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| Magnetic Morning - A.M. |
| Written by Noel Slevin | |
  Non-Melody A.M. Magnetic Morning is Swervedriver singer Adam Franklin and Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino. Oh, and they used to be called The Setting Suns. Hardly an inspiring way to begin a review but the above description is about as interesting as this band gets. You see, A.M. may well be the dullest album of the year so far. Opener Spring Unseen sets the tone for the rest of the record. A dull, turgid slog with Franklin sounding as interested as a train timetable announcer. The guitars may suggest a foray into a Kevin Shields-style crescendo of trebly feedback, but an actual decent song never materialises. And so on it goes. Each track a listless, bland offering that screams ‘side-project’. The playing is fine, but that’s half the problem. Franklin and Fogarino are clearly serious guys and competent musicians. However, all the effort appears to have gone into creating the right textures and reverb, the desired tone of the production and the correct technicalities of the playing. At no point is there any evidence of actually trying to create a memorable tune or satisfying hook. Then there’s the repetitiveness. Even if the band are, like, totally psyched that they have achieved the sound they were going for, it’s curious why no-one appeared to raise their hand and point out that the album is exactly the same all the way through. The first four tracks are virtual re-treads. Fogarino is a fine stickman in his day job, but could be any other jobbing session drummer here. Franklin just sounds bored. He’s clearly aiming for a detached, hazy, insomnia-fuelled morning feel (hence the title?) but the dreariness of the delivery doesn’t quite cut it. They lyrics are so non-descript they don’t even register. If all this tedious noodling isn’t bad enough, the start of The Wrong Turning sounds just like a Maroon 5 track. Musical crime doesn’t get any more heinous than that. As the record goes on, the desire to sounds like a classic 90s shoegazing band becomes ever more apparent. However, if this was the aspiration one wonders why Franklin just didn’t record another album with Swervedriver. A.M. is a lifeless, monotonous album that offers not a single redemptive quality. The aural equivalent of driving down a lone motorway with not even a neon-lit Little Chef to divert your attention. At least with motorways, though, you end up getting somewhere. Release date: 27/01/2009 Artist website: www.magneticmorning.com Label: Friend or Faux  (0) comments - discuss in the forum |
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