Posts Tagged ‘Southend On Sea’

THESE NEW PURITANS – ” Inside The Rose “

Posted: March 27, 2019 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Combing everything from break beats to neo-classical influences, woodwind instrumentation and post rock; it’s fair to say that These New Puritans are one of the most innovative British bands for a generation. Formed in 2006 by twin brothers Jack and George Barnett, the Southend-on-Sea have steadily built their cult following amongst discerning listeners and now they are back with their accomplished fourth album ‘Inside The Rose’.

Recorded in Berlin, a city long known for its creative freedom and pioneering forays into the many forms of electronica, the Barnett boys have created an intriguing and lush 40-minute listening containing just nine tracks which unfold in the most wonderfully unexpected way. ‘Beyond Black Suns’ starts with oppressive beats to rise with operatic vocal accompaniment, ‘Where the Trees Are On Fire’ is perhaps Jack’s most natural singing performance and feels like an actor breaking the fourth wall in some haunting musical and ‘Anti-Gravity’ draws on oriental influences for its spacious dark wave synth sound like a lost scrap of soundtrack from Bladerunner.

“My favourite kind of music is very clear but also mysterious at the same time. If you have a strange idea always present it in the clearest possible way. Don’t mess about with pretentious abstract rubbish, that’s the kind of thing we don’t relate to. A lot of the time George takes what I’ve come up with and nudges me in a certain way. Many of the vocals were completely different. The usual thing that would happen was I would play him a vocal that I had recorded, then he would listen to it for ten seconds then press stop and not say anything. And that’s when I knew that it wasn’t quite right and I would go back and do something else. Being brothers and working in music means there are no niceties. We can be absolutely brutal to each other, but in a way. It’s okay because you can’t be sensitive about it, you can’t be precious. You get past all the niceties and you get to the heart of things.” – Jack Barnett

From the new album “INSIDE THE ROSE” Infectious Music . A BMG Company.

Band Members
George Barnett, Jack Barnett

ASYLUMS – ” Killer Brain Waves “

Posted: July 28, 2016 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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Killer Brain Waves

Asylums are classic 90s kids. The Southend-on-Sea band are saractasic, manic, and grossly disenchanted. Like many of us, Asylums have come of age to the sound of global markets crashing. Since the rules of previous generations no longer apply, current acts have had to find ways to break into the creative industries on their own terms. Asylums have got it down to a fine art. Their debut album Killer Brain Waves has been two years in the making, with the band taking the DIY route the whole way. The album presses songs about austerity and inequality alongside adolescent daydreams of sexual fantasy, capturing Generation Y’s current situation in a neat package.

There’s something nostalgic about Killer Brain Waves, more the guilty, twenty something nostalgia of watching mindless TV and eating cereal in the afternoon while the world falls apart outside. The sharp, stabbing guitar riffs of “Bad Influence” and “Necessary Appliances” paired with lyrics like “laying in the bed they’ve made, conformity becomes a cage” calls back to the American pop punk scene that exploded a decade ago, before it put on blue eyeliner and warped into emo. At times, this same effect makes Killer Brain Waves seem a little like a throwback album.

The record is critically present day in the topics that it deals with, as “The Death of Television” rails against the disconnect of the social media generation. The track confirms that – for Asylums, at least – it was Aldous Huxley who correctly predicted our dystopian future, while the rest of us were waiting for something a bit more George Orwell. Similarly, “Sunday Commuters” tackles obsession with capitalism and the unending drive for wealth.

However, the album’s real highlights are the chirpier, less socially minded moments. Early single “Wet Dream Fanzine”, a jumpy study in sexual attraction, is a clear stand out. Likewise, the youthful runaway song “Missing Persons” will probably cement Asylum’s place as ones to watch on this year’s festival circuit.

Overall, Killer Brain Waves is a fun DIY record that reminds us of our teenage years.

Release: 29th July 2016, Cool Thing Records