athlete - vehicles and animals
i feel this lp has had quite a long gestation period. athlete released their first single on regal quite a while ago, and at last comes the full album, its not on regal, but parlophone (parent of regal) and includes that opening single .. hmm interesting ..
anyway - has the wait been worth it ? yes.
athlete specialise in pleasant melodies, innocent instrumetation, and an naive charm and wit that is very hard to resist when the mood is right. the world is a tough harsh place and sometimes its nice to just mellow out to simple songs with chorus's that can be whistled/hummed. most of these songs have a singalong quality, especially 'beautiful' and record label (new/old!?) baiting new single 'el salvador'.
points of reference are many as they dip into all areas of the pop world, but i hear elements of beta band and arnold .. but dont let that put you off !
there is something extra about athlete.
the 4 guys who make up the band like to harmonise and also seem to relish with their studio toys and obviously like to add extra sonic bits here and there over the top of the sumptuous production. for example after 2.5 minutes of piano/guitar melody in 'new project there is 30 seconds of guitar trashing away. why ? no bloody idea. but it works as does the breakbeat at the end of 'shake those windows' which could destroy a bassbin if not treated with respect. as well as several other little sonic treatments which are revealed on repeated listenings.
all these songs here have been played/worked hard over the last few years. subsequently, the lp is almost a greatest hits package, as several of these tracks have appeared on ep's and singles previously. but, that doesn't detract from the fact that this is an excellent 45 minutes for anyone who wants a 70's mor-pop throwback with a modern twist.
go on lads - give yourself another star on that logo of yours.
you deserve it.