-=- SHGZ -=-
* Shoegaze * Indie * Post-Rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Psych-Rock * Ethereal *
ARTIST..: Ride
ALBUM...: Weather Diaries
GENRE...: Indie
STYLE...: Shoegaze, Indie Rock
YEAR....: 2017
LABEL...: Hostess Entertainment Unlimited
ENCODER.: LAME 3.98.4 -V0 TRACKS..: 12
BITRATE.: 255 kbps avg SOURCE..: CD
QUALITY.: 44.1kHz/Stereo SIZE....: 137.75 MB
URL..: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_Diaries
http://hostess.co.jp/releases/2017/06/HSE-4100.html
- TRACKLIST
1 Lannoy Point 5:58
2 Charm Assault 4:12
3 All I Want 3:57
4 Home Is A Feeling 3:19
5 Weather Diaries 6:59
6 Rocket Silver Symphony 5:24
7 Lateral Alice 2:55
8 Cali 6:29
9 Integration Tape 2:26
10 Impermanence 4:23
11 White Sands 6:18
12 Home Is A Feeling (A Creamy Crambled 25:44
Suite For A Ride) (Japan Bonus Track)
Total Playtime: 78:04
When Ride's fourth album, 1996's Tarantula, was deleted by Creation Records
after just one week, it marked a sad end for a band who had once burnt so
brightly. From 1990's wondrous debut Nowhere through to 1992's Going Blank
Again, Ride seemed an unstoppable force. Armed with great tunes and
cheekbones to match, they were arguably one of the UK indie scene's biggest
bands, capable of landing Leave Them All Behind û an eight-minute-epic of
feedback and drone û inside the top ten in an age when success for such a
group usually meant a brief appearance on the Chart Show.
1994's Carnival of Light saw them dive headlong into Britpop armed with
sitars, flares and a penchant for psychedelia but it heralded a desperate
decline with songwriters Andy Bell and Mark Gardener falling out in
spectacular fashion before Bell notched up underachieving stints in Hurricane
#1 and Oasis. More than 20 years later Ride's reformation was ecstatically
received by those who still clung dearly to those early glories and after a
series of well-received live outings, Weather Diaries confirms Ride mark two
are anything but a nostalgia-driven rehash.
Crucial to this new found focus is producer Erol Alkan who has added a
pleasing modern sheen to Ride's sound, enhancing Steve Queralt's bass and
inserting all sorts of electronic flourishes to a collection of tunes that
are overflowing with melodies and pop nous. Lead single Charm Assault is a
fine deceleration of intent with its piercing riff and propulsive dynamics
about as far from Carnival of Light's slack 60s-isms as it's possible to get.
Throughout proceedings, Weather Diaries displays a confidence that's a joy
for any fan who recalls their youthful verve. Cali's glorious jangle and epic
closer White Sands are the closest they come to the classic Ride sound but
what's noticeable is how willing Bell and Gardener are to let their songs
breath and exist outside their trademark wall of guitar effects.
Integration Tape sees them extend their teenage shoegazing towards more
ambient soundscapes while Lateral Alice recalls the garage rock of
Tarantula's Black Nite Crash. There's a lyrical purpose to the album too
which belies Ride's reputation for 'sky, high, why' laziness and although
Weather Diaries is hardly There's a Riot Goin' On, there's a sense that here
is an album being made by four angry men.
What is clear is that Ride's fifth album is something of a triumph and
infinitely better than many a fan could have hoped for. Almost 30 years on
those vapour trails show no sign of fading just yet.
*
As musical ambition was replaced by earnest rock - preferably with strings
and anthemic choruses - six minute proggy indie featuring keyboard work from
ex members of Black Sabbath (Jon Lord) and co-writes from former Beach Boys
managers (Jack Rieley) fell off the agenda. What's particularly harsh is that
despite Suede, Pulp, The Auteurs, Denim etc. all benefitting from the Britpop
musical umbrella, Ride arguably released two of the very first æBritpop'
tracks on their classic second album, 1992's Going Black Again ("Twisterella"
and "Making Judy Smile").
Since their messy demise back in '96 after the release of their underwhelming
and unfocussed fourth album, Tarantula, guitarist/vocalist Mark Gardener hit
the solo circuit, while Andy Bell spent a decade being under-utilised on bass
in Oasis for a decade, then a following four years in Liam Gallagher's
subsequent band, Beady Eye, while powerhouse drummer Loz Colbert brought
percussive steel to a plethora of acts.
Ride reformed in 2014 for gigs to celebrate their key shoegaze album, 1990's
Nowhere. When it came to discussing their future, talk of new music was
vague, but when the first two post-reformation tracks - "Charm Assault" and
"Home is a Feeling" - were unveiled earlier this year, they showed a band
revitalised. The former is a sparkling piece of jangle pop with a guitar riff
which could only ever be Ride, the latter, a bombastic sliver of shoegaze
gold with gorgeous vocal harmonising that encapsulates the key elements of
Ride's sound brilliantly; powerful, fragile, eager, lethargic, familiar, but
new.
Known for a bombastic opener to an album ("Moonlight Medicine", "Leave Them
All Behind", "Seagull"), the first track on their first release in 21 years
follows suit. "Lannoy Point" combines elements which will immediately
resonate with Ride fans; bubbling synths, a nagging but unassuming bassline,
shimmering guitars and a Mark Gardener vocal which after all these years
continues to be yearning and boyish.
Bringing in Erol Alkan on production and Alan Moulder on mixing duties
results in a robust sound, glistening with clarity and sonically charged.
"All I Want" contains a light æfuck you' to Theresa May (ôYour future was
torn from under you / It's not a pretty picture / This is 1932ö) and really
benefits from Alkan's prowess, particularly as a techno producer. By tearing
apart the original drum track and re-editing the pieces, he manages to make
Colbert, already a majorly creative drummer, sound like a thousand drum
machines. This is Ride pissed off, beefed up and totally vital.
Alkan's trickery is also apparent on the title track, the sluggish pace of
which makes sense when halfway through Ride perform the musical equivalent of
hellish storm using the most appropriate (and very Ride) sounds possible:
head crushing white noise. By increasing/decreasing the intensity of the
guitar chaos within the mix, you have a very simple act here which results in
genius.
Making a mockery of the infamous mid-album slump, what follows are three of
Ride's best ever tracks. "Lateral Alice" is a trashy piece of garage rock
sung by Bell with an enticing Gallagher-esque vocal swagger documenting a
dream of surfing with American authors David Foster Wallace and Robert Anton
Wilson, which breaks into the kind of languid guitar solo Moon Duo's Ripley
Johnson is a master at .This is a vivid piece of modern day psychedelia, as
played by The Stooges.
"Rocket Silver Symphony" starts with beatless synth-scapes, slowly building
into the sound of a launching rocket before crashing into euphoric space-rock
held together with electro beats and the kind of synthetic guitar sound used
best by French duo Justice. Written by and sung by Colbert with an over the
top pop chorus from Gardener, it's a glorious collaboration which obliterates
the sour memory of when they used to insist on their songs having their own
side of an album.
The trick is repeated with the roles reversed on the highlight of the record,
and simply one of the best songs of their career, "Cali", which sees Gardener
ecstatically announcing ôI found you, pulled you too far to catch a wave /
Saw you, kissed you on the beach and I was savedö over sweet Americana
influenced jangle pop, before Bell - sounding like Chris Difford on Squeeze's
"Cool For Cats" - takes over with a chorus of ôYou look good with blue skies
behind / Silhouetted in the bright sunshineö, preceding three minutes of
melodic synth, scrawl and the repeated line of ôSummer is goneö. It's a
passionate ode to sun drenched beaches and the joy of a loved one. The
sentiment is tried and tested, and yeah, it's kinda cheesy, but it's executed
with a confidence that screams from the speaker, you can actually hear the
excitement of four musicians who can't believe that after two decades apart
they are creating something which sounds so good, and being privy to it is a
thrill.
The importance of Ride has naturally increased as the appetite for shoegaze
has gathered pace over the past two decades, and similarly to Slowdive's
excellent recently released fourth album, we have a record here which proves
to be an unexpected career highlight, the quality of which, although hoped
for, wasn't expected. For Ride to produce such a strong album is a wonderful
thing. To compare this to their first two albums is silly - bands and entire
genres were formed off the back of those records - but does Weather Diaries
sit up there with them? Absolutely.
-=- SHGZ -=-
P.S.
** Thanks ***
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*** For Knowing Where The Music Is At ***
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