Simon WhittleNew releases
22-20s: Shake/Shiver/Moan
Although the 22-20s have been together since 2002 their career has, at best, spluttered along. After initial early success, a split , and reformation, this week sees the earlier than expected release of their second full length album Shake/Shiver/Moan.
Shake/Shiver/Moan is an album where every song sounds somewhat like that of another band but yet you can't always put your finger on which one. But that doesn't mean it's unoriginal or a retread, in fact, far from it as the album is a delightful blast inspired by the last 20+ years of English rock.
The album opens with Heart On A String a slow building track about the fragility of love that explodes mid way through before moving to Bitter Pills, a tracks that brings us a glimmer of the bands origins as a blues band. Talk To Me, probably the albums best song, blends snappy lyrics with hard, dirty guitars and reminds one of the Gallaghers brothers better days.
The rest of the album follows in the same vein as the band stick to what they know, good lyrics and good melodies using nothing more than vocals, guitars, and drums. The end result is a solid, highly enjoyable album that would happily sit in a record collection between The Rifles and Arctic Monkeys.
Shake/Shiver/Moan is available exclusively through iTunes for the bargain price of $5.99. The album will receive a full release on June 22nd on all other formats including a vinyl edition.
You can also catch the 22-20s on tour in the Bay Area this coming Sunday (6/13) with Cage the Elephant at the Blank Club in San Jose.
Ratatat: LP4 
Brooklyn based electro-rock duo Ratatat return this week with their fourth long player, the appropriately named LP4.
This album has a split of styles and seems to catch the band in the midst of some musical experimentation. The electro-rock sound that Ratatat have become known for is alive and well in tracks We Can't Be Stopped, Bob Gandhi, Party With The Children, and Sunblocks.
Other tracks on the album take a more upbeat, euro style bent and represent the better efforts. The tracks, Bilar, Mandy, and Alps put the focus on the drum loops rather than orchestration. Drugs heads into a mellow version of Justice/Daft Punk and Neckbrace hits The Glimmers territory with it's looped vocal and a disco feel.
Individual tracks stand out but the end result is an album that is musically schizophrenic as it hops around from one track to the next with very little cohesion. Fans of previous Ratatat albums will find plenty to enjoy but it's unlikely to earn the band many new fans.
LP4 is out now and available from iTunes, Amazon, and other fine music retailers.
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