The Cold Cut

A few weeks ago the Arctic Monkeys officially announced that they would be moving back to the studio this summer to record their third album.

With this news came heaps of speculation, and already new songs are starting to appear. The first, 'Sandtrap', is a 2 minute live version, currently used as the introduction to 'This House Is A Circus'. Other new material includes 'The Fire and the Thud' and 'The Lovers' 'Put Me in a Terror Pocket', all of which are available for download below. The songs are either acoustic or live versions.

The third album will be an interesting one. For me, their talent was never in question, but *line removed due to popular demand*. And now, with the confidence issues behind them, the Arctic Monkeys sound as if they want to experiment. The band claim they have 6 demos recorded, all of which will probably find their way on to the new album.

Arctic Monkeys- Sandtrap (Link 2)
Arctic Monkeys- Put Me In A Terror Pocket (Link 2)
Arctic Monkeys- The Lovers (Link 2)
Arctic Monkeys- The Fire And The Thud (Link 2)

Albums by the Arctic Monkeys can be purchased here.

The Last Shadow Puppets- The Age Of The Understatement

When Alex Turner announced he had a side project in development, I was quick to focus my attention. 'The Last Shadow Puppets', a proposed collaboration between Turner and friend Miles Kain (of the Rascals), has been in the works since the touring friends recorded the album last August whilst on holiday in France. Whether the album would ever see the light of day, however, was uncertain.

Things move fast in this world: two weeks ago this band didn't even have a name, but over the last two days has rapidly become one of the hottest properties in music. The album, scheduled to be released on April 21, was previewed for a small audience in a Brooklyn record store on Thursday. In the 8-track acoustic set, Kain and Turner gave the first preview of the single (and album title) 'The Age Of The Understatement', and the studio version was released the day after.

The single itself is good, but not great. Given the level of talent on display, I wasn't quite as blown away as the hype said I should be. The lyrics don't have the punch of Alex's monkeys work. However, it still redeems itself through the undiluted talent on display: produced by Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford and with strings arrangements from Final Fantasy.

Discuss: A good introduction to the side project, or a song that doesn't live up to the hype?

You can watch the oddball video for the single over at the band's website...

The album tracklisting is as follows:

The Age of the Understatement:

01 The Age of the Understatement
02 Standing Next to Me
03 Calm Like You
04 Separate and Ever Deadly
05 The Chamber
06 Only the Truth
07 My Mistakes Were Made for You
08 Black Plant
09 I Don't Like You Any More
10 In My Room
11 Meeting Place
12 The Time Has Come Again

Yes- it is as good as I thought it would be: Reverend And The Makers' The State Of Things is a brilliant album- so good, in fact, that had it been released a couple of years ago (aka when the Arctic Monkeys made it big) it would have given them a run for their money. The only problem is that this album is a few years too late. But lets not talk about that and instead look at this album for what it is- a successful electronica/indie album, with several stand out tracks and great lyrics. My personal faves- barring the singles- are The Machine (Alex Turner sings on this one), Miss Brown and album closer Armchair Detective. Check them out:

Reverend And The Makers- The Machine
Reverend And The Makers- Miss Brown
Reverend And The Makers- Armchair Detective

Sheffield is a very happening place in the music world at the moment: since the Arctic Monkeys broke the rules with their two albums about the ordinary life, it seems there have been plenty of Sheffield hopefuls trying to emulate their success with simplistic. It's a constantly changing scene, but one thing stays constant, and he goes by the name of The Reverend. A man who seems to be a positive catalyst for everyone who knows and works with, good things seem to happen around him. The only problem is he doesn't seem to be able to make it big himself, but all that's about ot change. Sometime over the next few weeks a very intriguing album will be making its way into music stores across the UK. The album is the first by Reverend And The Makers, a band who up until the last couple of months haven't recieved anywhere near the amount of press they should have: the brainchild of The Reverend aka John McClure. The band's name might not be familiar to you, but if I told you it was McClure's brother Chris on the front of the Arctic Monkeys "Whatever People Say I Am, That Is What I'm Not" you might make the connection.

Hailing from Sheffield just like the Arctic Monkeys, Reverend's first band Judan Suki had Alex Turner and Matt Helders (lead and drummer in the Arctic Monkeys- keep up please) as members, but of course they went on to form a band which has arguably been the most commercially succesful of the last 20 years or so. When the Arctic's first album was bought in huge volumes you can expect that The Reverend was feeling slightly left-behind... he was at the helm of Judan Suki but his counterparts had gone on to eclipse him. He was breifly famous after the Arctic's debut sold so much and they cited him as an 'inspiration' in the aftermath of the release. However, rather thank being famous for knowing someone, Reverend immediately set about creating an album that would make it clear that he wasn't just a stepping stone for the Arctic Monkeys. The State Of Things- Reverend And The Maker's first album-, release date uncertain, is expected to be released in September by Wall Of Sound, the band's label. First single Heavyweight Champion Of The World reached #8 in the charts when it was released, and you can download it at the bottom of this post.

Despite the similarities between the two bands, I doubt Reverend's first album will be anything like the Arctic Monkeys... from the two or three songs I've heard it would be more appropriate to compare their music to Oasis with a slight electronic element. Indeed, there are strong parallels between Reverend himself and Noel Gallgaher, both in the way he looks and sings: check out Youtube for some really cool videos of their live performances, in which McClure looks chilled, composed, and actually sings well, just as Alex Turner does. This is something seriously lacking in modern bands- there are thousands of people who record excellent studio albums but when they get on a stage they murder their own music as they can't perform live.

There are two tracks below, both of which I'm sure will make it onto the final cut of The State Of Things. Please buy the album when it comes it if you like what you hear. You can download both tracks from this project, or by clicking the links below

Reverend And The Makers- Heavyweight Champion Of The World
Reverend And The Makers- 18.30