Kasabian take the plaudits this week. Just outside our top 20 for 2022. Poor old Megan finds herself in the bottom 10.
Andy
Kasabian - After seeing The Wall on the Beeb's Lionesses montage I wasn't expecting much from this but I rather enjoyed it, even though it feels like they should have got an actual singer in rather than giving Serge the job. 7
Pale Waves - Lovely bit of indie pop, as mentioned reminded me of early Arvil Lavigne at times, which is a very good thing, looking forwar to seing these at the fest 7.5
Megan Thee Stallion - Well, she's a very confident lady isn't she?!? This had some pretty decent beats and lyrics but didn't have the variety of some better stuff that's around. 6
Mall Grab - Not really my cup of tea but there's enough of a mixture to make it a bit more listenable than some others we've done. 5.5
Track of the Week - Without You from off of Pale Waves
Gorillaz - I know the singles but not sure I've ever listened to the whole album, it's interesting enough but doesn't blow me away 6.5
Justin
Kasabian - far better than expected. Despite the vocals being different still clearly Kasabian. Some potential tunes of the week. 7
Pale Waves - pretty standard for this genre. Enjoyable but not breaking new ground. 6.7
Megan Thee Stallion - despite probably the record for number of time bitches mentioned on an album actually liked this album. Some good tunes and liked the style of the vocals if not the content. 6.9
Mall Grab - good solid electronic beats. Genre seems to change as the album progresses but plenty of great tunes. 7.2
Totw Mall Grab - hand in hand through wonderland
Gorillaz Demon Days - shocked to see that this is from 2005. Listened to it loads when it came out. Some great tracks and really different. 8.5
Guy
Kasabian - like everyone else it seems, I didn't think I'd like this but it's not bad. I've never been a huge fan but I was expecting it to be totally shite with Serge singing. 6.7
Pale Waves - right up my street. Not as good as the debut but arguably more variety to it. 7.3
Megan Thee Stallion - Blimey she's got a potty mouth. Bitch this, pussy that. And numerous ways of saying 'willy'. She's inventive if nothing else. I actually liked this. Good tunes and nice freestyle rapping over the top - if themes were a bit one dimensional 7
Mall Grab - Apart from the slightly tinny sounding drum machine which felt a bit low quality in terms of production, this was decent stuff with some big piano tunes including my TOTW below. 7.2
Gorillaz - Although I've heard the hits from this, I've not really given the album a proper listen before. It's a good quality record. 8
TOTW Mall Grab - Love Reigns
Sam
Kasabian: Different style , still pretty decent . 7
Pale Waves : 90’s pop punk ! Great ! 8
Megan Thee Stallion : not a pleasant listen , far too long . Go away 4
Mall Grab : some belting stuff on here tho the dnb bits left me cold . I’d happily jump up and down to 60% of this : 7
Tune of the week : so sick of missing you : Pale Waves
Simon
Kasabian: seem to remember liking this lot's first album, but haven't paid them much attention since - this has a few stand out tracks but it's a bit patchy in places. 6.5
Megan Thee Stallion: this started to get tiresome about halfway through the second song, so by the end I was losing the will to live. 3
Pale Waves: I know some of you liked this but I thought it was a bit bland and uninspiring - bang average at best. 5.5
Mall Grab: bit of a mix and match in terms of styles - less keen on the '90s piano house but overall decent enough. 6.8
Gorillaz: Gorillaz may divide opinion, but I think this is Damon Albarn at his most original and inventive. It's a real kaleidescope of sounds and styles laced throughout with infectious riffs - it shouldn't necessarily work but it does, brilliantly. 9
TotW: Stargazr by Kasabian
Mark
Kasabian - another good album by them, plenty of enormo festival field fillers and Serge, while his vocal isn't as strong as Tom Meighan, does a decent job on lead I reckon - 7
Megan Thee Stallion - I actually rate her delivery, but for the most part it's lyrically and musically devoid of anything interesting, just a relentless stream of boring repetitive potty mouthing, yawn - 4
Pale Waves - for some reason, like The Wombats, I've developed an irrational dislike for this lot. Partly because due to the image I was hoping for something interesting and gothy, and partly because I want indie guitar music to be so much better. That said, this one isn't actually as terrible I was ready to dismiss it as, even if they've had to go a bit US big production - 6
Mall Grab - a lot to like in their 90s piano house and early DnB stylings, if a bit on the long side - 6.5
TOTW - could have gone for several off the Kasabian or Mall Grab albums, but perversely I'm plumping for Star off the Megan album, in which she eases off the swearing slightly and gives us a nice little laid back summer groover.
Erol
Kasabian - I was really into this band when they released their first few albums in the noughties, but then I lost interest. This however has rekindled things. What a good album. Very different to their earlier stuff but very listenable to boot. And for the record (no pun intended), I think Serge’s voice sounds pretty good on this. 8
Megan Thee Stallion - this was just too vulgar and offensive for my taste. Her entire work is based on 4 key swear words: F, S, B and N, with a sprinkling of others (‘ho’ etc) for good measure. Shame as she is clearly talented but I just can’t get past the pointless and endless swearing. 2
Pale Waves - hard as I tried not to, I couldn’t help but like this. They sound like so many other teenage indie rock bands but with a difference - their music has some bite, which enhances the appeal. 6.9
Mall Grab - this was right up my street. A bit hit and miss at times but when it hits it does so with some great retro dance sounds. A bit of loaded drum and bass towards the end wraps things up nicely. Am sure I heard a cheeky sample of Rob Bass and DJ EZ Rock in there. This certainly flicked my old school raver switch. Get me to that dance tent! 7.5
TOTW - Mall Grab and Kasabian are both in pole position with a few tracks each, but I’ll go for Chemicals by Kasabian. Love Reigns by Mall Grab comes in a very close second.
Gorillaz - so diverse, so different. I have listened to this a number of times over the last decade and every time I do, I hear something new. Great stuff. 8.5
Matt
Kasabian - more thoughtful and varied than expected 7.5
Megan thee Stallion 10/10 for inventive swearing. For music - 6
Pale Waves - enjoyable indie but no stand out tracks. A little over long. 6.8
Mall Grab 6.2
Jim
Kasabian 8
Glad I gave it another spin as it's grown on me a lot. Half a dozen really good tracks that will become live favourites I'm sure. An interesting mix of rock and electronica. STARGAZR could have been a Chemical Brothers track
Mail Grab 7.5
The newer stuff was a good blend of Bicep and Disclosure, the old school numbers ticked that box well and the D&B twist was refreshing. Be interesting if he can ramp it up for a live set. Overall, bonza.
Pale Waves 6.5
Nice enough teen angst highschool punk pop but without any real stand out tracks
Megan Thee Stallion 5
As most have said, there were some nice subtle tunes in the background, and whilst I have no real issues with the lingo, which many male acts have been doing similarly for years, it was the lack of variety that made it somewhat boring after a while. Add some hard hitting social messages to the bumping and grinding and she could be on to something
TOTW Kasabian STARGAZR
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