CD Reviews

A few CDs have landed on the Big List desk this morning. We got our hands on Rise to Remain's Nothing Left, Foster The People's Torches and Innerpartysystem's Not Getting Any Better, and here's what they sound like…

Rise to Remain are a quick, technical emo-metal band boasting some impressive guitar virtuosity. However, the guitars are mixed way too loudly for this more accessible, poppy side of metal. The song wanders into power ballad territory at times and despite the excellent musicianship and strong vocals, it's difficult to imagine the sort of person who'd be very interested in technical, emotional, slightly dated metal.

Californian band Foster The People are obviously heavily influenced by the new wave indie scene, with their debut album Torches sounding like some unreleased MGMT material. Not that that's a bad thing. The songs bounce along merrily, with their dancy, off the wall synth challenging your foot into tapping.

The choruses tend to be memorable and break nicely into settled verses with interesting melodies and happy clappy percussion. Their falsetto vocals are strong and the harmonies work well. I'd prefer a heavier mixed bass to carry more of the melody and for more punch to the syncopation the band seems to love. But overall, this is an album that keeps you guessing and usually delivers with pretty and upbeat sunshine tracks.

Check out the below video for Houdini for a good example of what I'm talking about. 

Innerpartysystem's Not Getting Any Better begins in a refreshingly thumping manner, but despite the buzzes and whirrs zipping through the track at unpredictable points, the song gets quite boring well before the end of the 3.49 running time (that's the running time of the radio edit, the vid below is an alternate mix, but you get the idea...). The single from the American electronica/industrial act repeats itself somewhat and doesn't really drive in any particular direction - it just picks up some melodic passengers as it trundles along. In a huge club and under some monolithic PA system this track might come to life, but on a wet Tuesday afternoon, it's not nearly as much fun as it promises to be.