Electrelane and Max’mo Park don’t have much in common. Hailing from different ends of England and dealing in two dramatically different styles of music, they are seldom mentioned in the same sentence, and indeed are only mentioned here because they have a release date in common in Tuesday, May 8. While English audiences have been digesting these albums for a little while now, American ears get their first listen with the U.S. releases of two new albums from two exceptional English rock groups.
Electrelane, the group of all-female experimental rockers from Brighton, England, is back with its fourth full-length, “No Shouts, No Calls,” released Tuesday on the Too Pure imprint.
“No Shouts, No Calls,” builds on Electrelane’s previous work in a way that its 2005 release “Axes” failed to do, and the results are breathtaking. If “Axes” seemed an abrupt, illogical departure from the sound established on Electrelane’s “The Power Out,” released in 2004, “No Shouts, No Calls” is the explanation for this move, tying together the pop charm of “The Power Out” with the darker, louder sounds of “Axes.”
he two styles blend astoundingly well. The women of Electrelane obviously learned something on their trip outside their musical box, and “No Shouts, No Calls” sounds like the archetypal Electrelane album, encapsulating all sides of their sound.
Songs like “Between the Wolf and the Dog” reference the instrumental-only style Electrelane explored on “Axes,” only this time it takes on a jubilant, pop-inflected tone, eventually rounded out by a joyous, wordless harmony just before the track runs out.
Other highlights include the folksy warmth of “Cut and Run” and the darker, louder instrumental “Five,” the longest song on the album at nearly six-and-a-half minutes. “No Shouts, No Calls” covers more ground musically than Electrelane’s previous efforts, which ultimately leaves the listener with a clearer picture of the band than its previous work does.
This album succeeds because it does not try to distance itself from perceived mistakes on other albums, and instead pushes forward, making this album the most complete-sounding effort so far.
“No Shouts, No Calls” is a perfect introduction to Electrelane for the uninitiated, and a must-have release for fans of the band.
Listeners looking for something a little shinier or more manic might investigate another new release as of Tuesday, Max’mo Park’s second album, “Our Earthly Pleasures.”
The album, which sees its release stateside just over a month after being released in the band’s native England, comes two years after their hit debut “A Certain Trigger” and gives listeners a glimpse of a better produced, more highly polished Max’mo Park.
From the first synthesized bass tone of the lead track, “Girls Who Play Guitars,” fans of the first album may fear an overproduced fiasco of the kind that so often comes with a successful band’s sophomore release.
This worry is unfounded. “Our Earthly Pleasures” does sound different than “A Certain Trigger,” tending toward the slower side of Max’mo Park, with more intricately layered instrumentals and cleaner-sounding recordings. Even so, the energy that endeared Max’mo Park to fans on its first album shines through the production.
The aforementioned opening track, “Girls Who Play Guitars,” is a perfect extension of the “A Certain Trigger” sound, playing through fast, if not quite as loose as the band’s previous material. Somehow, the vocals still sounds as fresh and bold as they did before, only this time Paul Smith sings with greater confidence and clarity.
As “Our Earthly Pleasures” plays on, listeners hear a better sampling of slower numbers in the style of their first single “Graffiti,” as on “Karaoke Plays.”
The album is not completely immune to the pitfalls of a second album, and songs like “By the Monument” take the polish a little too far, sounding perfectly tailored to the radio, but not necessarily to the band. Luckily, tracks like this are the exception, not the rule, and are still worth listening to.
“Our Earthly Pleasures” is a suitable follow-up to “A Certain Trigger,” and though it is noticeably produced, that usually works in Max’mo Park’s favor, adding a depth to the sound not heard on the band’s first release.
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