Neon Trees – Habits

Habits, by Neon Trees is the first album from the Utah alternative rockers.  How, does it compare to other alternative mainstream acts of 2011?

Picked from obscurity by the Killers, who took the four-piece on tour with them in 2008, Neon Trees’ sound has hard hitting base lines and catchy tunes, much like the band they toured with. But is it a match for the world’s biggest arena-fillers? The album is well put together, but contains much of the same thing. It only includes 8 songs, so it is not exactly the most bang for your buck.

It starts off with "Sins of Our Youth". The chorus is as follows:

“I've got these habits that I cannot break, and as I'm older there is more at stake,
Go ahead and call me fake, but these are the sins, The sins of my youth “.

One thing comes to mind when reading these lyrics- they are cheesy. Although the song is catchy it does not seem well thought-out, and more of a mash up of pop with alternative lyrics.

The next song "Love and Affection" is much like the first. After the song is over you will have already forgotten it. It is impossible to remember a single line, except for the continuous chorus which repeats "love and affection", with the occasional "woah woah". Following this is, "Animal",  the platinum-selling single and the only song on the album that is almost enjoyable. The catchy lyrics mixed with the repetitive guitar and bouncy keyboards makes for a commercial-sounding calling card. The chorus makes you want to sing along at the top of your lungs while bouncing around the room. But after a while the continuous "uh-ohs" come across as rather boring, so it is not a song you can listen to multiple times. The start of the album really sets a template that the band never strays from. As such, across 8 tracks, Habits becomes something of a drag.

The rest of the album follows much of the same formula – slow starts, slow build ups, big middles with sudden fades. Each song sounds so similar that is hard to make note of the other records on the album. Variations are slight, at best: 'In the Next Room' adopts a somewhat of a raunchy change of pace, but still feels like they could have taken it further. Also the ‘woah woahs’ continuously heard throughout the album as fillers seem unnecessary.

Tyler Glenn is a powerful lead vocalist and his voice makes the album a little enjoyable. The bassist also adds some great parts to the album; however the drummer and the guitarist seem too repetitive with their involvement. When compared with other alternative rock groups such as ‘The Bravery’ or ‘The Killers’, this album does not seem as well thought out and original. Neon Trees does not come across as an alternative rock band, but as a pop band with the look of the alternative scene. Here's hoping that with their next album they will step out of the box further.

Gemmy’s ‘Supligen’

Dubstep as a style can be be traced from the streets of south London to a number of commercial artists such as Britney Spears and Rihanna. The roots of this music can be traced to DJs in the late 90s using reverberant samples and hard bass lines. This had grown out of earlier styles like 2-step and even breakbeat. An element of funk was added to the rhythm and you ended up with songs that have an often unmatched enthusiasm in the electronic genre. 

Gemmy is a permanent fixture of the dubstep scene in Bristol. His recent album, ‘Supligen’ is a polished and exciting offering. Now let’s be frank, the first and title track: ‘Supligen’ is the sort of song that hits you in the face within the first second of pressing play. It is OK to interpret these first sounds as a warning for your ears. Within 30 seconds you begin to get the idea that your sub-woofer might soon part ways with your shelving unit, and the experience doesn’t seem to reach an appreciable crescendo until near the end.

 

Make no mistake, ‘Supligen’ has a very smooth and clean feel for a genre where the ‘grimy’ sound often gets the most attention. The second track, appropriately titled ‘BT Tower’, brings us back to the roots of dubstep with what can only be described as a “filthy” sounding song. There is a good reason for this, however, as the BT Tower is a reference to the giant radio tower which disrupts the landscape just north of Bristol. This is abruptly apparent just before the one-minute mark where, what had been an ethereal and intrepid beat, becomes a massive and devastating mechanical bass line.

The hard hitting feel of dubstep is a force that simply can’t be ignored. With elements creeping into mainstream media like motion pictures, music, and media. It’s nice to take a step back and acknowledge some of the history. In 2011, a lesser known DJ Fresh made the #1 spot on the UK singles charts, the first time a song with dubstep elements made the top spot. Lucozade Sport Lite, the Uk’s leading low calorie drink shot a video for the song, going so far as to hire award winning director Ben Newman. Granted DJ Fresh’s track ‘Louder’ has been tamed for the pop market. The sampling is a lot sunnier and the vocals soften the punch, but those hard hitting melodies are still there hammering away the same as Gemmy’s ‘Supligen’.