Leni Ward
Body ••••
Tunica Adventitia
Turning the tables on the critical faculty, Leni Ward has unknowingly set Wears The Trousers a challenge: to appraise her album Body without imposing the shackles of comparison. You see, Ms Ward is keeping a public tally on her website of artists she is likened to. Currently in the lead is…oh wait, I can’t say. That might count. This is going to be tough.
That Body has merits enough to sprint towards the word count without dropping names is something of a relief. Ah, but wait, the first song seems to be about Madonna, the Madonna! No getting around that. “Mary had a baby and doomed the world” must rank up there with the Pope’s least favourite opening salvos, but it’s certainly effective in securing the listener’s attention. But the range of Ward’s barb outstretches faith alone; her question is whether the great women of religion and mythology are great only through their ability to act as progenitors of even greater men – as she rightly points out, it’s not like Mary was given a choice in the matter – and whether a woman who chooses to go against the female’s basic biological purpose is valid in the eyes of others.
Filed under: album, review | Tags: 2008, music, stephanie heney, the subways
The Subways
All Or Nothing ••••
Infectious
The Subways’ ascent from playing the back rooms of pubs to firing up stadiums was a swift escalation, boosted by a whirlwind of media buzz and the golden hand of Michael Eavis who raised the band’s profile through the Glastonbury Festival Unsigned Performers competition. Not bad for two teenage brothers and a girlfriend, and all this before an album.
The 2005 Ian Broudie-produced debut Young For Eternity did nothing to slow down or dispel the hype, and it wasn’t long before the band were featured on ‘The OC’ and reaching high in the mainstream charts. The fresh, raw punk-pop of their debut is so catchy, so perfectly formed and energy-filled that expectations for a follow-up must have been a huge pressure. And, indeed, the band had a lot to contend with during the making of All Or Nothing. Billy Lunn suffered nodules on his vocal cords requiring surgery and a four-month rehabilitation period, and he and co-vocalist/bassist Charlotte Cooper broke off their five-year relationship. For the band to even survive at all was a miracle, and so All Or Nothing became an apt title for their make-or-break sophomore effort.
Filed under: news, trouser press | Tags: dévics, bat for lashes, yeah yeah yeahs, amy winehouse, tanya donelly, ani difranco, kaki king, bjork, girls aloud, sarabeth tucek, land of talk, karen o, native korean rock, rio en medio, caroline weeks, mariee sioux, tara busch, joy zipper, dean and britta, the brunettes, the rosebuds, the submarines, elizabeth harper, music, news
- Ani’s new album makes 20
- China still mad at Björk
- Karen O unveils new side project
- Bebo soap opera to star Amy Winehouse and Girls Aloud?
- new album from Land Of Talk in October
- another tribute to The Cure on the way
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If your life is in need of a righteous shot in the arm, perk up, Ani’s back! And she’s gone all funky again! The wee workaholic releases her latest album – her 20th since 1990 – Red Letter Year on September 29th with the promise of much exuberance and cheer. After opening with a double helping of political rallying to get her into her stride, DiFranco inevitably has more personal matters to attend to with songs like ‘Present/Infant’ and ‘Landing Gear’ referring to her young daughter. ‘Way Tight’, a staple of recent live shows, also makes an appearance, as do horns, synths, piano and strings (possibly not all on the same song). Ani comes to Europe at the end of October.
Red Letter Year
01 Red Letter Year
02 Alla This
03 Present/Infant
04 Smiling Underneath
05 Way Tight
06 Emancipated Minor
07 Good Luck
08 The Atom
09 Round A Pole
10 Landing Gear
11 Star Matter
12 Red Letter Year (reprise)
