There's been some ace albums so far in 2011 here's my favourites and some of the best tracks on them. In no particular order.
Yuck - Yuck.
Yuck do nothing new, and maybe its nostalgia for early 90s US grunge but the whole album is just so feel good. They have great simple, catchy lo-fi tunes. You could play all the tracks on your guitar within an hour I bet. But you'd be real happy :)
Cults - Cults
This isnt a single off the album (yet) but its the track that blew me away when I saw them live in Brighton at The Great Escape. The singer has such a good range, from cutesy to belting out soulful wails. Its a great summer pop album, a little bit of soul but not in a naff way. They remind me of Kitty, Daisy and Lewis but have better tunes.
Holy Ghost!
I love when a debut album comes along and has LOTS of great tracks.I first heard Say My Name on a Kitsuné album and loved it. I've kept an eye on them since and looked forward to hearing the debut. It has no duff tracks, its great electro funky pop. Its what I wanted the Friendly Fires second album to sound like (but it ended up sounding like watered down Jamiroquai).
Art Brut - Brilliant! Tragic!
Cemented themselves as one of my favourite bands last week at The Lexington. Just utterly charming, fun and have now amassed such a collection of great songs to see them all live and delivered with the energy that made them ace 4 albums ago is truly inspiring. You could say that they tried something new on this latest LP - singing. But to be fair to Eddie (whom I love) when he tries it just sounds like he's whispering and it detracts from the aceness of the lyrics and great riffs. I think it works on one track which ironically is about his voice - Sexy Sometimes. On the lead single Lost Weekend his voice just sounds weird and it really bothers me. Thankfully the whispering / singing is only on a few tracks and the rest is classic Eddie, in fact very angry Eddie; Bad Comedian sees him spewing about an exes new beau "he dresses like he came free with the NME" and the track Axl Rose is a just a big fuck off to everyone and anything for "when the world grabs you by the fucking throat". Overall its a great album with some classic Art Brut tracks.
Noah and the Whale - Last Night on Earth
If you were put off by Noah and the Whale from the 5 years time song that launched them into everyones consciousness a few years back I urge you to reconsider. This is their 3rd brilliant album now and you're really missing out. For the record I loved 5 years time, and everything on their first album. I loved the the 2nd album too, a completely different mood - misery, but hope for the future. The 3rd album builds on that theme, the misery of the break up is over and now its time to live a little. Its pure joy from start to finish, literally as the last track is called Old Joy and is another of 'the Whales gospel jaunts which ends the album perfectly.
