AMS albums you may have missed!

St. Vincent - St. Vincent

St. Vincent released her first album, Marry Me, back in 2007. It was pretty good. 2009 saw Actor released, and that was really good. 2011’s Strange Mercy was absolutely spectacular. A stunningly well crafted art pop record, it reamins one of the best things released this decade. Then came an album with David Byrne of Talking Heads fame, which was, not surprisingly, a little too weird for its own good. I’m a big Talking Heads fan, but to my mind, David Byrne’s experimental approach to things didn’t set particularly well with Annie Clark’s extremely tight sound. Her fourth album is self-titled, but it’s not particularly St. Vincent-esque. She seems to have taken a lot of tips from David Byrne. There’s a variety of sounds all over this record with fairly mixed success. The dissonant guitar riff in Birth in Reverse is superb, while the psychedelic dream pop of Severed Crossed Fingers is a sound I’d love to see her expand on further. There’s also the slightly less difficult _Psychopath _and the synth filled yet surprisingly heavy _Huey Newton _to enjoy. It’s taken me a few listens, but there is a lot to enjoy here. The glitchy opener Rattlesnake sounded like a huge misstep on first listen, but I’ve come round in time. This certainly isn’t as good as Strange Mercy, and I don’t think any number of listens will change that, but this is definitely worth your time, especially if you’re willing to invest in it.

We Came Out Like Tigers - Ever-Crushed at Pecket’s Well

This one only came out in mid-April, but it’s already become one of my absolute favourite albums of this year. We Came Out Like Tigers are a politically charged black metal influenced screamo band from Liverpool. They are one of my absolute favourite bands to see live. With the furious screams, pounding blast beats and rants about Fascism, it’s about as intense as live music can get, and it just blows me away every time. Their first album, Agelessness and Lack, was released back in 2012, and whilst it was really good, it failed to catch the intensity of the live show with a slightly too thin mix. There are no such issues this time around. The songs are at least as good, but the production is just so much better. _To Ruin a Fine Tenor Voice _is some of the most emotionally charged screamo you’ll find, and the mournful violin towards the end is just perfect (I may have forgotten to mention they have a violin). The violin is probably what really separates this out from the rest. It adds sorrow and beauty to otherwise furious music. One negative is that the whole album is only 25 minutes long, but when it’s this intense, that might be best for my emotional state...This really is as good an album as I’ve heard this year, so if you’ve any interest in heavy music, check this out!

This album is available for name your price, starting at free, from wecameoutliketigers.bandcamp.com, so you’ve no excuse!

Human Hands - Human Hands

Human Hands released their self-titled debut album back in January, but I’ve only just gotten round to listening to it. I should not have waited, this is superb. It is really refreshing hearing an emo band who have no interest in sounding like a Kinsella project. Forget Cap’n Jazz and American Football, Human Hands sound is mix of bands like Christie Front Drive, Indian Summer and Rites of Spring. It’s heavy, but it’s dripping with emotion. The shouted vocals interwined and often underlaid with muted singing, the pounding drums and swirling dissonant riffs are all brought together with really well written songs. _Remain _is an early highlight. It ebbs and flows and it’s just absolutely gripping. Everything seems to be barely restrained, until the last minute, where it’s all released in a cacophony of anger. The structure of the tracks on this album is very close to post-rock in a lot of ways, but unlike acts like Foxing and Prawn, Human Hands have no interest in making it pretty. They don’t want this to be easy listening, and it makes for a very rewarding listen. The run from _Remain _through to penultimate track Dust is just so good. It’s a shame that the final track is 10 minutes long and all a bit much. That doesn’t stop it being a great album though, because it is top dollar.

This album is also available for name your price with no minimum so head over to humanhands.bandcamp.com to listen!