Given2FlyMike's Full Review: The Chinese Album by Spacehog
This review is part of MattA75’s ‘You Show Me Your’s I’ll Show You Mine’ Write Off.
Bands have influences. It’s how it is. Birds have feathers, the sun rises in the east, and bands have influences. Some band’s influences, however, are more obvious than others. Very often a band’s influences are so jumbled and mixed together that the coagulation of those influences becomes that band’s sound.
For example: Any 70s garage rock band + any 80s glam rock outfit = The Strokes
In the case of Spacehog, and specifically The Chinese Album, the equation isn’t quite that simple. Rock-mathematically, The Chinese Album looks something like this:
The Beatles + The Verve + Brit Pop + Gorillaz + Scapegoat Wax + 50s surf rock and 70s punk = The Chinese Album
Perhaps no band has so unabashedly displayed their reservoir of influences as Spacehog has on The Chinese Album. Each of the album’s 12 tracks has its own distinct flavor and its own very distinct set of influential factors. Songs like Skylark and Lucy’s Shoes reek of The Beatles. We’re not talking, ‘oh these guys listen to The Beatles and that is why this song sounds Beatlesesque.’ This stuff sounds like Beatles b-sides or perhaps a funked up Beatles cover band.
With that said, The Chinese Album is surprisingly accessible if not flat out catchy for the most part. Even more surprising is that most of the songs are enjoyable upon first listen.
The album opens with “One of These Days”, a bluesy piano riff that breaks into a tight mix of sampled drums and sound effects. In some alternate universe, Radiohead would have ended up sounding something like this song. Zips, blips and pops race as singer/bassist Royston Langdon shares his musings on mortality. The song has a ton of pop sensibility while still being innovative and fresh. The only flaw is a deep, annoying, sampled repetition of the title phrase.
“Goodbye Violet Race” is a foot stomping sing along. Royston’s vocals are more musical than melodic. His voice is very lively, a strange warbled croon for most of the songs often sounding like the best karaoke singer ever. This track features some really good guitar soloing from Antony Langdon as well as a cool drum-heavy breakdown at the end. “Lucy’s Shoes” follows immediately and is a sleepy, dramatic, piano-driven tune. This is one of “The Beatles Songs”. It’s very cinematic and feels somewhat like The Verve’s Bittersweet Symphony. Nice, melodic guitar work and heavy strings bring the song to a sweet close.
“Mungo City” was the album’s first single. It’s a typical blues riff that snaps rather unexpectedly into a catchy rock tune. Pretty standard stuff, but it is catchy enough. Royston implements some Freddie Mercuryish vocal drama in the jerky lyrics.
The first four tracks are penned primarily by Royston Langdon. On “Skylark” and “Captain Freeman”, brother Antony shows his writing chops. To say he has an odd writing style is an understatement. Hard to explain and quirky, “Skylark” sounds heavily influenced by Yellow Submarine era Beatles while “Captain Freeman” is a chunk of 50s surf rock from hell with some really cool spitfire vocals. If it’s wacky, Antony is responsible.
Sandwiched between those two oddballs is “Sand in Your Eyes”, an ominous song with sparse piano and really nice drum/bass interplay. Royston uses a different ‘back of the throat’ style voice that doesn’t fit quite right with the tone of the song. ׀nd Avenue” also could benefit from a different vocal approach. If the vocals had a more serious tone, the entire character of the song would be different, likely for the better. His smarmy tone makes everything sound like a joke, regardless of how poignant or affecting the lyrics may be.
“Almond Kisses” is a really pleasant surprise. It features Michael Stipe with co-lead vocals and has a really nice groove and sweet vocal harmonies. Its effervescence is a welcome change at this spot on the album and could easily have been a radio hit. “Carry On” brings the band back to rocking glam riffing. The vocals are up an octave and the bluesy song structure and melody propel this unmitigated love song. This might be the most straight forward rock song on the disc.
Like Spacehog, “Anonymous” comes to life building on laughter before the songs starts with some acoustic strumming. Add some snare, some piano, and this song becomes a foot tapping genre bender where blues, country twang, and rock meet. The Langdon brothers collaborated on this tune and that may explain the awkward time changes. It sounds like two pieces that were jammed together.
The album closes with possibly its finest moment: “Beautiful Girl”. What would a rock record be without a song about an underage girl? The song is basically an awesome, plaintive guitar melody and wailing vocals. It is one of the more traditional rock songs on the album and it really showcases the band’s pop ability.
I didn’t know what to expect when my partner, flamepillar, said I was getting “The Chinese Album”. Well, I’m pretty impressed with Spacehog. They’re a little messy, a little wacky, but they do have some really catchy songs with a touch of innovation. Though not for everyone, “The Chinese Album” could be a nice pick up for those who like melodic rock, but want something a little left of the norm.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2010 Shopping.com, Inc.