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| By now you’ll have heard ‘Atlantis to Interzone’, Klaxons hit single from late 2006. And unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months you’ll have also heard ‘Golden Skans’ and ‘Gravity’s Rainbow’. You’ll definitely know about this ‘new-rave’ revolution that Klaxons are supposedly leading and you’ll probably also be wondering just what the fuck new-rave is. The thing is, I’m not going to tell you. Because I don’t really know. |
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I’m not going to attempt to get into this argument either because, frankly, it’s an already tired one. Instead what I’ll do for you, and this is a rather novel idea, is I’ll listen to the debut album, Myths of the Near Future which is sat in front of me and I’ll describe to you, with words, exactly what the album sounds like. Of course I’ll tell you if it’s good too (although you may want to make up your own mind).
Compared to the buoyant, rave-esque dance-floor anthem that is ‘Atlantis to Interzone', ‘Two Receivers’ is a downbeat and solemn affair. Harmonised vocals lead the verse into the small yet still quite anthemic chorus; it’s an atmospheric and menacing pop song, the perfect way to start the album. ‘Atlantis to Interzone’ though, is much more love/hate, if you don’t like the synths and samples and yelping on first listen, then you probably never will. ‘Golden Skans’ is a pure indie-pop track; it wouldn’t sound too out of place on a Kaiser Chiefs record. You’ll find yourself nodding along selflessly. ‘Totem on the Timeline’ shows us yet another string to Klaxons bow, it’s an electro-punk masterpiece.
We’re just four songs in, and yet there are already enough ideas to last a band a lifetime, Klaxons are well and truly sat in a comfort zone, they could get a million albums out of these four ideas, heck, Oasis have six albums from only one.
As the noise-pop crooning of ‘As Above, So Below’ leads into the disjointed synths and rhythms of ‘Isle of Her’, something hits me. I haven’t actually been able to make sense of any of the lyrics. You can try if you like, but it could send you crazy. Former single ‘Magick’ is the only other track akin to 'Atlantis to Interzone', and doesn’t really add much to the album. The cover of dance ‘classic’ ‘It’s Not Over Yet’, though, is brilliant, transforming the original into a highly refreshing pop opus.
Myths of the Near Future is a surprisingly good album; don’t put it on expecting more new-rave anthems though, because they aren’t there. What the album actually offers instead is a variety of different sounds showcasing the kind of songwriting ability that could keep Klaxons around for a long time to come. Or not. That’s ultimately up to you.
Looking back it occurs to me that you probably know all this already. It’s been out for two months.
Sorry.
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| James Bunce - 8/10 |
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