Word: riffs
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...with catchy up-tempo dance beats and the moody lyrics of lead singer Kele Okereke. The album opens with Okereke in an almost theatrical falsetto on the track “Song For Clay (Disappear Here),” before the entrance of a fast snare and surging guitar riff that brings the energy to a classic Bloc Party peak. The lyrics set a theme for the rest of the album, which features more overt allusions to the issues of stardom and even the drudgery of life in the band’s homeland, England: “Because East...
...experimental arrangements range from saxophones and glockenspiels to Knopf’s own digital looping machine. The chorus of “Evil Bee” emulates “The Argument”-era Fugazi before pulling out all the stops with a horn fanfare and triumphant piano riff. Menomena is fearlessly confident in its musicianship, and even the album’s few faltering steps are refreshingly original...
SAVANE OPENS WITH A FEW NOTES on a single-stringed African violin. Then Tour comes in with a guitar riff worthy of onetime boss John Lee Hooker, and Pee Wee Ellis, James Brown's ex-saxophonist, blows on through. And there you have it: the journey of the blues from West Africa to the Apollo in just a few seconds. It's rare that world music actually contains multitudes, but Tour, a hero in his native Mali, picks the pocket of any culture with something to offer. There's a stew that makes you optimistic about the future, even...
...Dogs” is likable enough, perhaps because it sounds like a less-catchy version of Train’s “Meet Virginia.” “Coconut Skins” gets itself going on a comparatively upbeat acoustic riff, until Rice mentions death and promptly squelches any optimism the listener may still possess. The second half of “Me, My Yoke and I” actually ascends to the level of rocking then comes off as just plain scary without a counterbalance to its six minutes of screechy anguish and unmitigated emotional hell...
...Oasis’ Liam Gallagher. This section of the song ends with soft, acoustic poetry, which quickly gets shattered by cringing distortion and guitar soloing. The album’s final track, “Handcuffs,” is a chilling song that starts with an acoustic riff and adds layers as it progresses, its angry lyrics weighted by death. Now that they’ve attained larger corporate success, Lacey’s final words on the album tell us, “It’s hard to be the better man / when you?...