Don’t Believe The Hype?

We’ve reached the point in the year where June and July albums are flowing freely, so those bands that we got fairly excited about at the start of 2009 have shown what they are really made of. Here are four bands that a lot of people were spuffing over, and what my verdict is of their debut albums:

La Roux - ‘La Roux’

Oh this is a real shame. There are some really good singles on this album, ‘In For The Kill’, ‘Quicksand’ and her new one, ‘Bullet Proof’ but oh my god there are some pithy forgettable album fillers on there. It’s an alright album, which is worse than being a totally shit album because it literally does not encourage any twinge of feeling in my body other than disappointment. But this might be just my opinion, and the rest of the country might end up adoring it, which is likely, but to me it feels rushed and unimaginative. Although her range is remarkably schizophrenic, I can’t see that this will be an album people will reference in years to come. Still think she’s really good though, just not a good first album.

Florence And The Machine – ‘Lungs’

…Whereas this album has surpassed any expectation I had about old Florence. I wasn’t really bowled over the first time I heard ‘Kiss With A Fist’, it reminded me of Ida Maria. But then ‘Dog Days’ came out and I was totally enthralled and then followed ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)’ and every cliché in the book went through my body (spine tingly, hair raising, tiny bit of wee) and then I got to hear this masterpiece of an album which will most definitely dominate everyone’s favourite-albums-of-the-year lists. It’s a huge, textured album, with her voice changing form on every song, each time grander and bolder than before. She reminds me of Boadicea.

Little Boots - ‘Hands’

I just don’t really get this thing. Little Boots had all the pressure laid on her from the BBC polls, but I can’t really get my head around why she was being hailed as exciting or original. A lot of the album just sounds like bad 90s trance, and then some of it is seriously catchy pop. This album really isn’t for me and it feels like cheap pop being pushed into the alternative genre because…well I’m not sure why, just following the zeitgeist I suppose. It’s a good album, if you like that sort of thing, but it seems like someone trying to be Alison Goldfrapp, seductive and charming, but comes out sounding temporary and sugar-coated.

Amazing Baby – ‘Rewild’

I was fairly mesmerised when I first heard Amazing Baby, there was a New York mystique about them. ‘Headdress’, ‘The Narwhal’ and ‘Pump Yr Breaks’ made the album’s final cut but my favourite Spiritualized-esque track ‘Supreme Being’ was left off which I think is a shame. The album is a lot more bombastic and epic sounding than I expected, taking the classic Americana route tinged with some 70s, commercial psychedelic sounds rather than the totally stoned and submissive hazy route. It’s a good album I think, and Amazing Baby are an act full of promise. Even if the singer dances like a twat.

Passion Pit, Golden Silvers and The Do have already delivered the goods to 2009 with total esteem, but you can read our magazine to find out what we thunked of them.