Artist: The Late Greats
Title: Life Without Balloons
Label: Izumi
Genre: Indie
Bitrate: 208kbit av.
Time: 00:27:55
Size: 43.89 mb
Rip Date: 2008-08-16
Str Date: 2008-09-29
1. Futures Gold 3:04
2. The City Swallowed You Whole 2:57
3. He's Not It 2:59
4. Kitty 2:12
5. Destroy My Brain 2:51
6. Gareth 2:39
7. Quick Fix 2:11
8. Stereo 2:51
9. Let It Happen 2:34
10. Surrender 3:37
Release Notes:
In The Late GreatsÆ own words, this album was influenced by:
ôthe surroundings of a seaside town, dead friends, hating the
city and what it does to your girlfriend, hopeful musings
about a better life with better people, and of course, love.ö
Sandwiched between Brighton & Hastings, the seaside town of
Eastbourne is the unlikely outpost and home to future alt-rock
heroes, The Late Greats. In equal parts intelligent, intense,
chaotic and fragile, the four piece have quietly bided their
time over the last 12 months, writing their debut album (in
between epic bouts of table tennis) thus honing the sound of
The Late Greats.
Life Without Balloons is a record indebted to the bandÆs love
of lo-fi US indie/alt-rock (Sonic Youth, Pixies, Pavement) but
stamped with a truly provincial, English delivery glittering
with melodic gold.
Kicking off with ltd edition single Futures Gold (which sold
out in two days), the album opens with the immortal line and
statement of intent, ôHEY! IÆm pleased to meet you / and all
your stupid facesö. What follows, is nine songs of near
pop-perfection: showcasing The Late GreatsÆ unflinching mix of
instant, poppy melodies with uncompromising spikiness and
obtuse, heavy heart lyrics.
The bandÆs duel lead vocalists Max Arnold and Ryan Griffiths
have the uncanny knack of making the most melancholic of
melodies sound uplifting and life affirming. To this affect,
The City Swallowed You Whole intersperses a chest rattling
moog bass line with sweetly resigned vocals, whilst
SurrenderÆs bittersweet, relationship-in-meltdown lyrics -ôIÆm
about to surrender / take that ribbon off my fingerö û belie
the overwhelmingly positive sing-a-long chorus.
The soaring guitars and heavenly öooh-oohö backing vocals of
Quick Fix are perhaps the albumÆs centre piece. The whole
climatic chorus is so maudlin and urgent you can almost feel
the sea rain lashing down on Eastbourne at closing time on a
cold, drunk Friday night.
Touring and gigging over the last year with the likes of Late
of the Pier, Blood Red Shoes and Hot Club de Paris has
developed the Late Greats into an incredibly tight and
thrilling live band.