Three Day Benda – Sounds Of The Suburbs

If talent was judged on the quality of a bands name then lets be honest, Three Day Benda would be awful – however its not, so lets put judgements of the bands name aside shall we. Ok, so this is a 4 track sampler CD of the album that the band is to release later on in this year (May 2006 to be precise.) This CD shows promise from the band with 4 tracks that push the boundaries of Ska and Rock. Three Day Benda are an eight man strong band, and use this large number of members to their advantage in order to make a sound as full as possible.

This is a somewhat promising preview of the band as none of the tracks on display here are what I would consider bad, however how good the full album turns out to be depends on whether or not the band have the capacity to up their game so to speak. It could either be really good or these will be the best songs on the album, in which case it will probably be nothing more than average. For this bands sake, I hope they have some more quality songs written as although what is on this CD is pretty good – I have heard better, and if these are the bands strongest efforts then the chances of them getting bigger are fairly slim. This is a fairly sound offering from the band; however they definitely need some stronger tracks on the album to save it from mediocrity. With this four track effort, I find that although what I am listening to is not paining my ears, it’s not really gripping me either in the way I like my music to. I feel that a lot of bands with a horn section use their horn section in order to draw people in to the sound of the band, however I don’t think Three Day Benda are really making full use of their horn section and so their sound seems incomplete at the moment. Once the band iron out these creases, they should be set to blow people away.

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Coldplay – Talk

This is the third single to be taken from the bands amazing ‘X&Y’ album and I definitely think that this is a wise move by the band as it is probably one of my favourite tracks from the album. This is an excellently written track, borrowing the riff from Kraftwerk’s ‘Computer Love’ and in doing so creating a dreamy, truly atmospheric song that is hard not to appreciate. This song explicitly highlights the bands amazing song writing capabilities and shows that the band are still going strong as we enter into 2006.

I really enjoyed the bands ‘X&Y’ album and feel that although there are weaker songs on the album, this is a song that encapsulates Coldplay at their best and shows that they are still one of the greatest British bands of our time. ‘Talk’ is an extremely enigmatic song and is one that I am sure will become a classic given a few years. Although Coldplay are a band that will not be to everybody’s taste, there is no denying that there is significant talent in this band, and that over the years the band have written some truly inspirational material that will be sure to inspire musicians of the future.

Label: EMI
Release Date: December 19th 2005

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Thrice – Vheissu

Thrice haven’t been around for a while, however when they came back they proclaimed to have a new, ‘more mature’ sound. When bands say this I often worry as more often than not it means that the band are now taking themselves too seriously and as a result their quality is compromised in favour of an ‘experimental’ album of utter rubbish. Thankfully this is not the case here, with Thrice once again bringing out a brilliant album.

Opening track ‘Image of the Invisible’ will right away unveil the bands new sound, and this song is definitely one of my favourites on the album. Here the band show that not only have they matured musically, but their song writing skills have also improved tenfold and they are lyrically now better than they ever have been before. The band head into unknown territory on this album, with the opening track alone containing far more lyrical depth than everything the band have ever written before put together. I genuinely think that the band have spent a lot of time writing and planning for this release as they are musically sound here and lyrically sublime.

Tracks such as ‘Hold Fast Hope,’ ‘Music Box,’ and ‘Of Dust and Nations’ will remind hardcore Thrice fans of the music of old and will probably put a smile on their face for nostalgic value. Sure, these songs don’t have as much bite as their counterparts in ‘The Illusion of Safety’ or ‘The Artist in the Ambulance,’ however they still contain a lot of bite and I feel that they are much better written tracks than anything that appeared on either of these albums.

I remember way back when receiving a ‘The Illusion of Safety’ album sampler and being mightily impressed with what I heard. Back in 2002, Thrice were a driving force in what was then perceived to be the ‘Emo’ scene of the time along with bands such as Thursday and Taking Back Sunday, with homegrown talent in the form of Funeral For a Friend storming out later that year with the almighty Mighty Atom EP ‘Between Order and Model.’ Sure, back then Funeral For a Friend were nothing more than an underground phenomenon, however since then have shown signs of ‘maturing’ and have shown how that can not always be a good thing. Whereas Funeral For a Friend released the awful ‘Hours’ back in June and show that already they have lost it, with the release of ‘Vheissu’ in October, Thrice really showed that they are still a band that desperately crave and definitely deserve your full attention.

Thrice may lose a few fans with this latest release as it definitely shows a more melodic, less Hardcore sound for them – however I still think that they are one of the best bands at what they do and hopefully this will not be the last we hear of Thrice. They have been around for a long old time now, and show with ‘Vheissu’ that not only are they still writing great music, but they are also showing signs of maturity unrivalled by any other bands in the scene. Thrice have done a brave thing changing their sound so drastically here, but for me it has really paid off. I can’t wait till they come over next month with Coheed & Cambria.

Label: Universal
Release Date: October 17th 2005

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We Are Scientists – With Love and Squalor

There was a lot of hype about this New York based trio before the release of their album ‘With Love and Squalor’ as it was expected to be something really quite special. This is because the band had already done a Lamacq live session, and one of their songs was chosen to be Zane Lowe’s record of the week before the album was even released. Having been listening to this album for a good 3 months now, I can definitely say that this is one of the best albums that I have heard in a long time. The band sure knows how to write great music and as a result have come out with a 12 track album where any of the tracks from it could easily be used as singles.

This album kicks off with their debut single ‘Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt,’ opening the album in style and leaving you wondering how the rest of the album could possibly compare. Somehow they managed to do it though, and wrote an entire album of elegant Indie Rock masterpieces. There are so many standout tracks on this album; however ‘Cash Cow’ and ‘The Great Escape’ for me are two tracks that will never get old no matter how many times I play them. Since I got this album, it’s been on pretty much constant rotation on my CD player and I often find myself playing it while going about my day to day internet browsing also. This band writes catchy music, and ‘With Love and Squalor’ was almost certainly one of my favourite albums of 2005. I eagerly anticipate this bands next release as if it’s anywhere near the quality of this one then it is inevitably going to be something remarkable.

Label: Virgin Records
Release Date: October 17th 2005

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KoRn – Twisted Transistor

Having been away for what seemed like an eternity (for some this will be a good thing, for others a tragedy), KoRn came back with this new track ‘Twisted Transistor.’ I don’t think anyone really knew what to expect from this track as having been away for so long, the band could have come out with anything. This single definitely reveals a new side of KoRn, with a new sound in tow, however the vocals are still very distinctively Jonathan Davis. When I first heard this track I didn’t really know what to make of it as it really is a change for the band, however now having listened to it a good few times it has really grown on me and rather than not knowing how to take it – I really like it.

I have yet to hear the bands new album, however if this single is anything to go by then not only will it be different to anything the band have ever done before, but it will also be well worth the wait. If I’m being honest then I haven’t really listened to the band properly for a good few years now as I got over my Nu-Metal days a long old time ago (god bless the late 90s), so if I get into ‘See You on the Other Side,’ then it will be a real bonus for me.

Label: Virgin Records
Release Date: November 21st 2005

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