NewMusic First Spin: The William Blakes
November 10th, 2009
Here is an album that has brought mass confusion. As one MuchMusic employee said to me, “When I saw the cover I thought it was a solo album by the guy in the Flaming Lips.” Seeing as Wayne Coyne’s big grin graces the cover it’s easy to be mistaken that Coyne has released an album called The William Blakes. That is, if you’d expect him to put an 18th century oil painting of himself on the cover.
No, instead Wayne Coyne is the fetching new album by a Danish band named The William Blakes. A curious homage indeed, but other than being an admitted humanistic inspiration for the band, there are no convincing traces of a Flaming Lips influence in the music.
The William Blakes, however, do share a similar fondness for blaring a loud mix of kaleidoscopic psychedelia, melody and intricate arrangements. If anything, the Danes share more in common with the climax-heavy orchestrations of the Arcade Fire. You can hear that band’s tension and rickety percussion in tracks like “Science is Religion,” which is as much in debt to The Cure’s “In Between Days,” as well as “On Fire,” a raucous circus tune that sounds like an unhinged reworking of Funeral’s “Haïti.”
It’s not fair to brand The William Blakes as a tribute band to their assumed miscellaneous influences though. There’s a ridiculous amount of depth and variety in their sonic game that somehow pulls it all in cohesively.
The title track, for instance, is a blast of pulsating electro that breaks into a frantic, punk-fuelled chant of “Mama-se, mama-sa, ma-ma-koo-sa” (the bit from “Soul Makossa” that everyone from Michael Jackson to Jay-Z to Rihanna has nicked). “Guitar Solo” may only last 38 seconds, but it allows them to fully indulge in the noise-filled titular activity. And “The Love From Above,” another short instrumental, is awash in swelling guitar scapes that manifests a crystalline guitar sound last performed this good 20 years ago by Robin Guthrie.
Considering the band have already followed up Wayne Coyne with an album called Dear Unknown Friend this year, it shouldn’t take long to hear more from these guys. But using a figure as beloved as Wayne to make your introduction is certainly the right decision for a fresh-faced band like this.
Listen to it here
Watch the video for Secrets of the Stage here.
Artist: The William Blakes
Album:Wayne Coyne
Release Date:November 17, 09
Label: Speed of Sound/Last Gang Records
Genre: Indie Rock
Author: Cam Lindsay
First Spin Live Until: November 24, 09
Track Listing:
- Secrets Of The State
- Violent God
- On Fire
- Reality
- Wayne Coyne
- Science Is Religion
- Beginnings
- Guitar Solo
- The Magician
- Large Cities
- The Love From Above
- Give It Away
Tags: first spin, The William Blakes
Posted on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 6:19 pm by Klye and is filed under Reviews.
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2 Responses to “NewMusic First Spin: The William Blakes”
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Omg.. i just love Michael Jackson.. I’m still sad he died..
these guys are shit!