Reviews by henry-winchester

I've accidentally listened to this twice now and the only thing that's really stood out has been the Christopher Walken quotes. The band are just kind of boring.

I remember people being more excited about the idea of Daft Punk scoring a "Tron" movie, and the soundtrack itself, than they were about the movie. But it sucks. It feels like it's taken Daft Punk far outside of their comfort zone and into dreary, sub-Hans Zimmer orchestration with tacked-on electronica flourishes. John Powell's "Bourne" soundtracks did this whole thing so much better.

This is like the music they'd play in a montage in a 90s movie where some teen newspaper reporters discover the truth about a conspiracy.

I was expecting this to be cheesy as hell, but it's actually so damn good. Intelligent songwriting and it's refreshingly free of some of the nastiness you typically find in this genre.

They seem to be obsessed with finance.

I liked this, but it's just too indie.

Verges into pastiche in places, it's extremely annoying at times, and I'm not sure some white guys from The Netherlands can quite nail a genre that's so rooted in Black America. But somehow it works, even though it really shouldn't.

One of the first albums I ever owned, alongside Reef's "Replenish", which somehow sits nicely with this as albums that sound like they were made in LA by bands who aren't from LA.
I remember liking this, then hating it because the NME gave them a shitty review. With the benefit of hindsight, I can see why people hated them (they're a goofy and silly take on grunge) and why people liked them (they're a goofy and silly take on grunge).

I remember listening to this with my housemates in 2003, we all carted our stereos into a room and synced them up and it was kind of fun. We probably should have had more weed.

Not entirely sure it makes sense separately (and, on Amazon Music* at least, there's no mixdown of the those thing), but it's an interesting experiment nonetheless.

*The worst thing about having a low income is that I have to use an Amazon Music trial now.

Even if a one-trick pony's trick is interesting and cool, it's still just one trick, and that's the point of the analogy.

I was kind of dreading this because it's marked as "emo" (and I shouldn't really have a problem with emo tbf), but it really helped me understand where emo came from as an extension of the lo-fi, downcast work of Pavement. I feel like the Alan Grant of music now.

I remember when I learned swear words as well! I was 12. This guy sounds about 45.

And he doesn't have a Wiki page, which I thought was one of the rules here?

Enjoyed how soft this was, but the lack of backbone really made it drag.

Are the band using this service? They're so absolutely mediocre and I'm not sure why they keep showing up here. It references The Bends but they're such a pale imitator of Radiohead that they might as well be a ghost. They remind me of someone like Feeder or Muse; competent musicians who don't have any decent ideas for songs.

1) Cover is not indicative of the content
2) Guy really needs to get over himself

Not sure if this is from 1971 or 2010? In a good way?

Actually almost cried when this came on. I had "Untitled" on Adam Freeland's "Back to Mine" compilation, and hearing it took me straight back to summer 2005, when everything was bright and promising. It's a beautiful song, at once sad and uplifting.

The rest of the album is great as well, even if it can't live up to that opener. But, Jesus, they should sue LCD Soundsystem for basically stealing their whole thing.

I think I still prefer Kyuss overall, but this was pretty amazing nonetheless.

This was a very unexpected and incredibly dramatic start to my Monday morning. And I actually liked it, it's got the trappings of opera but they're translated to compositions that work more like rock songs. Lloyd Webber was kind of the Sid Vicious of the theatre scene.

I really love "Steppin' Out," but that's not on this album, which I just found incredibly boring; it's like Elvis Costello but more boring, and it's not helped by the tinny mix. Why were these British white guys doing this? It's got to be the most cringe thing in popular music. And I hate his fucking shoes! Who would wear shoes like that? They look so stupid and impractical.

The only thing I picked up on is that "Is She Really Going Out With Him's" bassline sounds just like "Scooby Snacks" by the Fun Lovin' Criminals.