Offbeat releases, performed honestly

Saurabh & Gaurav 

A triumphant return of the Brit pop giants
Blur — The Magic Whip (Elektra) 

Album of the month: Blur’s new album The Magic Whip, heralds the return of the band’s complete line-up, including prodigal guitarist Graham Coxon. The darkness at the heart of this album is displayed further with the magnificent ‘There Are Too Many Of Us’, one of the most surprising things here, where striking synth strings and military snares lead to a groove evoking the sound of a dangerously overpopulated human race marching towards their own doom. For an album shaped so heavily by Graham, there aren’t as many distorted guitars as you’d expect. The darkly playful melodies and the fat slinky groove of ‘Ice Cream Man’ prove to be a most infectious combination, reminiscent of what Think Tank might have been like had Graham been involved. Albarn bookends The Magic Whip with the kindred lines of “And if you have nobody left to rely on / I’ll hold you in my arms” and “hold close to me” on the opening and closing tracks, respectively. The space pervades the music, and it gives the music a slow, suspended feel. Even songs that seem to aim for more upbeat tempos feel hefty (I Broadcast, or Ong Ong). Pyongyang is a cheerfully charging procession of melodies that knots around strings and guitar abrasion, flashing back to This Is a Low. The Magic Whip is a measured document from a band that’s never rested on its laurels.

Best track: Ice Cream Man   
misfit: Ghost Ship 
Rating: ****

An album with transformed, kaleidoscopic horizons
Alabama Shakes — Sound and Color (ATO) 

Alabama Shakes’ adventurous side is evident in the opening title track, ostensibly a straightforward, soul-inflected song built on gentle riffs and singer-songwriter and guitarist Brittany Howard’s sultry vocals. The star instrument on Sound and Color, undoubtedly, is Britney’s voice, which has found lofty new heights, thanks to her more frequent departures into falsetto. Every track offers a new facet of her vocals and reveals a new perspective of the band’s ambition. On Miss You, she goes for torchy retro-blues, but with a more twisted ache in her voice. Dunes finds the four-piece at their best. A plaintive acoustic guitar, soft drums and haunting vocals are all that’s needed to establish the band as the very definition of classic cool. The Greatest begins as a frenzied garage tribute to The Ramones, but it’s quickly broken open by raked guitar chords and riffs. Britney excels at spinning lyrics that narrate tales of haunted love, optimism, and impassioned pacifism, which mean to find connections between eras. On the title track, she muses, “A new world hangs outside the window/ beautiful and strange/ It must be I’ve fallen awake,” before declaring “this life ain’t like it was.” Especially worthy of instrumental mention is the six-and-a-half minute Gemini, which features loud, stoned guitar that brings the Isley Brothers’ Summer Breeze to mind. Elsewhere, Britney’s voice is looped and layered upon itself like in the tempered Over My Head, a strange, R&B radio-friendly album closer.

Best track: Dunes
Worst track: Guess Who
Rating: ***

A meticulous collection that deconstructs convention
Speedy Ortiz — Foil Deer  (Carpark Records)

Speedy Ortiz came out of the gate in a big way with 2013’s Major Arcana. The album was one of the denser debuts in recent memory, one where smart lyrics and gnarled guitar melodies collided in a tangled mass of 1990s indie-rock worship. Their sophomore effort, Foil Deer, is cut from the same cloth, driven by distortion eruptions, needling guitar riffs and frontwoman Sadie Dupuis’ cerebral wordplay. But this record is even more complicated. 

That’s a very good thing indeed: From the mangled hip-hop grooves of Puffer and the grimy guitar acrobatics on Raising The Skate to the screeching noise jags lurching through Homonovus, Foil Deer is a meticulous collection which deconstructs convention. That Dupuis also steps forward as a more confident vocalist, is icing on the cake. It had a lot of blissful fuzz and clever guitar lines, and it drew inevitable comparisons to Pavement. So to keep that line of thought going, if Major Arcana is Speedy Ortiz’s Slanted and Enchanted, their new album Foil Deer skips a few years ahead to Pavement’s third full-length, Wowee Zowee. It’s ambitious and very diverse. And while it’s fun to see such a promising band trying to make big leaps, Foil Deer only succeeds when Sadie Dupuis and company stick to their roots.

Best track:  Raising The Skate    
worst track: Ginger
Rating: ** 

Natural and effortless, Ivy’s most accomplished outing yet  
Waxahatchee — Ivy Tripp (Merge)

Waxahatchee’s third release, Ivy Tripp is absolutely fantastic. It’s a work steeped in honest emotion that’s both vulnerable but empowering in nature. The album opens with Breathless; filled with distortion and longing. Musically, the album feels like a more self-confident and accessible version of Waxahatchee’s breakthrough second album Cerulean Salt from 2013. The track actually feels like it’s closing the album but it sets the tone for what’s to come. The album, while upbeat in places is quite melancholic and thoughtful. Half Moon doesn’t shy away from addressing the complicated nature of relationships as Katie Crutchfield sings, “Our love tastes like sugar but it pours all the life of out me.” Katie paints amazing landscapes and honest, relatable situations through her lyrics with such ease. Less Than stands out for its clever lyrics. The song depicts the monotony of being stuck in a routine. Crutchfield’s vocals feel desperate as she howls the self-deprecating line; “I am nothing.” The track then leads into an absolute cacophony, which is really despondent. Her vocals feel natural and completely effortless and with her great lyrics, it’s easy to get lost in the whole album. Air brings the second half of the record to staggering life. It is one of Crutchfield’s finest moments and serves as a brilliant crest to the wave that builds throughout Ivy Tripp. The album is a forlorn and despondent release but it’s a piece of art that’s raw, candid and absolutely beautiful.

Best track: Breathless  
worst track: The Dirt 
Rating: ***

Top 10 Singles

See You Again ....................................Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth (CU)

Trap Queen.....................................................................Fetty Wap (CU)

Uptown Funk! ..................................Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars (FD)

Shut Up & Dance......................................................Walk The Moon (CU)

Earned It ....................................................................The Weeknd (NM)   

Want To Want Me .......................................................Jason Derulo (CU)

Love Me Like You Do...................................................Ellie Goulding (FD) 

Dear Future Husband .............................................Meghan Trainor (NE)

Hey Mama .................................................................David Guetta (NE)

Honey, I’m Good ......................................................Andy Grammer (CU) 

Legend: (CU): Climbing Up    (FD): Falling Down   
(NM): Non-Mover  (NE): New Entry