The Cold Cut

If you have been tuning into the radio or following music at all lately it would have been hard to not hear about the latest band, Battles, who many people are stating have revitalised modern music and are the "sound of the future". This is a pretty bold claim to make, and I was fairly sceptical at first: NME described the band as something along the lines of "puzzle-pop mentalists who masterfully drag music into the future" and named Battles' first single Atlas as their track of the week. Well, I've listened long and hard to their debut album Mirrored and I can honestly say that these bold statements are all completely false, and the people who made them must be seriously delusional. I can see a certain spark in many of the songs on Mirrored but its unfair to raise the band's hopes by naming them as 'the sound of the future'; the songs are on the whole great, with a huge amount going on in each track, and I can see the band having staying power. They will not, however, influence music in the way that some particular music journalists (if you can call them that) have stated.

The main reason for this is that this album can't really be compared to anything before it; in order to influence music in the way stated it has to be fresh but retain some sort of resemblance to the current idea of music. Mirrored features no discernable lyrics or structure, merely a thronging mass of instrumental backing and Tyondai Braxtons wierd vocals, and whilst being new, doesn't have any memorable licks or elements to each song.

So, there you have it- whilst being fun, Battles are a band that are so different to anything you've ever heard before. I have to hand it to the band; they've been pretty brave and in some people's eyes its obviously payed off. If only they could somehow manage to convert the sceptics like myself, the music world would be their oyster. Take a listen to their stuff, and see what you think? I'm sure there are loads of fans out there; if you are, try to convert me....