The Disraelis
Demonstration
(Optical Sounds; 2008)
6.8/10

The Disraelis’ debut EP could work beautifully in the right context. Say Spinal Tap were based on The Smiths, Echo and the Bunnymen and New Order, instead of hair-metal bands: Demonstration would be the soundtrack you’d love to pick up after the movie ended.

Singer Cameron Ingles slurs his words like a drunk, gothic Joe Strummer on downers (that’s a compliment) and the band sound tight behind him. The generous reverb, dark synth and ringing guitars complete the 80’s illusion masterfully. The songs are all well written, alternating between lovely, romantic dance-tracks like the New Order rip “In Memory,” and dark Cure-esque swirlers like closer “On Earth”. The Disraelis, like The Brian Jonestown Massacre before them, are great at combining their influences and everything they loved about them but they don’t really bring anything original to the table.

It just sounds exactly like you’re listening to one of those cool English bands from the 80’s, but with an awesomely drunk lead singer. I can still see the purple fashion attire in sweaty Manchester clubs -and I was only a fucking embryo for most of 1989.

That is the band and the record’s fatal flaw. They’re nothing more than a throwback to post-punk; a genre that’s already birthed thousands of bands over the last five years that pay tribute while still sounding unique and modern (see: Interpol), Sure, The BJM get away with re-doing the music of the past but they still twist it up a little (Anton Newcombe’s a little too crazy to just play straight) and besides, you can’t have two bands doing that. That would be like an unoriginal-palooza. The Disraelis are good at what they do, but unfortunately for them, it’d be better if they did something else.

This week’s band of the week is also from Britain. Maybe the reason I’ve been listening to a lot of British bands recently is because Britain has more literate songwriters than we do in North America, and I’ve been feeling the literate-ness lately. Sure, we’ve got a couple pretty literate guys like Okkervil River’s Will Sheff or Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and nobody’s lyrics can match Dylan, but still. Britain’s got Morrissey, Ray Davies, Paul Weller, Elvis Costello, Hal Davies, Richard Thompson, Mark E. Smith and Van Morrison (er, he’s Irish, but close enough) and the songwriter of this week’s BotW. Which is…

PULP!!!

Lead singer Jarvis Cocker is Pulp’s iconic primary songwriter, responsible for hits like “Common People” off their masterpiece album Different Class. Cocker’s lyrics are often hilariously intelligent musings on life, people, romance and sex.  Cocker’s (oh shut up) intellectual take on sex is one of the things I love most about his writing. “Live Bed Show” (off Different Class) is a perfect example of Cocker’s excellent ability to illustrate a character and their particular sexual dilemma with skillful poignancy. He writes “She doesn’t have to go to work but she doesn’t want to stay in bed/ Cause it’s changed from something comfortable to something else instead/ This bed has seen it all from the first time to the last/ The silences of now and the good times of the past…Something beautiful left town and she doesn’t even know its name./ Now every night she plays the sad game ooh ah ah/ Called pretending nothing’s going wrong oh, oh class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.” 

Musically, Pulp is a great mix of synth-brit-pop that transcends that genre’s limitations due to Pulp/Cocker’s fanatically tight songwriting and interesting arrangements. Often Pulp has an anthemic sound, with loud crunchy guitars, orchestral synthetic padding (until they got to the Scott Walker produced We Love Life at which point they got real orchestra treatment) and big drums. Cocker’s overtly British singing is inimitable and suits what he writes perfectly; able to convey emotion, humor, sarcasm and sympathy perfectly and always in way that is undoubtedly Jarvis Cocker. 

Recently, Pulp has called it quits and Jarvis Cocker released his first solo album (which is just as good as any Pulp album). If you’re in the mood for something to satisfy the head and the heart at the same time (assuming your not listening to The Queen is Dead all depressed 24/7) check out any of Pulp’s last four albums and/or the self-titled Jarvis Cocker album. Clearly it’s songwriting worth writing about.  

http://www.myspace.com/pulpfun

This week’s band of the week is from across the pond. They’re a band with a big anthemic sound that’s moving and majestic and will swing your heartache beautifully. I was listening to them on the pod while marching over to my friend Charlotte’s goodbye-bonfire (I’m not going to see her for a good, long time now cuz she’s on a hitchhiking trip across Canada and by the time she gets back home I’ll be up in Halifax) and it was just fantastic. More on their sound in a bit, this week’s band of the week is…

BRITISH SEA POWER!!!

Hopefully many of you already know BSP but if not, you’re in luck, cuz once you listen to them they’ll blow your brains out of your bumholio. These brits released their first album, The Decline of British Sea Power, in 2003 to wide acclaim but not much press over in North America. A shame, because they were totally ahead of their time, playing anthemic indie rock before The Arcade Fire got huge. The first album displayed a love of the Pixies, Joy Division and My Bloody Valentine and it’s first half is more spastic and Frank Black-esque with the second half containing the more drifting, pretty songs like “Carrion” and “Fear of Drowning”. Their second and third albums (2005’s Open Season and 2008’s Do You Like Rock Music?) left behind most of the Pixies influence, with Open Season focusing more on prettier, softer songs and DYLRM basically blatantly attempting to out-anthem The Arcade Fire.

Many of the band’s lyrics are poetic meditations on life and politics. Allusions to water and escaping to the peace of the ocean are quite common as well. Then again, some songs like “No Lucifer” off DYLRM are just random words thrown together with no particular meaning. Regardless, you probably won’t pay much attention to the lyrics other than the one’s that really jump out like “The salt, the spray, the gorgeous undertow/Always, always, always the sea/Brilliantine mortality” in “Carrion” or “Oh it left my heart broken/ It took my breath away/ A lesson open/ A little more each day/ A little eyesore/ A little Nytol/ A little heartache/ A little soothe-all,” in “To Get To Sleep”.

Listen you assholes, find someway to hear these damn albums because they’re huge and beautiful. Get them onto your ipod and go for a run and you’ll feel like the seraphim are uplifting you unto a land of topless glory. Don’t pay attention to the title of the first album, there’s no decline here, BSP has power to spare.

http://www.myspace.com/britishseapower