Album Club - Week 6

[EighteenSixty7]

Album 1

Album
Carnavas by Silversun Pickups

Tracklist
1. Melatonin
2. Well Thought Out Twinkles
3. Checkered Floor
4. Little Lover’s So Polite
5. Future Foe Scenarios
6. Waste It On
7. Lazy Eye
8. Rusted Wheel
9. Dream at Tempo 119
10. Three Seed
11. Common Reactor

Picked by

@a6l6e6x

"For a long time in my late teens/early 20s I only really listened to
really heavy music with very limited exceptions, this band was one of those exceptions

I've always found Silversun Pickups to be criminally under-rated and
they are very rarely found on UK shores, unfortunately I have never
managed to catch them live but I've watched a couple of performances
and they look superb so Emily, if you're reading this please book them for the farm.

If you are new to the band and like what you hear I absolutely
encourage further investigation, they are a consistently great
band for me bar the 2019 release which was a bit of a let down"

Questions I would ask are:
Have you listened to Silversun Pickups before and overall thoughts?
Will you investigate them further?
Would you watch at a festival?
Rating out of 5:   

 

Album 2

Album
Jump Rope Gazers by The Beths

Tracklist
1. I’m Not Getting Excited
2. Dying to Believe
3. Jump Rope Gazers
4. Acrid
5. Do You Want Me Now
6. Out of Sight
7. Don’t Go Away
8. Mars, the God of War
9. You Are a Beam of Light
10. Just Shy of Sure

Picked by

@John the Moth

"So what’s the story? The first and longest NZ lockdown ended last June
(we’ve had 3 more since), and shortly thereafter my mate messaged me
‘I’ve bought tickets to see The Beths!’. Having only been casually aware
of the band  I popped them on Spotify, and 30 seconds in to track 1 I
popped them off again... and bought tickets myself! That’s how they
came to be my first post lockdown gig.

I’ve always been a sucker for female led indie pop, and this slice of
jingly jangly heaven instantly resonated with me. Think Sleeper, think
Echobelly, think one of my all time favourites The Sundays
(shit, maybe I should go with ‘Reading, Writing and Arithmetic’.... erm?).

Where was I? Oh yeah...well it turned out that gig was intended as
the launch party for this album. Originally pencilled in as an intimate affair,
the lack of touring bands saw it escalate to a full blown sold out show
at an academy sized venue. And what a show it was.

The album chock full of great tracks, no filler at all, I’ll not
discuss at length I’ll let you find out for yourselves.

Unpretentious, joyous, mature and assured pure pop... it brings the party, I hope you enjoy"

 

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The Back Catalogue

Last Week

 

The Jukebox

 

Now That's What I Call eFest Album Club!

 

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Welcome to Week 6 of Album Club!

Apologies for the late start, next week will start at a more normal time on Monday.

 

[Quark]

Never listened to Silversun Pickups, so that's another new one. And love love love The Beth's, so no need for an excuse to listen to this one again.

Funny enough @John the Moth Future Me Hates Me was one of my options!

[Gnomicide]

These two intrigue me, I've never heard of Silverton Pickups but sounds promising, The Beths I've heard of but never knowingly listened to them.

[northernringo]

Two new albums for me this week, looking forward to it!

[northernringo]

Average scores after Week 5:

Tracy Chapman by Tracy Chapman (20 votes) - 4.05

Slowdive by Slowdive (16 v) - 3.63

I'm All Ears by Let's Eat Grandma (28 v) - 3.61

Given To The Wild by The Maccabees (18 v) - 3.5

Odessey and Oracle by The Zombies (15 v) - 3.07

Sails by The Travelling Band (16 v) - 3.06

Brightest Lights by Lane 8 (15 v) - 3.00

The Shadow of their Suns by Wax Tailor (20 v) - 2.95

Melancholia Hymns by Arcane Roots (18 v) - 2.94

The Blackest Joy by Akua Naru (28 v) - 2.68

[maelzoid]

Listened to both of these this morning.

My preconceptions of both bands would be they are indie rock. As a genre I'm not especially a fan (Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, Strokes leave me pretty cold) , though definitely have a few classic indie rock albums in my collection (Elbow, TV on the Radio).

I thought the Silversun Pickups was a pretty solid album, although not especially original in the instrumentation. For my taste they sound similar to a lot of other indie bands, but certainly at the better end of that category. I'd consider seeing them at a festival.

But not if they clashed with The Beths. Again, I anticipated indie rock and that's exactly what this is, and superficially similar to other bands in the genre. I was however pleasantly surprised by how melodic this is, and the vocal harmonies are quite distinctive too. I'd listen to it again, and at a festival would definitely make an effort to see them.

[lessthanwill1]

Good choices! 

Lazy Eye is one of my favourite songs of all time.

Love the Beths’ album. Thought it wasn’t quite as a good their debut when I first heard it but it’s definitely grown on me more recently and is definitely on par with it in my opinion. 

[ghandi]

Silversun Pickups - Carnavas

Have you listened to Silversun Pickups before and overall thoughts?

This is the first time i've listened to them, hadn't heard of them before so this was new to me. First thoughts were they reminded me of Garbage / Wolf Alice. Overall i really enjoyed them. Favourite tracks on the album were ,' Little Lovers so Polite' and ' Three seed'
Will you investigate them further?

Quite possibly as this was released in 2006, i'd be interested to see how and if their sound has changed at all.
Would you watch at a festival?

Yes i would go to check them out, i would guess a Park stage slot as they are no longer John Peel, 'new band' material, or they might be an early Other stage band.

Rating out of 5:   3

 

[Quark]

Like the SSP album on first listen. Reminds me a bit of some of the fuzzier elements of Mellon Collie-era Smashing Pumpkins in places.

[ghandi]

The Beths - Jump Rope Gazers

Have you listened to The Beths before and overall thoughts?

As someone else has said i have certainly heard the name before though never checked them out. I might have seen them on Jools before? My fave tracks are, 'Don't go away' and ' you are a beam of light'. Some nice 'poppy' indie tunes. Not many bands from New Zealand make a splash over here so nice to here some decent music from that part of the world, or maybe i am being a bit nieve :)

Will you investigate them further?

Seems to be a new band, so will check out the other album, possible whilst driving about.
Would you watch at a festival?

If i were at the stage when they came on i wouldn't walk away, but doubt i'd go out of my way.
Rating out of 5:   3

 

[foolee]

Carnavas by Silversun Pickups

Have you listened to Silversun Pickups before and overall thoughts? 
Never listened to them before but I have heard of them, I think due to playing Reading Festival one of the years that I've been as I remember seeing the name on a line up. I thought it was a bit slow and boring in places but I did enjoy quite a few tracks. Unlike many albums I thought the second half of the album was more enjoyable than the first. My favourite track was Lazy Eye. I also enjoyed Rusted Wheel and Common Reactor. 

Will you investigate them further?
I would like too. 

Would you watch at a festival?
Yes. 

Rating out of 5: A solid 3/5

[Toilet Duck]

Hi Folks, mind if I join in? The "when will this shit end?" thread is doing my head in with all the bickering and I think I should rediscover the rest of the forum (which is why I used to come here anyway!). @ghandi, I just nicked your formatting if that's ok?😀

Have you listened to Silversun Pickups before and overall thoughts? 
Yes, I have Carnavas as I bought it when it came out. Took me a while to see past the Smashing Pumpkins parallels, but it grew on me and tracks from the album remain on many of my playlists. Well thought out twinkles was always my favourite and that hasn't changed on listening to the album through again! 

Will you investigate them further?
If I'm honest, I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to what they have done since, so this has rekindled my interest and I'll check out some of their later stuff!

Would you watch at a festival?
Most certainly!

Rating out of 5: It was always about a 3.5/5 for me, but that isn't an option in the poll, so I'll stick with a solid 3/5

 

For the Second album, there weren't any questions...but thoughts below. 

I hadn't listened to The Beths at all. Now, I'm wondering what the hell I've been doing. It's right up my street. I've always had a soft spot for Female-led indie, the Alvvays debut was on heavy rotation in my car and before the '17 festival (maybe?), someone on here recommended The Big Moon, who I also had on frequent repeat. I loved the Sundays and can definitely see the similarities in places here (You Are a Beam of Light could be Harriet Wheeler herself!). Favourite track after a few listens so far is Do you want me now, but who knows, it's likely to change. Definitely added to my collection, would 100% see them if they were at the festival and would make the effort to see them if they turned up on these shores whenever we are allowed to go to gigs again! Thanks @John the Moth, excellent recommendation! 5/5 from me and I'll definitely be checking out their other album. 

[Quark]

29 minutes ago, Toilet Duck said:

Hi Folks, mind if I join in? The "when will this shit end?" thread is doing my head in with all the bickering and I think I should rediscover the rest of the forum (which is why I used to come here anyway!). @ghandi, I just nicked your formatting if that's ok?😀

Have you listened to Silversun Pickups before and overall thoughts? 
Yes, I have Carnavas as I bought it when it came out. Took me a while to see past the Smashing Pumpkins parallels, but it grew on me and tracks from the album remain on many of my playlists. Well thought out twinkles was always my favourite and that hasn't changed on listening to the album through again! 

Will you investigate them further?
If I'm honest, I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to what they have done since, so this has rekindled my interest and I'll check out some of their later stuff!

Would you watch at a festival?
Most certainly!

Rating out of 5: It was always about a 3.5/5 for me, but that isn't an option in the poll, so I'll stick with a solid 3/5

 

For the Second album, there weren't any questions...but thoughts below. 

I hadn't listened to The Beths at all. Now, I'm wondering what the hell I've been doing. It's right up my street. I've always had a soft spot for Female-led indie, the Alvvays debut was on heavy rotation in my car and before the '17 festival (maybe?), someone on here recommended The Big Moon, who I also had on frequent repeat. I loved the Sundays and can definitely see the similarities in places here (You Are a Beam of Light could be Harriet Wheeler herself!). Favourite track after a few listens so far is Do you want me now, but who knows, it's likely to change. Definitely added to my collection, would 100% see them if they were at the festival and would make the effort to see them if they turned up on these shores whenever we are allowed to go to gigs again! Thanks @John the Moth, excellent recommendation! 5/5 from me and I'll definitely be checking out their other album. 

Don't blame you TD, I've largely stayed away from those threads recently! 

Get stuck in, really been enjoying the recommendations in the album club threads 🙂

[Toilet Duck]

1 hour ago, Quark said:

Don't blame you TD, I've largely stayed away from those threads recently! 

Get stuck in, really been enjoying the recommendations in the album club threads 🙂

Yeah, it’s gotten a bit antsy! I’ve written loads of responses recently and then just deleted them rather than post as I don’t really want to get into it!

This thread is brilliant. Checking out things lower down on the bill is often where I find new things to listen to these days, but with no festivals, it’s been slim pickings this year, so this is a great way of finding new things!

Edited March 23, 2021 by Toilet Duck
Typo!

[Quark]

20 minutes ago, Toilet Duck said:

Yeah, it’s gotten a bit antsy! I’ve written loads of responses recently and then just deleted them rather than post as I don’t really want to get into it!

This thread is brilliant. Checking out things lower down on the bill is often where I find new things to listen to these days, but with no festivals, it’s been slim pickings this year, so this is a great way of finding new things!

As end of lockdown approaches and gigs become a thing again there's more threads coming back to life. Get in on the new music thread as well!

[ghandi]

2 hours ago, Toilet Duck said:

Yeah, it’s gotten a bit antsy! I’ve written loads of responses recently and then just deleted them rather than post as I don’t really want to get into it!

This thread is brilliant. Checking out things lower down on the bill is often where I find new things to listen to these days, but with no festivals, it’s been slim pickings this year, so this is a great way of finding new things!

Lol, tbh this is how I usually find new acts as well, so also loving this thread for that same reason. Although I do have a couple when my turn comes around that I never found from a festival line up.

[a6l6e6x]

Won't bother rating my own submission, good to see some of you enjoying it though. I actually prefer Swoon as an album but Carnavas got me into SSPU so decided to submit that one

Jump Rope Gazers - The Beths

Really like the vocals and as an album it flows nicely. I don't have enough female led vocals bands in my library so this is a nice addition to my artists on spotify. I think I will revisit this when I'm after a short easy listen. I wouldn't go out of my way to see them on at a festival but if I saw them on a line up and there was nothing else massively swaying me at the time I'd give them a go. For me it's a 3/5

[Haan]

Silversun Pickups - Carnavas

Have you listened to Silversun Pickups before and overall thoughts? Nope! I thought this was decent, I did find myself losing interest a touch at the middle but I liked it overall. I really liked Well Thought out Twinkles and Little Lover's so Polite. I'd just also like to add the cover art and font/text is horrible lol.
Will you investigate them further? Hmm maybe yeah
Would you watch at a festival? If nothing else is on, happily!
Rating out of 5:   3

 

The Beths -  Jump Rope Gazers

This is hard. Love the vocal melodies overall fun sound. I thought Out of Sight was a bit of a dud but apart from that I enjoyed it all. Loved playing it whilst running and I think I will try and catch them live if they're on a festival line up. 4/5

 

I'm sure I've said this before but I'm loving these threads, listening to much new music outside of my normal bubble

[EighteenSixty7]

Just started with the Silversun Pickups album and I'm pleasantly surprised because from the album cover I expected this to be a bit heavier than it is. Not bad so far.

[EighteenSixty7]

The Beths is really quite charming. 

[John the Moth]

Carnavas - Silversun Pickups

Have you listened to Silversun Pickups before and overall thoughts? I count Lazy Eye as one of my all time favourite songs, however I’ve heard practically no other material by the band. It falls into an odd time in my musical history. It was all over satellite music channels at the time, on in every indie bar/disco, even on feckin guitar hero later down the line. But when it was out, streaming services for a long way in my future and I had limited funds for buying cds. So catching up with them now is long overdue and well worth the effort. Loved the album, and it’s not dated badly at all. 

Will you investigate them further? I think I owe it to them

Would you watch at a festival? Definitely, I would have checked them out just for Lazy Eye anyway.

Rating 4 out of 5

 

The Beths... well it was my pick weren’t it 😉

[Gnomicide]

The Beths in action last night...

 

 

[Gnomicide]

I'll cover these two at the same time because my thoughts on both were roughly the same.

They are the type of band I'll first hear when checking out bands lower down the bill before a festival. They both piqued my interest and if they were to appear at a festival I was going to, I'd invest more time in them.

Unfortunately they're both also the type of bands that (unless they delivered a blinding set at the festival) I'd soon forget about afterwards. 

I'd then come across them again when lined up for a festival the following year, remember I quite liked them and I'd probably start listening again.

In summary, yeah, I liked them both, would definitely make an effort to see them at a festival but probably wouldn't be upset if they clashed with someone better. Definitely the best 2 albums of Album Club so far (other than my own choice, obvs) but nothing I'm really excited about.

[Quark]

Silversun Pickups

Have you listened to Silversun Pickups before and overall thoughts? I had not, this is a new one for me.  Initial thought was Mellon Collie-era Pumpkins, but after a few listens you start hearing the differences.  I wouldn't say that any of the tracks have stuck in my head, but did really enjoy Lazy Eye in particular. Solid stuff.
Will you investigate them further? I may well do.  It's not top of my list of stuff to listen to, but I think I'll give some more of their stuff a spin.
Would you watch at a festival?  Yep.  Again I wouldn't drop everything to go see them, but it'd be a good sound for a fest set, and I'd be interested to see how they sound live.
Rating out of 5: It's a 3.5 from me Geoff.

 

The Beths

This is hard to say as I do love The Beths, and thought this album was great when it came out, but I realised that I've really not gone back and listened to it that much.  I still really like the sound, the harmonies and Liz's voice, but I just found this album a bit...backgroundy.  Bizarre as it was in my top 20 for 2020, but I've got no real urge to revisit it again for more than a few tracks. 

After listening to it a couple of times I went back and listened to their first album just to check it wasn't that I was in the wrong mood or something, but that one still just grabs me straight away. I've seen them a couple of times already, would 100% still see them at a fest, and I've got a ticket for when they do reappear in the UK that I'm really looking forward to, but for me this is a classic case of the slightly more polished second album not quite hitting the heights of the debut.

3/5

Edited March 30, 2021 by Quark