Perth Music

Something For Kate – The Murmur Years

Something For Kate are one of the most popular and enduring Australian rock bands of the 1990’s and 2000’s, so a 2 disc best of album should be the perfect way to show off the talents of Paul Dempsey, Stephanie Ashworth and Clint Hyndman.  And that it is.  Covering songs from their 5 albums, 2 EP’s, covers of Blondie, Midnight Oil, Bruce Springsteen, The Clash and a brand new song, this best of has it all.

Every song on this album could stand up for itself but to have them all together on two discs just proves the musical power of this band. The fact that they are uniquely Australian should be treasured by the Australian music lover as the band have never tried to sound like another band or be “in” fashion.  Paul Dempsey’s lyrics have always sounded tortured and sometimes his scratchy voice takes some getting used to but if you are in the right mood, then it can be the perfect sound.

Although a best of album can sometimes mean that the band is on their last legs, the band has assured the public this is not the case.  The quality and quantity of the songs on the album justify the need for a best of album and the band were involved throughout the process so it was not just a record company executive making the calls.  This is also a way a band can re-invigorate themselves and possibly start the process of going in a new direction.  If this is the case than it will be interesting to see what happens in the future for Something For Kate. 8.5 out of 10.

Editors – An End Has A Start

For those that haven’t heard of Editors, they are a four piece indie rock band from Birmingham, England in the same musical vein as Snow Patrol, Joy Division and even early U2. Their sophomore album, An End Has A Start comes with a lot of praise from the UK where it reached number 1 on the UK charts.  After the worldwide success of Snow Patrol and especially after the Grey’s Anatomy sponsored song Chasing Cars, it would be easy to judge Editors as just another band trying to cash in on what is hot at the moment.  The difference is that Editors frontman Tom Smith has the vocal and lyric writing talent to prove that they are their own band.

The album was produced by Grammy award winning producer Jacknife Lee, who has worked in the past with such artists as U2, Green Day, Beck and Bloc Party and will soon be working on Bob Dylan and REM’s new albums.  The result is and rich sounding album that sounds like English indie-rock without being overtly English.  The only worrying aspect of this music is that if the industry is flooded with Snow Patrol copycats, Editors may get lost in the bunch and forgotten about.

The album as a whole does struggle sometimes to keep its quality high but songs such as first single Smokers Outside The Hospital Door, An End Has A Start, Bones and Escape The Nest are definitely highlights.  If you are into the softer indie rock than give this record a try otherwise maybe wait until the next album from Editors which hopefully will see a mature band shine.  6.5 out of 10.

Damien Leith – Where We Land

If you don’t count the quickly put together and money-grabbing album The Winner’s Journey, this is really the debut album from the 2006 Australian Idol winner Damien Leith. 9 of the 11 songs on the album were written or co-written by Leith with help from such artists as Alex Lloyd and James Roche (from Bachelor Girl).  The bonus song on the album is the traditional Irish song Danny Boy which suits just about any Irish sounding singer (or any drunk group).

No matter how the music sounds, the two things that any Australian Idol winner has against them is the fact that they will always be labeled as the Australian Idol winner and that past winners have not had much luck commercially or artistically after 1 album.  Leith has some quality songs on this album and shows off his now famous falsetto in songs such as All I Want Is You, Blew It All Away and Danny Boy but can the public see past his Idol achievements.

Most of the album does sound like an average Alex Lloyd album but first single 22 Steps is quite original and worthy of a nod to Leith’s voice and the album’s production team.  Where We Land will still probably sell a million copies but critical acclaim will probably escape it, something that has happened to past Australian Idols and most probably future Australian Idols.  Sorry but the album doesn’t get a “Touchdown” from me.  5.5 out of 10.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 27th, 2007 at 1:37 am and is filed under CD Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.