Top 10 Albums of 2013: 5-1

5. British Sea Power - Machineries Of Joy

It seems insane to think British Sea Power’s debut ‘The Decline In British Sea Power’ was released ten years ago. A decade on, they have released their 5^th studio album: ‘Machineries Of Joy’. The punkier numbers have mellowed somewhat but their beauty and grandeur remain large on an album which celebrates the classic BSP sound fans have come to know and love.

However, ‘Hail Holy Queen’ is one of the few tracks which deviate from the classic BSP sound this album generates. The strings will drift you out to sea without a care in the world; meanwhile Hamilton’s vocals are gloriously sweet and reminiscent of Mercury Rev’s David Barker.

But back to basics: ‘Loving Animals’ takes BSP’s love of Bowie to his electro/Berlin phase. What is fantastic about this song reflects what is great about this entire album. You can hear BSP’s influences from start to finish but at no point is any track a pastiche or parody. The final minute exemplifies this with the trippy Neu-esque guitars which are accompanied by vocals worth of Mark E Smith at his insatiable best.

Quite often with British Sea Power records one or two numbers are up-tempo punk rock anthems and mark themselves out as instant classics. On ‘Machineries Of Joy’ however everything is far more tranquil. ‘When You Need It Most’ is a sumptuous ode to Richard Hawley’s ‘Coles Corner’ material and the great Walker Brothers singles of the late 60s. ‘A Light Descending Above’ recalls the rock prowess of ‘Open The Door’ but with a sombre Robert Wyatt circa ‘Shipbuilding’ approach.

Ultimately this is an album for the dedicated British Sea Power fans out there. It is as though the lads have hit the studio with the idea: ‘let’s make a British Sea Power record’. There’s no messing around with new formulas here, but it is not a step back by any means. The quality of every track - we repeat, every track - is so high it is impossible for it to be anything other than a triumph.

Finally, what really excites TT about this is album is the feeling that the next one will be like witnessing a fully charged BSP going into a glorious battle, armed only with electric guitars and massive amps.

4. Suede – Bloodsports

Welcome back to the fold of being the dogs bollocks! ‘A New Morning’ was a whimpering exit from a band that produced 3 of the best 90s albums. They returned in 2011 for a greatest hits tour which culminated in a stunning Royal Albert Hall performance. As with true creative people though, regurgitating is not enough.

Album opener ‘Barriers’ will have die-hard fans giddy. The catchy riffs and synths of their youth are in full swing and Anderson’s vocals once again cart you off to feral landscapes. This song kind of sums up the entire album as it crosses the murky brilliance of ‘Heroin’ and pop sensibilities of ‘Trash’ to form a bridge between their 2^nd and 3^rd albums.

Lead-off single ‘It Starts And Ends With You’ feels like Anderson and Osman laying to bed former single ‘Obsessions’. ‘Obsessions’ is not a bad tune in isolation, but when stood next to ‘Animal Nitrate’, ‘Beautiful Ones’ or ‘A New Generation’, it sounds weak and half-hearted. ‘It Starts And Ends With You’ however, has Anderson snapping the lyrics out with a new found aggression and there is a tightness which it gives it a live sound. Lyrically, it is a reminder to the world that nobody writes battered and bruised love songs as well as Bret Anderson:

Shout out but it just spins faster,

Crawl up but my knees are water,Cling on by my nails to the sweet disaster
And then I fall to the floor like my strings are cut,Pinch myself but I don't wake up,Spit in the wind cause too much is not enough,It starts and ends with you,

The third single from the album ‘For The Strangers’ is another triumph. A glorious ballad to rival ‘By The Sea’ and ‘Saturday Night’. For all Anderson’s wonderful gutter imagery of lovers in the past, this track uses is simple imagery. Some may argue that Anderson has lost touch with his gutter past, but, we TT believe it is a show of maturity, to recognise that the music can signify all the meaning on a song like this.

All in all ‘Bloodsports’ doesn’t have a bad track on and is there for old and new fans to explore and admire. What it fails at, is reinventing the wheel. There is nothing on the album which will make you think ‘wow, that’s new for Suede’. Nevertheless, they reinvented the wheel with their first 3 albums. Being in there 40’s, ‘Bloodsports’ was like the last Rocky film. Proving to themselves and fans alike that the fire still burns and the magic is still there.

3. Toy – Join The Dots

In age and when debuts are lauded and follows up are maligned at best and ignored at worst, Toy have delivered a treat of second album. it is derivative of the first album for sure, but, every track signifies progress in some form. ‘Join The Dots’ is a prime example of a label (Heavenly Records in this case) giving a band the freedom to go out and achieve exactly what they want. Here’s why.

‘We Won’t Be The Same’ begins musically as a sumptuous ode to The Byrds circa ‘The Notorious Byrds Brothers’. Vocally there is more than a casual nod to the Velvet Underground and the chorus has joyous nodes to early Pink Floyd. The influences are great to hear but after half way, Toy make this record their own with their ability to impel you onwards in a state of blissed out rock psyche like no other at present.

The two standout tracks are the title song ‘Join The Dots’ and ‘To A Death Unknown’. On ‘Join The Dots’ the guitar parts become gloriously frenzied near the end and the synths build to a point where you fear for your speakers safety. Whereas, the bassline pumps along subtly but always forcefully, something Kasabian could do with considering.

‘To A Death Unknown’ is a different affair altogether. This feels like the beginning of something new for the band. All their classic incorporeal notes are present but this feels like a slow walk towards creating a pop classic. Let’s be clear, a pop classic this is not but there is a more simple structure in place and if the vocals had a bit more aggression, then crowds would be singing along in full voice. Heck, let’s all fantasises about what would happen if Stephen Street was behind the desk for their third album. The traces of Marc Bolan on this track and ‘Endlessly’ could become more powerful than you can possibly imagine (yes we know that’s Obi Wan Kenobi).

The self-titled debut from Toy was a battle between noise-psyche and 60s melodies which, at the time, everyone thought they got just right. However, on the release of ‘Join The Dots’ it’s obvious this was not the case. ‘TOY’ lacked the power and authority that ‘Join The Dots’ possesses. This album is a triumph of all that Toy are. TT hopes the next album will be a triumph for all that they are yet to be.

2. The Holy Orders - For Ears of Dogs to Come

Tom Robinson hailed The Holy Orders as the best new band from Hull on BBC6 recently and on this helping, it is a tag that will soon be extended to the UK. Their debut ‘For Ears of Dogs to Come’ is bristling with raw riffs and vocals akin to James Dean Bradfield circa ‘The Holy Bible’. This combination certainly makes for exciting stuff.

They open with the ambitious ‘Walk/Don’t Walk’. At times it is a raucous rock song which Pulled Apart By Horses fans will love and at other times it is almost an acapella. Guitar music has had terrible PR in recent times, largely because too many seem not to care enough. The Holy Orders, as can be seen on this opening track certainly do. It is disparate track, but, it upholds an anger and intensity throughout and will inevitably restore your faith in bands.

‘Deviants’ is an underground classic waiting to happen. What it lacks in evolution it makes up for with sheer brilliance and undeniable passion. It’s big catchy riffs and vocals which can be easily sung along to will hook audiences straightaway. The guitar parts and solo hold all the drama however. They also lack innovation, but they are great and they sound like they are made by men who had to do this, by men who needed to pour this emotion and creativity from their pores or face a life of regret.

Former single ‘Paper/Scissors/Stone’ is cracking pop song. It has short spikey riffs, references to The Beatles and ‘The Girl From Ipanema’ and a high pitched ‘oooooooo’ in the chorus for everyone to join in with. This is what so many alternative music lovers are crying out to see in the charts. Surely there is room to have the bland pop of Bieber and Britney alongside the eccentric power of The Holy Orders in 2014?

‘Retina Burns’, is a remarkable feat for such a fledgling band, especially the final minute of the track. The flurry of guitars provide that escapist feeling that only rock music can and the aggression used to achieve this would have Richey Edwards and Nicky Wire nodding in approval.

‘To The Gallows’ lets the album down slightly. The change in pace is welcomed as this is an album of feverish tempo and lighter note would have gone down a treat. Unfortunately though, the rip roaring rage and fury which surged through the veins of the previous tracks seems to have evaporated. TT is convinced this is a mere hiccup; one that no-one should care about either at this stage of their career. Let’s have 3 jaw dropping, fist smashing, gut wrenching albums before we get all soppy and bring the choirs in.

One thing for sure is, commercial stations, if they have any chops at all, will get behind The Holy Orders and unite rock and indie fans behind the 4 piece from Hull.

1. Primal Scream – More Light

Well, here we are at the illustrious number position. What an album, and what a return for Primal Scream. After a few years away touring their seminal album ‘Screamadelica’, many thought they were done and dusted. Not a bit of it! ‘More Light’ is as timely as it is genius, full of political bite, Led Zeppelin cameos and fucked up saxophones, the Scream are better than ever before.

We can only start at with the album opener, the single of the year, 2013. Without a shadow of a doubt this is the best song of 2013. From the moment the deranged keys drop its clear things are about to take off. The Scream has always been able to take listeners on a trip and this 9minute venture is no different. My Bloody valentine mastermind Kevin Shields features on guitar and how! Shields, along with Scream’s own Andrew Innes, have created the musical equivalent of a blizzard on this record. The guitars swirl in different directions simultaneously like the great work of Tame Impala and Pond of recent times but they have an added hostility which sets them apart. What is truly great about the music on the ‘2013’ though is the saxophone. It’s twisted and immediate and it drags the track into the realm of punk and classicist rock n roll that only Primal Scream can produce.

Lyrically, this song is as on the money today as 'Loaded' and 'Come Together' were in 1991. Gillespie has always had a seditious side but lyrically this has to be a career high. The lyrics are combustible from start to finish, attacking everything from rebels who sold out to the privileged elite who expect to rule. Trying to find examples of lyrics to discuss is usually simple, select a stanza and away you go. In ‘2013’ though, every word is anarchistic, rebellious and venomous rendering example selection impossible.

After 9 ferocious minutes of '2013', something is needed to calm things down and ‘River Of Pain’ is that remedy. The melodic acoustic guitars rattle along with a sublime riff in tandem with a softer, almost spoken vocal. Despite slowing things down, this is not a ballad to lighten the mood. This is a song of despair and anguish, confirming their status as the number one outlaws in town. Albert Camus must be looking on very fondly!

Lighter relief does come on the album closer ‘It’s Alright, It’s Ok’. This is the archetypal Scream meets Rolling Stones track. It is ‘Movin’ On Up’ crossed with ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’. Nothing new you might say and you would be correct. However, messages of ‘you can do it’ and ‘don’t let the bastards grind you down’ are becoming a distant memory. To have the gall to offer such an inspirational message in such bleak times takes courage and Primal Scream should be commended for it. Gillespie was recently discussing how rock music was dead as a form of counter culture. Well, if just one person picks up a guitar after listening to this album then he will be wrong and Neil Yong will be right (we hope)!

“Hey hey my my / Rock and roll will never die”