’s watching”. After the first track the album spends most of it’s time finding fun little synth and guitar hooks that work incredibly well, then blasting the hell out of them before moving on to the next set. However, the last song (“Star”), shows a slower, more introspective side of Creature, but it comes off poorly following the intensity of the rest of the album.

As much as I enjoy the album, it is definitely the product of a killer live band rather than a studio group. It’s well recorded and produced for an initial release from a smaller band, but it sounds as though the songs were crafted before a live audience and would more suited to it. Whether this will trip up other listeners I can’t say, but I for one will do exactly what the liner notes say: put this album on, dance around while getting ready for school, work whatever, and celebrate exactly how I look. After all, ‘that zit on my nose is PERFECT. It puts the pimp in pimple’.

Will I play it on my show? Repeatedly. RIYL – The GO! Team, Tilly and the Wall.


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http://creatureband.com/ (the French version is complete, with audio and video samples)
www.myspace.com/creaturecreature

MUSIC REVIEW - Telekinesis!

Telekinesis! – Self titled

This is very much decent indie-rock. Tracks 2 (“Coast of Carolina”) and 3 (“Tokyo”) are by far the highlights of the album, mainly because they drop the drifting whisper present on later tracks in favor of a more hook-laden pop-rock beat. It serves these two songs very well – “Tokyo” has already become something of a small hit. Despite peaking rather early on these two tracks, the rest of the album carries its own weight as a solid B-level indie-rock album, while showing a fair amount of diversity - Track 5, “Awkward Kisser”, shows a ‘60’s-inspired track, while track 9, “All of a Sudden”, is a playful garage-pop tune, if that is such a genre. Telekinesis! the album will not be propelling the band into the upper echelons of stardom, but it is a very decent showing from a younger band.

Will I play it on my show? I’ve played “Tokyo” already, and will again. RIYL – Apples in Stereo, Death Cab for Cutie.

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myspace

My Saturday Night

I wrote letters to companies. It's a weird hobby, but the responses are often lol-tastic. If I get one back from this, I'll post it too.