The rock/pop music of the week reviewed...
Thirty Seconds to Mars
EMI *
Hollywood stars and their egos, eh? We might let Jared Leto off the hook, considering that Thirty Seconds to Mars, the band he formed with his brother Shannon in 1998, predated any of his movie hits. That's about all Leto can be excused for, mind - the actor has embraced his inner rock star to preposterous proportions, if their third album is anything to go by. Desperately searching for a middle ground between emo and U2, right down to the chiming guitars and Leto's karaoke Bono, the trio (Tomo Milicevic rounds out the crew) end up sounding more like tawdry 1990s rockers Babylon Zoo. Their hollow, sloganeering lyrics ("This is
a call to arms, time to go to war") help matters none, while the songs themselves are lacklustre stadium tunes with empty sentiments. Dreadful. www.thirtysecondstomars.com LAUREN MURPHY
Download track: Closer to the Edge
The Boy Least Likely to
The Law of the Playground
Too Young to Die ****
Calling the Boy Least Likely To "twee" is like calling Christmas "amazing". But this record is as twee as Belle and Sebastian at ATP wearing cardigans - a prospect that would be too saccharine if not for the weary streak running through the LP. Kept in limbo for a year, The Law of the Playgroundwas the album equivalent of Tom Hanks in The Terminal:all of a sudden, the band didn't have a label anymore, but it was a label they couldn't leave. Eventually self-released, the album took its toll on the duo. Tracks such as The Boy Least Likely to Is a Machinemonotonously detail the mechanical ins-and-outs of the business. But you can't keep these cheery chappies down for long, and sunshine wins over rainclouds.
A Fairytale Ending, the album's closer, acknowledges reality - but only if there's magic involved. www.theboyleastlikelyto.co.uk AILBHE MALONE
Download tracks: Saddle Up, The Boy Least Likely to Is a Machine
Psychic Chasms
Lefse ****
There is now a name for the latest game in indie rock. "Chillwave" describes those low-fi electropop newbies who deal in hazy, stoned, warped retro grooves. Joining Washed Out and Memory Tapes in the chillwave boxroom of fame is Alan Palomo, a film student from Austin, Texas. As Neon Indian, Palomo's work slots in with those others, blurrily seeking to reimagine a pop post with loose, out-of-kilter sounds and vocals.
Yet, as the standout track Deadbeat Summershows, Palomo will also find a definitive groove in the middle of those woozy sounds and following it to its logical conclusion. Again and again he pulls sounds together - a little My Bloody Valentine guitar shimmer here, some beautifully layered electronics there - and adds enough hooks to leave you wanting more. Catch Neon Indian at Dublin's Academy on December 9th and Cork's Opera House on the 10th. www.myspace.com/neonindian JIM CARROLL
Download tracks: Deadbeat Summer, Should Have Taken Acid With You
Woodsman
Mexican Summer ***
Maybe their exposure to the majestic Rocky Mountains gives this group of Denverites licence to plumb the kaleidoscopic depths of mind- bending instrumental prog-rock. Their sitar-free psychedelic debut retains all the rainbow flavour of psychedelia while modernising its sounds and avoiding indulgence.
Collagesisn't so much a trippy cacophony of sound as the mesmerising eye of a storm.
The tracks retain a sense of motion in measures, gradually layering fuzzy guitars with cavernous reverb, electronic blips and sleepily kinetic drums before ebbing away. Collagesdoesn't revolutionise anything, but it does venture away from the mainstream and whisks you along with it. Think Yo La Tengo's blissed out instrumentals jamming with a mellow Jimi Hendrix - and enough auditory acid to turn any litmus test fire engine red. www.myspace.com/woodsmanman DEANNA ORTIZ
Download Tracks: Sunglass, Spirit Stone
