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Standard Fare - The Noyelle Beat (LP)

First Aid Kit - The Big Black and The Blue (LP)

Oh Dreamland - Who Cares? (LP)

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Spaghetti Anywhere - Gregory's Girl

Various - We Are Only Riders: The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project

Various - Cambodian Rocks Vol 2

Avi Buffalo - What’s It In For? (single)

Shearwater - the Golden Archipelago

These New Puritans - Hidden

Fucked Up - Couple Tracks (compilation)

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Album Review

The Early Years The Early Years
Beggars Banquet

Article written by Alex McM
Oct 24, 2006.

This is the debut album from London three piece The Early Years, following the acclaimed singles ‘All Ones and Zeros’ and ‘So Far Gone’. They make a lot of noise and a good percentage of this album might already be familiar from Radio One rotation, MTV2 or from the soundtrack to the recent Nike World Cup advert.

Debut single ‘All Ones and Zeros’ opens proceedings. A superelectric charged sonic assault of drums and feeding back guitar that still manages to achieve harmony and melody, sitting somewhere between early Stereolab and Spaceman 3. Terrific.

And the pace then drops with ‘Things’, a gentle country ballad that shows the bands softer side before building to a frantic climax. ‘The Simple Solution’ follows, another krautrock inspired romp that just builds and builds. “Why change anything?” the band ask as more and more controlled feedback leads to a frenzied finish.

‘Brown Hearts’ is soft and gentle but big in production. The sonics fill a big space reminiscent of the likes of Snow Patrol before the crashing guitars kick in. ‘Song for Elizabeth’ is a beautiful just like honey dripping plea to a lost love that could have been lifted straight from Psychocandy. Its quite wonderful. All delicate harmonies before the song descends into five minutes of soft swirling feedback.

And just in case by track 6 we’ve not spotted the influences on the band we then have ‘Musik der Fruhen Jahre’ (Geddit? - Music of The Early Years) a sublime krautrock inspired instrumental drone of repeated guitar and feedback.

‘So Far Gone’ was single number two, and boasts just the most enormous guitar riff. It’s a song of strange construction; no obvious chorus, just an aural assault of guitar from start to finish.

And all too soon, the piano-led ‘This Ain’t Happiness’ provides a gentle yet bittersweet end to the LP, the hazy vocal harmonies leaving me on a high that I didn’t want to come down from. Stick the album on repeat and enjoy again, this ones a keeper.

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