Reviews / Album

Highly recommended listening if you like your indie music well done.

This is the album of a man who seems destined never to reach the greatness for which he once seemed destined. Spare a thought for JJ.

Whilst Veckatimest was full of initial standout tracks, Shields is more about the journey than reaching those highlights quickly and clearly.

Gallows have found new life with MacNeil fronting the band, and he, in turn, has been given a new creative outlet now that Alexisonfire are, or are soon to be, no more.

Benét proves there is still life left in his exploration of the naive technology of the 1980s and, by wisely allowing the focus to shift from his persona to the instruments, has produced a surprisingly infectious and endearing album of electro-pop music.

There is a real presence on this record, something that’s lacking in today’s releases, and while these guys may not save rock‘n’roll, they show on this album that they will damn well avenge it.

A little from column A and a little from column B.

The most rewarding aspect of About Monsters is the compositional quality of the songs and the way Deer complements his acoustic strumming with loops, strings, percussive quirks and electronic backdrops.

Slipstream could have been another income earner for a career that has spanned five decades yet instead feels fresh and contemporary.

What makes it so right this time around? The music is still that alt.country-flecked Southern racket, well-thought and well-played. It’s perhaps a little more approachable, certainly more consistent.