Gang Gang Dance are cooler than a cool thing. Well, it’s the only album that put a smile on my face this week. The Sea And Cake make a decent effort, but Kaiser Chiefs and Mercury Rev disappoint.

Gang Gang Dance come out of Brooklyn’s thriving No Wave and Performance scene and are now channeling their creative powers into a much more Pop friendly approach. Their new album ‘Saint Dymphna’ combines tribal percussion with a splash of Dub and House. Very trendy and very easy listening.

The Sea And Cake are on their eighth album by now and ‘Car Alarm’ captures their intricate guitar interplay at its well-oiled best. Don’t expect any surprises, this is an album full of soft, ambient rock. What they do, they do very well, though. Worth a spin.

The Kaisers say they entered the studio to record an EP or mini-album. The lads should have stuck to the plan. As it is, they ended up with four decent tracks and a bunch of fillers.

Mercury Rev, meanwhile, have opted for sounding like early 70’s Genesis. Progressive Rock full of theatrical gestures and flowery lyrics. Enough said.

Album Of The Week
Gang Gang Dance ‘Saint Dymphna’

With ‘Saint Dymphna’, Gang Gang Dance morph from a bunch of abrasive Brooklyn art rockers playing for hyper-active hipsters into something resembling Bjork fused with the Afro Celt Soundsystem.

Don’t get me wrong, this is no half-arsed attempt by a ‘difficult’ band to go commercial. Gang Gang Dance sound still clued in and they are also still pretty intense.

If you never heard Gang Gang Dance before, you have to watch the video below. This is the band in top form, doing their improvised, melancholic drone rock. Think My Bloody Valentine meets Sonic Youth. Once you’ve watched (even just for a few seconds), read on.

Watch Gang Gang Dance Perform Live

Now that we have a common starting point, listen to ‘Saint Dymphna’ below. Positively easy listening, right? Yes, but you don’t get that tightly-packed sound if you haven’t done the improvisation bit ad nauseam beforehand.

Listen Here To ‘Saint Dymphna’

Some of the standout tracks for me are the Bjork-meets-Afro-Funk of ‘First Communion’, the Space-Invaders-raid-Bollywood sound on ‘Vacuum’ and the Dubstep-goes-to-Indonesia percussion on ‘Inner Pace’.

Gang Gang Dance actually do use Dubstep flavours judiciously on the album. For best results, check out ‘Princes’ with MC Tinchy Stryder.

The most straightforward pop tune on ‘Saint Dymphna’ is ‘House Jam’ - A tightrope walk between plain cheesy and pleasantly weird. There’s also a sanitised remix, courtesy of Hot Chip, which straightens out the beats and applies a bit of European chic to the Brooklyn sounds of Gang Gang Dance.

Gang Gang Dance are one of those rare beasts straddling the music scene and the art world. Th eband performed during the prestigious Whitney Biennial exhibition organised by New York’s Whitney Museum Of American Art earlier this year.

In art terms, ‘now’s the time to buy’ Gang Gang Dance before it all blows up (well, maybe…).

UK and Ireland readers can download ‘Saint Dymphna’ here from iTunes UK.

US Readers - Buy Gang Gang Dance On CD Here (sorry, no vinyl at present)!

UK And Ireland Readers - Buy Gang Gang Dance On CD Or Vinyl Here!

#2 The Sea And Cake ‘Car Alarm’
Atmospheric Alternative Rock played and recorded with a light touch. At its peak, it’s like Television jamming with Kraftwerk. At its lowest, it burbles away happily in the background.

The Sea And Cake play their guitars in that pearly, finicky 70’s style perfected by New York art punks Television. No droning notes, no chords. The band also uses electronics, but not like somebody would do it who comes from a Dance background. No, theirs is a rock approach to rhythm machines and sounds that owes a lot to German bands of the early 70’s. Think Can or Harmonia.

Watch The Sea And Cake Video For ‘Weekend’

‘CMS Sequence’ is a neat slice of vintage electronica that could have come straight out of the tape archives of Harmonia or early Kraftwerk. ‘Weekend’ builds a shimmering Electro Funk groove that sounds just on the money for fans of Optimo, Idjut Boys or Too Many DJs.

This is the Chicago bands eight album to date. At this stage, all the bits just slot into their place and the guitar work is super slick. ‘Aerial’ and ‘On The Letter’ are super elastic, mellow guitar jams. The sound of Television floating on lilos in a L.A. pool. I know, that probably never happened. Just picture the scene and its soundtrack.

Listen Here To ‘Car Alarm’!
US Readers Can Download From The Player Below.

Quiet, soft guitars dominate the remainder of the album. Sometimes flavoured with a bit of cod Reggae, 10CC style (’Down In The City’), sometimes spiced up with a Tom Verlaine style guitar solo (’Window Sills’).

If I have any reservations, it’s that large chunks of ‘Car Alarm’ are so ethereal they just fade into the background.

UK and Ireland readers can download ‘Car Alarm’ here from iTunes UK.

US Readers - Buy The Sea And Cake’s New Album On CD Here!

UK And Ireland Readers - Buy ‘Car Alarm’ On CD Here!

#3 Kaiser Chiefs ‘Off With Their Heads’
The first single ‘Never Miss A Beat’ sets a brisk pace which the rest of the album can’t follow. The band’s more at ease on mid-tempo numbers these days, but their songwriting has not caught up with that fact yet. As a result, ‘Off With Their Heads’ is caught between a past that seems out of reach and a yet unclear future. Get a direction, lads.

Watch The Video For ‘Never Miss A Beat’

‘Good Days, Bad Days’ is an excellent example for the Kaiser Chiefs playing in this new, lower gear. The song reminds me of The Clash after they stepped off the accelerator after their debut album ‘The Clash’. Listen closely to ‘Good Days, Bad Days’ and you get to a place somewhere between ‘Spanish Bombs’ and ‘Lost In The Supermarket’.

‘Good Days, Bad Days’ and ‘Never Miss A Beat’ are clearly the standout tracks here. ‘Always Happens Like That’ is a mid-tempo pop tune with a touch of quirky 80’s pop band Orange Juice. ‘Tomato In The Rain’ is, despite its cringeworthy title, a decent ballad.

After that we’re on a slippery slope to nowhere. The Chiefs are just all over the place. ‘You Want History’ is catchy but bland, ‘Spanish Metal’ is a bit of a dirge and on ‘Can’t Say What I Mean’ the Kaiser Chiefs even sound like a sub-Oasis cover band.

On stage, the Chiefs might still surprise and shift up a gear. The band will be on tour early next year. Check dates and buy Kasier Chief concert tickets online.

Listen Here To ‘Off With Their Heads’ and download the album from iTunes UK. The Kaiser Chief’s new album will also be available for download from amazon.com from 28th October.

US Readers - Why Wait For The Download Version, Buy Kaiser Chiefs On CD And Import Vinyl Here!

UK And Ireland Readers - Buy Kaiser Chiefs On CD And Vinyl Here!

#4 Mercury Rev ‘Midnight Snowflake’
Jeesus, it’s Genesis. No, Pink Floyd. Anyway, ‘Snowflake Midnight’ is gentle progressive rock for herbal tea parties.

Serious, if you ever had a weak spot for Genesis or Pink Floyd, try and listen to Mercury Rev’s new album. It’s intelligent pop music with a touch of the theatrical about it. They’re from New York, but Mercury Rev even add that English pastoral touch to the proceedings.

If I had to pin down references I’d say Genesis during their Peter Gabriel-led era from ‘Nursery Cryme’ to ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’, with a touch of Pink Floyd circa ‘Wish You Were Here’.

Listen to ‘Dream Of A Young Girl As A Flower’ and ‘Faraway From Cars’ using the MP3 player below and you know what I mean.

Mercury Rev are taking their strangely nostalgic proggy sound on tour this autumn. Check dates and buy Concert Tickets online.

Watch Mercury Rev Perform Live At Hydro Connect ‘08

I can’t detect much irony on ‘Snowflake Midnight’, so I have to assume Mercury Rev are dead serious about playing this kind of pastoral prog rock. Why?

At the time (and yes, I had Genesis’ ‘Nursery Cryme’ and ‘Foxtrot’ on tape many moons ago) it was a new, exotic take on rock music. In hindsight, it didn’t deliver. Rather, it all went a bit ridiculous in a ‘Spinal Tap’ way. Those who staid clear of the snowflakes, flowers and squirrels (by the way, Mercury Rev do a song called ‘A Squirrel And I’…) eventually made more exciting music.

You want an example? Take Robert Wyatt, who consistently, from prog rock with Soft Machine to proto-New Wave to these days, made fresh, intelligent pop music with attitude. Just for fun, check out his most recent album ‘Comic Opera’ and compare it with ‘Snowflake Midnight’.

I suppose the album’s biggest achievement is that it moderates the plodding, worthy Genesis style of playing with the slicker pop ways of mid-70’s Pink Floyd. Just try playing it at your next dinner party and I’m quite sure ‘Snowflake Midnight’ will become a conversation point.

Novelty factor aside, while ‘Snowflake Midnight’ is an interesting flashback to an era that hasn’t had a revival yet, I don’t see much of a point in it.

Readers from the UK and Ireland can download ‘Snowflake Midnight’ here from iTunes UK.

US Readers - Buy Mercury Rev On CD Here! (Vinyl Currently Not Available)

UK And Ireland Readers - Buy Mercury Rev On CD Or Vinyl Here!