Foo Fighters - "Wasting Light" [Album Review]

Click here or read below for my review of the latest album by Foo Fighters. It was published on Pure Grain Audio.

Rating: 7.5 / 10

Foo Fighters - Wasting Light

Foo Fighters are back once more, with their seventh album, Wasting Light. Lead singer Dave Grohl has been quick to boast that the band have steered away from modern technology and instead gone back to basics with analogue equipment. The question is, has the now-ageing band been able to re-light their creative fires by travelling back in time?

On first glance, it appears they have formed a loud and powerful effort, indeed, the Foo's intentions are quickly made clear in opener "Bridge Burning" which bursts into life with Grohl snarling: "these are my famous last words."

The massive hit single "Rope" follows and this song is vintage Foos, possessing an absolutely massive chorus akin to "The Pretender" on preceding album Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace. The next notable song is "White Limo" which is almost a carbon copy of debut album track, "Weenie Beenie". This, another reminder that the band are trying to travel back in time.

The rest of the record continues at a high pace with classic Foo Fighter pop hooks coming at your ears from all angles. "These Days" is another stellar song and the sombre "I Should Have Known" - which builds up to a climatic finale - is the type of emotion-building song that Grohl has an incredible capability of writing time and time again.

However, while there is not a weak song within Wasting Light there is no timeless "Times Like These" or "Everlong" brilliance, but just a bunch of really good rock songs. This album is not going to blow anyone's mind away, but there is no doubt it is a great effort and probably the best since The Colour and the Shape.

written by Will Lyon

The Vaccines - What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? - Album Review

Click here or read below for my album review of What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? by indie band, The Vaccines. It was published on the Pure Grain Audio website.

Rating: 7 / 10

So, here we have it, yet another indie rock band with bouncy, melody-ridden tunes, but are they adding anything new to an already saturated market? The Vaccines have only been around for a short period, in fact just two months short of a year. The London-based band consist of Justin Young, Árni Hjörvar, Pete Robertson and Freddie Cowan - brother of Tom from British alt-rock sensations, The Horrors.

Ok, so they have a link with the current world of music, but again, does this alone prove their worthiness upon our ears? Of course not. It does not help their cause when in amongst their début album What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? are throw away pop-junk songs such as opener “Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)” and the painfully irrelevant 'Wetsuit' in which lead singer Young demands the listener to “put a wetsuit on” five times in total.

However, after picking out the few weak numbers, there are some fantastic indie anthems which are the defining factors for their relative hype and indeed a place on the BBC sound of 2011 poll. "If You Wanna" and the wonderfully accurate story of "Post Break-Up Sex" will be bounced up and down to at many a festival this summer, while the epic "All In White", by far the most mature song, will leave hundreds in anticipation for more substance from The Vaccines in the near future.

So all-in-all, not bad, and well worth a spin or two on the old CD player, if yours is actually still working and not gathering dust somewhere in the attic. To describe The Vaccines in one sentence it would be: think of White Lies, without all the gloom and murkiness whilst throwing in a bit of teenage joy.

written by Will Lyon

Track Listing:

01. Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)
02. If You Wanna
03. A Lack of Understanding
04. Blow It Up
05. Wetsuit
06. Nørgaard
07. Post Break-Up Sex
08. Under Your Thumb0
09. All In White
10. Wolf Pack
11. Family Friend

Run Time: 35:59
Release Date: 03.14.2011