Klaxons – Echoes
I’M IN A DESERT! I’M IN A DESERT!…
[Video][Website]
[4.83]
Katherine St Asaph: Stacking vocals octave-on-octave is one of many ways to disguise a thin voice — the two parts boost each other. It only works to a certain point, though, and with the thinner-than-tissue Klaxons, it works more like a Moire screen; the more you listen, the more distorted and headachey they sound. And that’s before factoring in lyrics like “many otherworlds’ true horizons start to turn”.
[5]
Mark Sinker: Alleged elfin-alien despatch from the beyond — another planet? another dimension? — obliterated by misshapen razzing bellow. Also: cat’s head misaligned in shoop; Narnia-linked image misdeployed in quote. What are these people telling us about themselves?
[2]
Rebecca Toennessen: From a bouncy and fun-fuelled start, it sort of sighs out into boring breathy vocals. Being me, I ached for a louder mix of guitar over the bleep.
[5]
Martin Skidmore: I guess I do like lame indie if it is enlivened a little with some ravey noises — it makes it a little less limp. However, you would need the Prodigy in their prime to make this non-limp, and the sprinkling of dance sounds on offer is nowhere near enough to lift this dismal non-song performed by weakly monotonous voices and dull playing into any semblance of life or energy.
[2]
Hazel Robinson: These days the Klaxons seem like such a minor infringement. I mean, at least they’re sort of smart and since they stopped wanking on about how many drugs we totally do, man they’re even less obnoxious. This sounds like Gravity’s Rainbow made by a semi-competent band instead of a bag of hyped-up cocks, i.e. all singable chorus, no dickheadery. Much improved, look forward to their future work.
[8]
Mallory O’Donnell: I wish this hadn’t been produced by Ross Robinson, who seems to think everything sounds better when it’s being performed from the top of a cliff. Otherwise, this is a solid single from a fine psyche band who dwell in some very long shadows that they may (or may not) eventually escape. Oh, and I like that it sounds like the Cure and these guys actually get that the Cure are a fine psyche band with a great mopey vocalist, not a great mopey band with a fine pop vocalist.
[7]