 |
| Research Turtles - Part 2 |
Research Turtles – Mankiller Part 2 (Normanium Records)
Louisiana. A state built on
swamps, deltas and Kid Rock wrestling with alligators on a stoop to the sound
of banjo music. So it’s a little surprising when out of the swamp comes the
slick, melodic pop-rock of Research Turtles. Obscure name side, these guys have
developed a sound that is reminiscent of Redd Kross or the Feeling with the
campness dialled down and with less of a Queen obsession. At just 6 tracks ‘Mankiller
Part 2’ genuinely presents the second half of an album in an intriguing
approach to releasing music in the digital age (or maybe just a solution to
getting music in to the public domain while it’s still fresh and not finding
yourself in crippling debt to pay for studio time). It’s no great surprise,
then, that opener ‘Guy Like Me’ sounds just like the kind of low-key, lo-fi
track you would find in the middle of an album with Dandy Warhol’s-esque strummed
acoustic guitar provided the bed for spaced out keys and drawled vocals. ‘The
Fancy’ is an altogether more upbeat affair with frontman and bassist Jud Norman
doing his best sleazy rock voice over the top of polished indie-rock riffs.
For a band that openly extol the
greats of the bygone British music scene, Research Turtles have seemingly fused
together the Beach Boys’ harmonies and the groove of bands like Weezer to
create some genuinely fun romps, such as ‘Break It Up’. ‘Space’ gives more than
a nod to the grunge era and the line “I’m temporarily away in space” is just
begging to be sung back at the band on a dark, sweaty night. In fact, the more
you listen to this album, the more you realise how much musicality and genuine
songwriting talent the quartet possess. ‘Into You’ is a jerky, bouncy indie-pop
bundle of innocent teen love that would probably be a smash hit worldwide in
the hands of One Direction but thank God it’s not in their hands! People often
accuse me of not liking pop music but I am a huge fan of good, well written pop
and this is it. And to finish up is the slacker, shuffle-pop of ‘What Can I
Say?’ which is dripping in the Lemonheads, Teenage Fanclub and too many 90s
Britpop bands to mention (oh go on then, just for fun, Octopus, Lush, Shack
etc). I don’t know whether it was intended this way but listening to the second
half of this album has made me really want to hear the first half because if
Part 2 is this good then must be fantastic right? I mean, sequels are never as
good as the originals right?
More information:
http://www.researchturtles.com/music