The Joy Formidable- The Big Roar

Loudest riot out of Wales since the miners’ strikes

It doesn’t take me to tell you what a state British rock and indie are in right now. Last year’s end-of-year sales charts showed only one album from either genre in the top 20 (the distinctly folk-flavored Mumford & Sons, whose album was released in 2009 anyway). Though of COURSE no one does it for the fame, it’s still a worrying trend that shows the mainstream just isn’t listening.

One band hoping to break the deadlock is North Wales’ The Joy Formidable, consisting perma-blonde-bobbed Ritzy Bryan, her boyfriend bassist Rhydian Dafydd and drummer Matt Thomas. Since the release of their first bombastic single Cradle in 2008, they’ve at times found themselves unsure of their identity. On their major label debut The Big Roar they’ve found it: and boy, it’s something.

Press around the album has rather lazily labeled it as Celebrity Skin-era Hole, probably because of The Joy Formidable’s bolshie blonde front woman. Whilst there are hints of Courtney Love in the mix, really the spirit is closer to early Feeder (albeit more authentic), or last year’s Dinosaur Pile-Up’s version of hard grunge (but far better at every step).

These are hardly fresh influences, but what their debut shows is a knack for suffusing snarling riffs with clear, catchy pop hooks. The songs themselves make very little sense- and quite what Heavy Abacus refers to (except, y’know, for an abacus that’s heavy) is unclear. But who cares? With Bryan’s vocals a sheer force out to have fun and support sturdy as a girder, it hardly matters.

Opener The Everchanging Spectrum Of A Lie flies out of the speaker after a minute or so or rhythmic balloon bursting, yet this is far from a party pooper. There’s no doubt that The Joy Formidable are at their best when sprinting full pelt, visible on a re-recorded Cradle, The Magnifying Glass and Chapter 2. None pull punches in terms of rhythm or fretwork, carried further by Austere, revealing their indie origins with the addictive “ah-ah-ah-ah”s backing.

Best of the lot of Whirring, with Bryan sounding like she’s singing from the top of Snowdon. It builds and builds before exploding into three minutes of gleeful rock noise, building to a tantilisingly explosive climax. It’s pounding, elemental and full of adrenaline.

Hints of shifts in dynamic and texture feel needed in places then, so it’s disappointing that Llaw=Wall feels a little clumsy with a hushed first half followed by an overbearing second. After nine songs of pure energy and forward momentum, it grinds it all to a half, and so sits as something of a deadweight towards the end. Much better is epic closer The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade- combining the two quiet-loud elements in a slightly more thoughtful way. It would make The Pixies proud.

You might not understand what the hell they’re on about half the time, but songwriting and insight can come later, this still being a debut and all. What The Big Roar gives us is the best new rock band to emerge in the last five or so years. Let’s just hope a little loud Welsh blood can infect a few up-and-comers.

4/5

Best Tracks:

Whirring
The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade
Austere
Chapter 2

Cee-Lo Green- The Ladykiller

Goodie Mob and Gnarls Barkley renaissance man brings the new-fasioned Hot Buttered Soul...

Ah the contradictory duality of success on Youtube. Pity OK Go’s success with their legendary “treadmills” video to Here It Goes Again. They may work to top viewing figures with every ensuing smart video, but cruicially, no one’s buying the music.

The success of Cee-Lo Green’s video to Fuck You requires no introduction. Two million views in seven days, it was the viral hit of 2010, but thankfully, people liked the actual song enough to go out and buy it, beating the woeful Williams/Barlow Brokeback-fest Shame to number one.

Of course, Fuck You is such a brilliant pop song (even the idea of it as a kiss off brings a smile to the face) that threatens to hang like a proverbial albatross over his third solo album, The Ladykiller. The fact it doesn’t is a testament to the quality of people working with Green, and the authenticity of his update of a classic soul sound.

Lady Killer Theme starts proceedings with tongue firmly in cheek: part Shaft, part Ironside theme. It makes it clear Green wants to have fun. After setting his lot out, Bright Lights Bigger City acts as a curveball- not straight classic soul, but a gleaming modern pop production. Introduced with punchy synth chords, Green is our guide through a Saturday night on the pull, surrounded by beautiful women- but classy; his night isn’t ending in a kebab shop. Bond-theme strings bleed in, swirling it to a heady climax.

It stands as the biggest suprise here, and from this point Green and from this point it’s what you expect- voice located somewhere between Gaye and Hayes, songs a clear pop update of the Temptations at their best- but isn’t that why you bought the entry ticket?

Despite the influences weighing heavy, Cee-Lo is entirely his own man, filled with confidence on confection like It’s OK and Satisfied, or plagued by insecurities on ballads like Bodies and I Want You. It’s obvious that he is the star here, and the album loses a little something when he shares his stage with Lauren Bennett on Love Gun. However, the presence of Earth Wind & Fire’s Philip Bailey on percussion through Fool For You is refreshingly welcome.

Lights are certainly down for the album conclusion: a cover of Band of Horses’ No One’s Gonna Love You. Green wrings every last drop of emotion out of the heartbreaking lyrics. It’s introspective on the verses, and then takes a giant leap on the skyscraping choruses. It’s quite extraordinary, and it’s no suprise it’s produced to ubiquitous pop king Paul Epworth.

What amazes most is the unity of it all, despite the work of over 10 writers and 9 or so producers, certainly more so than either of his other two solo albums. It’s the space Cee-Lo allows his voice that achieves this, and it also allows this clear shot at the mainstream to keep the right side of commercial, never straying to crass or cynical.

4/5

Best Tracks:

Fuck You
No One’s Gonna Love You
Bright Lights Bigger City
Bodies

Top 10 Things To Look Forward To In 2011

All things considered, 2010 wasn't the best year to be a music fan in the UK. Guitar music died a cold death, X Factor tried to fool pop fans with some frankly rubbish autotuning, and R&B crooners who sing their own names at the start of songs kept going to number one.

But as the following feature shows, 2011 is shaping up to be a much better year. Here's the Rockinfreakopotimus! guide to the next twelve months...

10. The Strokes Return (maybe...)

Ok, so the New Yorkers have been promising their new album for since 2008, and has faced delays thanks to at least two returns-to-drawing-board and the altogether more exciting Julian Casablancas solo album. The Strokes also have a lot of work to recover lost work, slipping from THE indie heros of the 00s to a band treading water by 2006's First Impressions Of Earth. Can they pull off their return?
Due: Spring


9. White Lies- Ritual
Their first album, To Lose My Life... found them hitting the ground running with a series of doom-laden, well written insights into death and fear. The critical noise around the follow up Ritual has been overwhelmingly positive and exciting, and if first single Bigger Than Us is anything to go by, this might be one of the first great albums of the year.
Due: 17th January

8. What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
One of the most best new bands of 2010 and certainly one of the few indie groups to really thrill, The Vaccines have announced today that their new album will be called What Did You Expect From The Vaccines. Opening on the NME tour is often a sign of greatness to follow, and if they can deliver on the promise of the first two singles, Vaccines could put guitar bands back on top.
Due: March


7. The Flaming Lips to play The Soft Bulletin live, in full!
The idea of playing a classic album in full is frequently a quick way for a band to make easy money. That and can you really think of an album you want to hear every track of? The Soft Bulletin might be the exception. The first of their trio of classic albums, the 1999 masterpiece deserves to be brought to wider attention.
Expected: Summer

6. New Radiohead Material
The follow up to 2007's game-changing In Rainbows was expected last year, but the band announced they needed a little more time to get finished in November. What's not yet clear is how we'll recieve the new music, or even what form it will take, with talk even of a classical EP. Whatever and however we get it, expectations are extremely high
Expected: Unknown


5. Sonisphere 2011
Just for the headliners: Metallica, Iron Maiden, Anthrax, Megadeath and Slipknot. Just that alone is enough to ensue that this year's Download is probably going to be very quiet indeed...
Expected: 8th July

4. Build A Rocket Boys- Elbow
Any worries about expectations getting to them were blown away last week with the premiere of new song Lippy Kids. There was a sense with their Mercury Music Prize win of just reward, and the follow up promises to be the same combination of songwriting mastery, and epic intimacy as their very best work.
Expected: March

3. Glastonbury 2011
Glasto last year was a mixed one...true they had Stevie, but as a symbol of the mixed reaction, it was Michael Eavis singing Happy Birthday. Headliners are booked (one of them probably being U2) and it promises to be an exciting year
Expected: 22nd June

2. New music scene?
2010 was completely dead for guitar bands. But through the last few decades repressive Tory governments have bred wonderful and exciting new music. A good tip? Dubstep elements find their way into unusual places...

And at number 1...

Pulp reuinite!
It's been rumoured for years, but finally the Sheffield Britpoppers are returning for a victory lap. A whole new generation are about to be introduced to the wit and wisdom of Jarvis Cocker, and the band are promising a classic show. There's also a gap in their schedule for Glasto...