Jake Evans - Day One

I wasn't expecting anything. I'm not hearing a lot of indie music nowadays, I'm mainly hearing chillout, funky, latin and afrobeat, so I just heard it because he's the guy from Bad Lieutenant. Well it's not a complete masterpiece, but it often sounds like the best Doves and there are some truly great songs with great guitar and tunes. Check Rise which recalls a bit Swervedriver, Telephone with a guitar riff Noel Gallagher would kill for, Glorious which is a bit new wave-ish, makes me think of The Psychedelic Furs with Johnny Marr, and maybe the best track Last One Standing, a mighty tune with a powerful bass embraced by beautiful keyboards, and another wonderful guitar riff. A revelation.

Jake Evans on Facebook

Last One Standing on YouTube

Day One on Spotify

The Best Of 2009 (and Merry Christmas)

01 BAD LIEUTENANT 
Never Cry Another Tear
 
02 MASSIMO VOLUME
Bologna Nov. 2008 

03 PREFAB SPROUT
Let's Change The World With Music 

04 Marlene Kuntz - Best Of 

05 Elio E Le Storie Tese - Gattini (deluxe edition)

06 Diaframma - Difficile Da Trovare

07 Pet Shop Boys - Yes

08 Section 25 - Nature + Degree

09 Mew - No More Stories Are Told Today

10 Egle Sommacal - Tanto Non Arriva


11 Morrissey - Years Of Refusal
12 Depeche Mode - Sounds Of The Universe
13 Coldplay - LeftRightLeftRightLeft
14 Grand Duchy - Petit Fours
15 Mimes Of Wine - Apocalypse Sets In

This has been a pretty good year in music, well at least by the standards of the decade we're wrapping up, which has been frankly pretty useless. We must be happy that the artists from the 80s and 90s are still carrying on, those who have emerged in the 00s have been a pale comparison. Bands who would have deserved more have been underrated (see Gabrielles Wish), bands who deserve a bright future are still struggling to emerge (see Exit Calm).
New Order have split up, but we find three fourths of their latter line up in Bad Lieutenant. Hooky is missing in action, still trying to do something with his supergroup Freebass (formed with Rourke from The Smiths and Mani from Primal Scream), but the other three have recruited Jake Evans from Rambo And Leroy to form a band with three guitarist and release an excellent album of guitar pop which retains some of what we like about New Order but it's different enough to that legendary band to sound refreshing and escape embarassing comparisons.
Massimo Volume have released a live album from a triumphant concert of last year's comeback tour while we wait for the new studio recording, Paddy McAloon has resurrected the name of his band Prefab Sprout to release an amazing demo recorded in his kitchen in 1992. Marlene Kuntz and Elio E Le Storie Tese released two compilations, the first band addes some covers to their hits, the second re-recorded all their hits with an orchestra, and the result is obviously sublime.
Back to proper new studio albums, Diaframma have made their best album in ages, astonishingly inspired music and lyrics. The same can be said for Pet Shop Boys, nobody was expecting such a masterpiece like Yes. Section 25 followed Part Primitiv, their great comeback of two years ago, with another excellent album.
Mew confirmed themselves as the best new band of this decade with an eclectic and emotional release, if all the new bands were half as inventive as Mew, music would be a lot more interesting.
Massimo Volume guitarist Egle Sommacal made his wonderful second instrumental solo album, this time with an electric guitar and a brass band.
Morrissey and Depeche Mode have released two albums which are quite good, but only just, once again far from their former glories.
Coldplay's live album is pretty good too, especially since it's free.
When back home from rocking the world with the Pixies, Black Francis has formed Grand Duchy, a project with his wife, which sounds a bit like messing with indie for fun, but it's still fun for the listener as well...
Mimes Of Wine have left their mark on the same label of Egle Sommacal with an album of acoustic indie which sounds classic, emotional and disturbing at the same time.
Merry Christams and Happy 2010, hoping that new bands like Exit Calm will start a more exciting decade than this, which won't be remembered with much nostalgia...

Bad Lieutenant - Never Cry Another Tear

The best way to purchase this album is to order the limited edition digipack CD with two bonus tracks from Townsend Records, and then download yet another bonus track from iTunes.
Bad Lieutenant are not, as it first seemed, New Order minus Hook, but Bernard Sumner with Phil Cunningham (who replaced Gillian Gilbert in New Order in this century) and Jake Evans from Rambo And Leroy.
Steve Morris appears on just a few tracks. He's even in the Sink Or Swim video, though the drums were apparently played by Jack Mitchell.


One may wonder why Johnny Marr hasn't been involved into the project, since his style is more present here than on many Electronic tracks. He has clearly returned on Bernard Sumner the influence he received from Bernard when he was a Joy Division fan.

One may also wonder why Jimi Goodwin from Doves hasn't been involved, given that Evans' vocals sound exactly like him.
We may wonder what we want, but after all Never Cry Another Tear remains a very good, almost excellent album, much above what we could expect from Bernard Sumner at his age (53).
There are some fantastic tunes and some wonderful guitars, whether they sound like Marr or not.

I've read very good reviews of the single Sink Or Swim, but I think it just repeats a very good idea a bit too long. Towards the end you've just had enough of the chorus.
There are far worse songs on the album, namely the closing Head Into Tomorrow, an extremely boring post-Britpop acoustic ballad, and maybe the only really ugly track of the album.
But there are far better songs too, the highlight for me is Running Out Of Luck which sounds like a great New Order song, at some point you could believe it's Hooky with his bass there in the middle, and not a guitar, the tune is really emotional and inspired, Bernard Sumner on top form again.
Walk On Silver Water (co-written by Blur's Alex James who also plays bass) sounds like Electronic at their best, pure melancholic beauty.
Summer Days is the most Smiths-ish song but you can't help enjoying it, it's just a good tune.
Poisonous Intent is the one sounding more like New Order, as coming from somewhere between Get Ready and Waiting For The Sirens' Call, it's fun with some really good keyboard and programming.

These are definitely the best tracks for me, but don't even think the others aren't good at least.
Twist Of Fate sounds like Krafty but there's a guitar which at times seem to come straight from Joy Division, This Is Home and These Changes are the songs the Doves have always tried to make, they're just huge and beautiful tunes.
Dynamo is a kind of over ambitious pastiche throwing The Beatles, The Who and New Order into a unholy affair, still it's not irritating at all, you just enjoy its strong energy and smile.
Talking about pastiche, Bad Lieutenant venture even into Age Of Consent 2, here titled Shine Like The Sun, well, the start at least just recalls that New Order classic, the rest veers towards the Doves again. And again you have to admit it's just a nice pop song though you wouldn't be supposed to like it because it's kinda uncool.
Runaway lets you hope Bad Lieutenant have made their own Everyday Is Like Sunday, the beginning is that epic, well it's not at the heighth of Morrissey's classic, but it's not way below either.

Now, the two bonus tracks: Falling Trees is nothing special, just a pleasant positive pop song, Split The Atom is far better, a really inspired verse leads to a radio-friendly chorus and some really good guitar, could have been a hit single.
How Long is not a cover of the Electronic track from Raise The Pressure, but yet another song with the same title and it's the iTunes-only track. It's basically Jimi Goodwin singing a wonderful Smiths song, it should be wrong and nasty, but it's beautiful.

Just like the whole album: hopelessly uncool, but honestly lovely, and ultimately better than most bands which have emerged in this void decade have been capable of doing.
It's like Bernard Sumner showing to the kids that if they really want to do music drawing heavy inspiration from the past, this is how it should be made, still inventive and emotional, at the risk of sounding ridiculous.

Bad Lieutenant's debut with two bonus tracks for pre-order. Streaming video and single

The forthcoming debut album by Bad Lieutenant (the new band founded by former New Order leader Bernard Sumner), Never Cry Another Tear (released on the band's own Triple Echo label), is available for pre-order on Townsend Records in a variety of editions.
The limited edition digipack features two bonus tracks and when you order it you can immediately download Dynamo, the wonderful B side to the single Sink Or Swim, which is already available on iTunes in England.
Here we have the streaming video, single and B side:

From Joy Division to New Order to Bad Lieutenant

Once again the remaining members of this band are carrying on with another name.
Just like when Ian Curtis killed himself Joy Division became New Order, now that Peter Hook has left New Order they're becoming Bad Lieutenant.


Here you can see an acoustic performance of one of their songs, the wonderful Sink Or Swim.
Bernard Sumner (now aged 53) and Steve Morris were against the split of New Order, but couldn't carry on with that name without founding member Peter Hook. They're keeping Phil Cunningham, who replaced Gillian Gilbert in New Order when she left for family commitments at the start of this decade.
Still, more like Electronic than New Order, they're bringing some guests. Alex James from Blur is playing bass and Jake Evans from Rambo And Leroy is an additional guitarist, as in the video above.
There will be live dates in the summer and an album is expected for release in October.
Check NewOrderOnline.com.
It's funny to note that while Peter Hook is working on Freebass, a supergroup with two other legendary bassists, Andy Rourke from The Smiths and Mani from The Stone Roses and Primal Scream, Bad Lieutenant will often feature three guitarists.
Here's some interesting news articles:
New Order members form new band – without Peter Hook (NME.com)
New Order and Blur members announce supergroup (The Guardian)
Joy Division stars form new band (BBC)
BERNARD SUMNER SEETHING WITH HOOK (ContactMusic.com)