Popular Workshop: We're Alive and We're Not Alone
Popular Workshop: We're Alive and We're Not Alone
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One Little Indian, out October 6th. |  |
Friday, 03, Oct 2008 01:08
This Is Fake DIY, out October 6th.
In a nutshell...
Jerky, jumpy but slightly dysfunctional, disco-rock.
What's it all about?
A stripped-back three piece from London that have taken an ailing indie format smashed it up and reassembled it for an album of eleven intriguing tracks that sound like pop on crack.
Who's it by?
This is the first album from the Jake, Luke and Gypsy and it's a cracker. They've been touring with Los Campesinos and Blood Red Shoes and have a string of promising gigs across the country throughout October.
As an example...
"... and it brings me right down, it's bringing me right down/Into the bottom of the snake pit, and down and down we go... "
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
This could very well be the sort of first base that could let Popular Workshop gain just enough creative and commercial success that allows them the chance to experiment even further with their next effort and produce something with utter originality.
What the others say
"Three-pronged indie-pop masterminds. Sounds like Graham Coxon armed with fresh socks and power-tools." - NME
So is it any good?
Digging into a box of tricks that Good Shoes and We Are Scientists have done well to rummage through, Popular Workshop have validated a shotgun wedding of disjointed disco beats and rusty feedback to beautiful effect. Prodding bass and delicately discordant guitar interplay keep things thick yet simple enough to layer a wonderfully catchy pop melody on top of. Stomping, charging cymbal washed choruses give way to stuttering awkward verses but the mix is ripe and there's not a synth in sight!
8/10
Ross McTaggart