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The Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future

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Artist: The Klaxons

Album: Myths of the Near Future

Label: DGC

Review date: Mar. 27, 2007


Tweaking on the frenetic energy of their self described 'nu-rave' sound, the UK trio of Klaxons have a lot riding on their debut release. Online fans quickly gravitated to their frothy, upbeat brand of dance-rock. But to call Myths of the Near Future a rave album, or to even discuss it in the context of teddy-bear backpack, lollypop sucking, glow-stick waving, raver throwback is doing it serious injustice. For as much as the group tries to wear their dance music allegiance on their fashionable sleeves, at their heart and at their best, they are unmistakably a frenetic rock band, lush with pianos, throbbing, harmonized vocals, thick bass lines and angular guitars.

Album opener "two receivers" hits off with a decidedly distorted rumble, building to a smashing, snare-heavy drumbeat and piano overlays that slowly crescendo into territory mined by those other NME darlings, TV on the Radio. Regrettably, the worst track on the album is perhaps the one that will garner Klaxons the most attention: "Atlantis to Interzone" is a spastic romp, that roars to life with air raid sirens, and insufferable mid-’90s, Moby-era techno samples, yet quickly merges into a guitar breakdown that would make Fugazi proud. Adding keyboards to your guitars or guitars to your keyboards or drums to your bass or piano to your whatever is nothing we haven't seen before. That being said, this is the Klaxons at their worst, yet surprisingly better than myriad UK buzz bands that have tried to make it here in the US.

It's exceptionally hard to deny the infectiously evil and pogo-inducing madness behind tracks like "Magick" and "Four Horsemen of 2012," both of which are early Myspace fan favorites, but drummer/producer James Ford's skills shine through more on "As Above, So Below" and "Golden Skans," the latter with its mesmerizing oohs and aahs punctuated by a swaggering backbeat and jagged guitar stabs.

Like so many other buzz bands, the Klaxons are trying to align themselves to a "new" movement, but in the process may be underscoring their own potential. Listen to the tracks that are not being released as singles and you'll see that the band truly does have something to offer outside of their super-fun-party-time aesthetic. Taking the album title literally, let's hope that these Myths of the Near Future are true, and that the Klaxons can fashion the fashionable success of this album into a more substantial follow up.

By Dustin Drase

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