'I've Got the Tunes'- Music album reviews, this week Keane- 'Perfect Symmetry' and Attic Lights- 'Friday Night Lights' at ChrisOnline.biz

Text Box: Releases for week of 12/10/08 This week Lucinda Williams is luckily not on the agenda thanks to a debut from highly-touted Scots, Attic Lights. Keane’s latest is also scrutinized. Next week has releases from AC/DC, Kaiser Chiefs, Leon Jackson and Sugababes! What is a reviewer to do?!

Text Box: Is it any Wonder it’s so similar? Everyone’s favourite posh poppers, Keane are back with that tricky third album and its pretty much business as usual. Opening track ‘Spiralling’ features an uncharacteristically funky beat mixed with an unlikely pop ‘Whoa!’ chorus. If you thought such experimentation was a sign of wilder things to come, you’d be sadly mistaken. Second number, ‘Lovers are Losing’ does bring the listener back to Earth though. Speaking of dreamy fantasies, positive piano and structured around a love story- its classic Keane and this one could easily have come off predecessor ‘Under the Iron Sea’. Considering Chaplin’s well-documented battle with alcohol addiction (namely port), you would be forgiven for expecting a much more edgy third offering. Song four, ‘You Haven’t Told Me Anything’ sounds more like a Joy Division record than anything Keane have offered with a very retro beat to it, which at least is something unexpected but then title track ‘Perfect Symmetry’ ruins that. Happy piano beats and joyous vocals even when describing what seems to be a disillusion with life- Keane just cannot do despair, just utter positivity. In terms of tracks it’s very radio-friendly and maybe that’s what the band’s bigger picture is. It would be unfair to judge them based on this and as an album there are a lot of good songs. ‘You Don’t See Me’ offers more of a melancholy number with subtle piano and Chaplin’s boundless voice dictating the flow of the song beautifully. There’s a welcome sound of the very trendy synthesizer to ‘Again & Again’ with trademark big beat build-up into a floodgate-opening vocal from Chaplin. This is just another epic number to add to the band’s already bulging catalogue of crowd-pleasers. Naturist anthem ‘Pretend That You’re Alone Now’ experiments in different vocal content- or so you thought until it starts mentioning the inevitable ‘She’ with a safe, funky beat. ‘Love is the End’ will probably be the closest the band get to solemnity just as ‘Black Burning Heart’ will be the closest they get to an underground classic. There has been a lot of talk about change of image and change of sound and admittedly there are new sounds that have not been heard previously on a Keane record. The synthesizer in its purest form, the French-language sample and the electric guitar, but for me there’s not an awful amount of dithering from the traditional Keane formula of safe, piano-led pop. Some have even suggested that Chaplin may be trying to recreate some of Brandon Flowers’ vocal tricks which to be fair is harsh and ill-construed. Keane are a lot of things, but they are themselves and their unique sound has created their strongest attempt since ‘Hopes and Fears’, but this is a very different record to that. 8/10 CM

Text Box: Turn Down the Lights The latest hot property to come out of Scotland, so what have Attic Lights to offer that the likes of Glasvegas and Wired Desire don’t? Well if you want guitar rock, pop vocals and friendly tunes than you’re better off with this! Opener ‘Never Get Sick of the Sea’ is as catchy as it is pop-infested and could easily get annoying with extended radio play. Lead singer Kev’s voice has a tendency to slip into the higher octaves which borders on the irritating- but in general this is an energetic pop number and a certain Number One if released. ‘Bring You Down’ does much to turn down that pop dial with a more accomplished indie-style to it and thoughtful lyrics- “I can’t tell you because I don’t wanna bring you down.” Though it may not bring them as many iTunes sales, it certainly will bring in musical credibility. Third song and heavily played MySpace fledgling ‘Wendy’ is more of your classic rock song with some welcome theatrical 80s style ‘Woo-oooo”s. It’s strong, it’s well constructed but it is by no means the best one on this collection. Clearly a retro-inspired band like the aforementioned Desire, ‘Nothing but Love’ could have come straight off Billy Ray Cyrus’s Greatest Hits as the album takes an unexpected country swerve- not a welcome one I might add. ‘God’ which certainly raises questions as to the band’s spiritual beliefs is more like Glasvegas in its composition and certainly in swift musical variation- it’s classic rock with a certain pop twist. In sound it’s kind of like a mix between the stylings of say the Dandy Warhols, Teenage Fanclub and some of The White Stripes- there really is a constant theme of classic rock, which like Wired Desire may limit their appeal in today’s scene. There are some fast-paced numbers like ‘Walkie Talkie’ and ‘Never Get Sick of the Sea’ but these you feel are cloaking the band’s real influences like those on ‘The Dirty Thirst’ and ‘Send Those Dark Eyes This Way’. ‘Winter On’ is however a lovely ending to the album- a lot of bands try to put a slow and epic one on the end but few manage it to good effect. You feel almost inclined to reach for the nearest lighter even in broad daylight as the tear-jerking vocals about missing someone and remembering what is important in life kick in, a sure stadium pleaser that one. In summary this is a band that could go places- they have proved from this debut that they are impressive in certain areas but maybe it is that the band’s heart doesn’t lie in the directions they are publically showing as there is without a doubt a conflict of interests that is apparent. Still a decent start and there are some good songs on there. 7/10 CM

Text Box: Released– 13/10/08 Label– Island 1st Studio Album

Keane- Perfect Symmetry

Attic Lights- Friday Night Lights

Text Box: Released– 13/10/08 Label– Geffen/A&M 3rd Studio Album