Popdar! - 01/09/11

#31 + #32
"How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep"
"Still"
Highlights from "A Different Kind of Fix" by Bombay Bicycle Club


I'd previously read that BBC's new album was a halfway point between "I Had The Blues..." and "Flaws", but after listening to "Fix", I think it can only be described as an entirely new direction.  "Shuffle" is by far the poppiest thing here, but the almost balearic "Lights Out, Words Gone" (SWIMMING in warm pads) and the unashamedly anthemic "Leave It" certainly point a new directness in the bands song writing.


But the album finishes and closes on its strongest notes. "How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep" is staple BBC songcraft, building from a pretty guitar riff into something euphoric, but instead of piling on the distortion and frenetic drumming, the guitars become expansive and magnificent and the drums deliver a funky shuffle that recalls The Stone Roses. Conversely, closer "Still" is a simple piano and voice number, that is fragile in a way I only previously thought Thom Yorke was capable of. The fuzzy, reverb-soaked falsetto from Jack Steadman is nothing short of heartbreakingly beautiful.



There is no video or audio available online for "Still" currently, but read the lyrics and you might be able to paint a picture of how gorgeous the song is.

"Held your standards close to heart
but late one night you threw them down
Simple promises you said you'd never
break but now you have

All throughout the morning though 
I'm begging no 
your lips they stay perfectly still 

Did he fill the empty spaces
was he everything I'm not?
There's no force behind my mouth
but in just three words
he brings you down

There's a movement 
out the door 
I swear but no
your lips they stay perfectly still"


#33
"Don't Fuck With My Money"
Penguin Prison

It's sad that this kind of 80s synthpop revival never does all that well, it's so much fun. Holy Ghost did something similar earlier in the year, except perhaps a bit more strict with their rhythms and melodies, but when I heard the joyous singalong cheesefest that is "Don't Fuck With My Money" I couldn't help think back to artists like Sam Sparro and Tommy Sparks from a couple of years back who wanted to bring some soul and funk from the 80s into their electropop. Either way, enjoy "Don't Fuck With My Money" and a couple of my favourite 80s cheesefests from the last couple of years.

 Don't Fuck With My Money by Penguin Prison