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Turin Brakes | The Optimist LP

CD, Source/Labels

Tekst: Alex Tobin

Publicatiedatum: 13 april 2001

Every once in a while the music press - and the British seem to be world champions when it comes to this - decide it's time for a new fad, a new sound, a new movement. Lately, any discernible reader of pop music magazines has undoubtedly come across the countless articles, plucked out on countless computer keyboards into countless, gushing lines, informing us - dear Reader - that Folk with a capital F is back. The New Acoustic Movement. Quiet is the New Loud. Well, bollocks and pish to all that. Rather than lend ourselves to the latest, marketing executive-devised cunning plan, let's concentrate on the tunes. "I don't really know what our songs are about," says Olly Knights of English duo Turin Brakes. "They show you a little window, they're always kind of lost. I always feel like they're someone walking around, trying to make sense of anything. [...] They're [...] driven by, you know, anxiety, fear of death. But they're the best things to write about." "Oh goody," you might be saying to yourselves. "Another gaggle of English, public school-educated, shoegazing toffs." Well, erm, no. Not quite. Actually, Turin Brakes are quite good, you see. Sure, one could easily come up with vocal comparisons to Thom Yorke and Ben and Jason (Remember them? They were part of the now Not-So-New-Anymore Acoustic Movement.), but that's not giving Knights and fellow musician Gale Paridjanian nearly enough credit. 'The Optimist LP' is a twelve-strong (13, if you count the obligatory hidden bonus track) collection of songs that sound eerily similar upon first listen. But - hey! - they're sneaky buggers (the songs, not the band), and, given half a chance, tracks such as 'Emergency 72' and 'Underdog (Save Me)' will find themselves crawling into the deepest, darkest recesses of your subconscious slower than a tortoise with one leg (albeit with far more dexterity and grace). Soaring, keening, yearning longing vocals, accompanied by subtle, yet nimble and beautiful guitar work, make 'The Optimist LP' a worthy debut. What this young band needs is time to grow, time to determine their own pace, away from media and record company pressures. Given this, Turin Brakes will undoubtedly be able to prove that they're no mere bandwagon jumpers and trendsters. No - Good music is eternal, and 'The Optimist LP' is eternally good music.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/recensie/turin-brakes/the-optimist-lp/276/
Meer Turin Brakes op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/turin-brakes