Tim: Two Alexander Bard projects joining forces here, coming out with a sound that’s exactly along the lines of what you think it’d be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5O9_gMMLaQ
Tim: “People are lonely.” What a wonderful message to send out, reassuring miserable folks everywhere that actually everybody’s the same. I suppose there are two ways to play it out – very upbeat and happy, with a “we’re all like this, let’s revel in it!” or a gloomy number that just plays to the nihilist in us all. Since neither Gravitonas nor Army of Lovers typically go in for happy pop, we get this, which works just as well as any smile-on-your-face track would, right down to the Pet Shops Boys style spoken bit in the middle eight. In fact, the whole thing’s got a slight Pet Shop Boys feel to it, and it’s really very enjoyable indeed, despite it also being thoroughly miserable.
“Reminds me a lot of BWO, and that’s a very good thing.”
Tim: A song that takes the same theme as Amazing, Amazing and Amazing: choose a word and use it to describe the target. (We should note that Amazing doesn’t do that.)
Tom: Next up: “Slightly Dull”, “Irritating”, and “Broken Up With”.
Tim: This, much like many others that I’ve heard from Gravitonas, reminds me a lot of BWO (the bearded bloke’s previous band, if you need reminding), and that’s a very good thing – their album Big Science is still one of my favourites, and this could come straight off it.
Tom: That’s exactly what I thought when it kicked into full-on DANCE CHOON territory. There’s even some melodies in there that seem to be cribbed rather closely from tracks on Big Science – although that’s not a bad thing.
Tim: The vast majority is great: the intro, the first verse with a calm backing, the first chorus with a bit more underneath it, a cracking dancey post-chorus, a fantastic middle eight and a great closing part. The singing throughout is great, and like I said, the dance part is cracking. But you’ll notice I did miss one bit of the song out: the second verse/chorus. It’s just a minor thing, but basically, I want more.
Tom: Are you Oliver Twist?
Tim: No, but I am musically-demanding. The backing just falls from so high down to pretty much where we were at the beginning, and it doesn’t sit right with me. I know that’s not much of a complaint, because it still works brilliantly, but DAMMIT I WANT MORE.
With a decent remix or two, this song could be really good.
Tim: This video, released a few days ago but only just up on YouTube, is of the second single by the band Gravitonas, and if you think it sounds familiar you’d be entirely correct – half of the band comes direct from BWO, who took a break about six months ago, and each of them is currently doing their own thing. One’s of them’s done proper heavy rock, another has moved in the opposite direction, whilst Alexander Bard (the terrifyingly beardy one) has pretty much stayed exactly where he was, whilst picking up a friend or two.
Anyway, yes it’s familiar. The instruments and the vocal style are all the same, and the pre-chorus melody is lifted straight from Kings of Tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad – like most of BWO’s stuff, it’s enjoyable, pleasant and entirely inoffensive. The only criticism I have is that while it’s got a fairly decent beat that grows throughout, for a song that’s about an enlightenment brought on by dance music (just go with it – it’s best not to think about it too much), that beat’s not nearly big enough. With a decent remix or two, though, this song could be really good.
Tom: The beat’s not big enough?! The beat’s bloody massive. I nearly had to turn down the bass on my headphones. It’s just it never quite kicks in properly. For me, there’s no big hands-in-the-air everybody-sing moment, which for a song about religious enlightenment (in whatever form) is a bit of a letdown. Yes, they’re trying for one when the final chorus kicks in, but the song’s melody is such that it’s hardly going to get everyone belting out the lyrics on the dance floor.
Also, “entirely inoffensive”?
I believe in the magic
Feel the heat of your skin
You can call me fanatic
I’m your soldier of sin
– is not exactly something I’d play to a priest.
Tim: You really think the beat’s huge? I just don’t think it builds up quite enough.
Tom: I’m not sure we have the same definition of ‘massive’. You’re absolutely right about the Kings of Tomorrow rip though.
Tim: The video starts off fairly weird, but soon progresses to disturbingly weird, and by the end of it I’m almost thinking KKK on acid, so probably the less said about that the better.
