Electrelane - Axes
As soon as you start listening to this album, you can tell that Electrelane are ridiculously excited about working with Steve Albini. Who cares about melody? Time signatures? For the weak. And, most importantly, the idea that anyone but the band might enjoy the music they’re making is ridiculous, and should be dismissed. Yes, this album is confusing.
You won’t notice when one song ends and the next begins, at least until the point at which you think, ‘Wait, isn’t this a Leonard Cohen song?’ and realise they’re covering ‘The Partisan’. Melodies really are sparse: try and imagine the vocal style of Sleater Kinney, combined with the guitar work of The Mars Volta in one of their more feedback-heavy moments. Nonetheless, this album does have a few highlights.
The opener ‘One, Two, Three, Lots’, whilst repetitive, has a powerful refrain, and it feeds happily into ‘Bells’, in which the band display their considerable talent for actually playing their instruments.
‘Gone Darker’, while starting with little momentum, develops for seven minutes, eventually culminating with all instruments combining impressively, before we hear a minute of what sounds like the band putting their instruments away and walking out of the studio – surprising, given that it’s halfway through the album; itself recorded in one take. Unfortunately, though, while this album has its rewarding moments, it seems to spend most of its time deciding where it wants to go.
The feedback and experimentation between songs takes on a quality almost reminiscent of Spinal Tap, sounding like guitars played with household implements. While those with enormous attention spans may find Axes rewarding, most will just find it tiresome.
5th May 2005