Sometimes something good arises from the ocean of new bands. Some of them deserve your full attention, some of them partial attention and some should just be ignored. The one that I am going to review fits in the second category.
Blaenavon formed four years ago, although the members have been playing together since their school years. Few months ago they have dropped their debut That's Your Lot and drew significant attention, at least when it comes to UK. I am not really sure how they earned that much attention, because the songs are so-so and they sound like you have heard them many times before.
Blaenavon's sound is reminiscing The Smiths in combination with modern indie bands such as Maximo Park and The Heartbreaks. So, they are mixture of The Smiths and all the other bands who have The Smiths as their idols. Now when I set the base for explanation why they generated hype, I can switch to reviewing songs.
It is obvious that they have a knack for creating a catchy song that can read wide audience. Choruses are particularly seducing and they never make a floo there. We could say that they have stolen all the jokes from 90s britpop dudes. You know, nineties was a decade when chorus was the most important part of the song. The opening track Take Care starts a bit obscure, almost giving it a bit of Interpol vibe with expressive vocal interpretation. It suddenly turns into an indie pop diamond. This is the formula the band is using for pulling out their songs - gradation from downtempo atmosphere all the way to chorus culmination.
Let's Prat is an upbeat song driven by 80s sound, while Orthodox Man disappears in the wave of the same songs that are currently played on the radio (emotional darkness is in the spotlight now). My Bark Is Your resembles early Editors and as the album continues, we get more and more tedious melodies, so I can only applaud them for putting their best material in the front.
Hampshire trio managed to stand out and now it's left to see whether they are going to be able to maintain the initial hype. They are hit-potent, and they seem like they want to become the new Interpol or Editors, but it's clear that they don't have enough creativity to replace them. Maybe If they start experimenting a bit more and use progressive as catalyst for their sound. Who knows, maybe then they will become that band they strive to be. For now, they are another mediocre British band. Exclamation point.
