Battles

[Marvin]

Anybody here a fan of their delightfully odd work? For those of you who don't know, they're a somewhat avant-garde US math rock band with the drummer from Helmet, guitarists from Don Caballero and Lynx and the son of Tony Braxton as lead singer and keyboardist.

Their new album has started to get leaked online and it's incredible, truly amazing.

Check out the single Atlas either on their myspace, or the video is here:

http://www.myspace.com/battlestheband

They have such a brilliant drummer in John Ranier which really drives their music but I love the alien sound this record has, can't wait to catch them at ATP.

[Capt.Midnight]

They have such a brilliant drummer in John Ranier which really drives their music but I love the alien sound this record has, can't wait to catch them at ATP.

Damn straight there, although I think his surname is 'Stanier'.




So there.

[Marvin]

It is indeed but it's a Bank Holiday and thus mistakes are permitted.

[Marvin]

I can't stop listening to Atlas at the moment and I strongly urge people to give it a try, it's as if Animal Collective had a jam with The Melvins and one of my favourite tracks of the year so far.

[Regular Chicken]

Read the glowing review of new album Mirrored over at Pitchfork http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/42910-mirrored

I've been listening to this album all day and can't express how wonderful I think this is, probably the best new music I've heard so far this year. Finally a band out there merging electronica and rock in an entirely original fashion (not counting Radiohead of course), energetic, unpredictable and fascinating.

Anyone still not convinced by the single Atlas should get this album anyway as there are much better songs here.

[Peking O]

When they first started, Battles shared a practice space with some friends of mine, which was a real size-of-a-cupboard shithole in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I never stopped by when Battles were practicing, but can you imagine the ferocity of John Stanier's drumming in such a space? How the rest of the band heard themselves is a mystery to me.

Having said that, I can't really get into Battles. Their sound seems a bit too clinical and lacking in emotion to me. But I will give the album another go.

[Capt.Midnight]

Slight deviation from the topic but here's some more ace drumming from Stanier playing in Tomahawk:

[Cack Hen]

Am I alone in thinking this album is complete crap? I just find it indulgent, tedious rubbish. Music should be indulgent but there's good indulgent and bad indulgent and this is definitely bad indulgent. Technically, yeah, it's really quite impressive but it's just so bloody boring, I couldn't even finish the album (which is rare for me).

[Al Tha Funkee Homosapien]

It's alright, but I'd rather listen to Don Cab or Helmet.

[Pie Pie Eater]

Am I alone in thinking this album is complete crap? I just find it indulgent, tedious rubbish. Music should be indulgent but there's good indulgent and bad indulgent and this is definitely bad indulgent. Technically, yeah, it's really quite impressive but it's just so bloody boring, I couldn't even finish the album (which is rare for me).

You aren't alone in thinking it's rubbish, but I possibly hate it for a different reason. I absolutely love the EP's but  I kind of get the feeling that Tyondai Braxton has taken over, when it was much more Ian Williams' thing before. I actually think Atlas is embarrassing. The chipmunk vocals are horrible. The guitar parts sound like they might be outtakes from the EP sessions when they were feeling particularly uninspired. I think one of the great things about them was the hip-hop / drum & bass style drumming in a (sort of) rock band, but Atlas just has some Siouxie and the Banshees-esque gallop.

Anyway, I shall probably go and see them at ATP, their songs have always been at least as good live.

[Famous Mortimer]

I'm off to see them tonight in Sheffield, and will report back at some point in the next 24 hours.

[Famous Mortimer]

Brilliant. Top night all round, really - Feedle was up first, chap with a laptop, and was excellent, then some band who want to be Franz Ferdinand or Bloc Party, then Clark (Chris Clark) who was absolutely fucking awesome, then Battles.

I'd never heard any of their stuff before, so couldn't tell, but according to my mate the sound system let them down a bit as it was distorting all over the shop. It did seem like Mr. Braxton was the main man of the group, even though the crowd only cheered for John Stanier - I don't think their songs needed vocals, but I equally didn't think it sounded embarrassing. Top night out.