shop | mailing lists
musicOMH
music: album reviews
The Presets - Apocalypso (Modular)
UK release date: 23 June 2008
4 stars
The Presets - Apocalypso

buy this title


track listing

1. Kicking And Screaming
2. My People
3. A New Sky
4. This Boys In Love
5. Yippiyo-Ay
6. Talk Like That
7. Eucalyptus
8. If I Know You
9. Together
10. Aeons
11. Anywhere
Not many albums kick off with the amount of energy afforded to Apocalypso. Talk about an early shot of adrenalin - Kicking And Screaming indeed! As if that wasn't enough, the Aussie duo build on that, packing an even firmer punch in My People and adding a catchier chorus for good measure.

By the time that's over, you'll know what their second album is all about - no holds barred pop music given a razor sharp edge with lithe bass lines, lean electronic beats and vocals that take the best in 1980s electro as their starting point. Sensibly the Presets push on from there, so that while there are strong elements of Phil Oakey and Dave Gahanin Julian Hamilton's vocals , they never impose at the expense of the music's overall forward drive.

And drive is what this record has in abundance, for having taken you by the scruff of the neck it refuses to put you down until, kicking and screaming, you've danced your last to Anywhere. By that time the sharp shooting riffing, lyrical vignettes and barbs, not to mention a feeling of no holds barred hedonism, will have surely lifted you skyward.

From this you may have determined subtlety is in relatively short supply, but it can be found. While This Boys In Love proclaims, "Tonight the world belongs to you and I" its chorus suggests a sweeter vulnerability. If I Know You begins on a reflective note, soft pads supporting Hamilton's ruminations. A hint of Holly Johnson comes into the vocal for this song, and its observation "I always learn things the hardest way" is genuinely affecting.

There's no doubt this album will work extremely well live, as its energy and vigour are contagious. Such is the spontaneity of the writing it could almost have been done in one take, save for the polish a bit of post-production brings.

As an album that builds on the best elements of 1980s electro it works a treat, bringing that genre kicking and strutting through teleportation to the 21st century dancefloor. Leave your bags and coats at the door, it's time to get very innocuous indeed!

  share: 
Facebook | Digg | del.icio.us | more
Mercury Prize 2009 nominees
FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE SPEECH DEBELLE KASABIAN FRIENDLY FIRES
LA ROUX BAT FOR LASHES THE HORRORS GLASVEGAS
SWEET BILLY PILGRIM THE INVISIBLE LISA HANNIGAN LED BIB




out this week:
tUnE-yArDs - BiRd-BrAiNs Norah Jones - The Fall Will Young - The Hits
Ebony Bones - Bone Of My Bones Mariah Carey - Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures
coming soon:
Gabby Young And Other Animals - We're All In This Together Rihanna - Rated R Codeine Velvet Club - Codeine Velvet Club
recent releases:
Shirley Bassey - The Performance Martha Wainwright - Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers, a Paris Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions
Robbie Williams - Reality Killed The Video Star Pascal Babare - Thunderclap Spring Joe Goddard - Harvest Festival
Jamie Cullum - The Pursuit Nirvana - Live At Reading (Deluxe Edition) Nirvana - Bleach (20th Anniversary Edition)
Julian Casablancas - Phrazes For The Young The Hidden Cameras - Origin: Orphan Weezer - Raditude
Cheryl Cole - Three Words Kings Of Convenience - Declaration Of Dependence Portico Quartet - Isla
The Antlers - Hospice Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
more album reviews
TOP ARTICLES NOW
BLOG: The X-Factor and what to do about it

GIG: The Decemberists: two sets in one night

MORE GIGS: Blue Roses, Editors, Patrick Wolf, Melody Gardot, Great Lake Swimmers, Paul Curreri, Alexandra Burke, Roberto Fonseca, Mayra Andrade, Rihanna, Beyoncé...

ALBUMS OUT THIS WEEK: Gabby Young And Other Animals, Rihanna

INTERVIEW: Martha Wainwright on her Edith Piaf album Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers, a Paris

RELATED ARTICLES
ALBUM:
The Presets - Apocalypso

VIDEO:
The Presets - My People

EXTERNAL LINKS
The Presets



  more album reviews...



musicOMH
about us
contact
copyright
home
elsewhere
Twitter
Facebook
Last.fm
Soundcloud
MySpace
© 1999-2009 OMH