Tim Rogers croont auf "Playmates" zu synthetischen 80er Jahre Klängen, wie Gabriel Bruce im letzten Jahr auf...

Jack Ladder And The Dreamlanders - Playmates




















Tim Rogers croont auf "Playmates" zu synthetischen 80er Jahre Klängen, wie Gabriel Bruce im letzten Jahr auf "Love In Arms" oder wie Nick Cave in seinen Alpträumen, aus denen er seit 1996 und der Zusammenarbeit mit der Synthie-Pop-Ikone Kylie Minogue schweißgebadet aufwacht. Cave gelang es sich den Verlockungen der New Romantic-Einflüsse und Synthie-Sounds (zumindest diesen) zu erwehren, Rogers nicht. Und so singt dieser nun mit tiefer Stimme zu Beats aus dem Drumcomputer über Liebe und Tod, bewahrt sich dabei aber seinen Humor und lässt uns immer wieder an Herrn Cave denken.

Der ebenfalls aus Australien stammende Tim Rogers nennt sich als Musiker Jack Ladder, hat zur Unterstützung seine Dreamlanders (Kirin J. Callinan, Laurence Pike und Donny Benet) dabei und hat mit "Playmates" in Australien bereits sein viertes Album veröffentlicht. Dass es nicht immer die Sounds der 80er Jahre sein müssen zeigen unter anderem die akustische, zu Bossa Nova-Rhythmen schunkelnde Ballade "Let Me Love You" und der verstörende Rock 'n' Roll von "Reputation Amputation", der tanzbare Beats aufkreischende Gitarren treffen lässt. Gesanglich werden Jack Ladder And The Dreamlanders übrigens auf zwei Songs ("Come On Back This Way" und To Keep & To Be Kept") von Sharon Van Etten begleitet.
      


The music is still fed through the framework of 80’s rock, but is decisively modern and of the time. Ladder is paced at the forefront, his baritone as intoxicating as ever and his dry gallows humour traced across his incisive lyrics. His crack team execute this vision masterfully. There isn’t a scarce trace of ego in these songs. Every buzzsaw guitar solo, drop of feedback, keyboard line and production trip serving the atmosphere the song demands. Whether it’s the morose loss of "Come On Back This Way", the sinister moping horror trickling through "Neon Blue", the nod to flat out metal aggression of "Reputation Amputation" or the old world romanticism at the heart of "To Keep and Be Kept".
Playmates is the strongest record Jack Ladder has written yet. It’s a record that looks deep into human nature and desires and throws them back at you, with a neat glass of whiskey and a knowing nod. Its achieved using tools of a traditional rock band, with the end product both of our time and timeless.
(The AU Review)


True to the Gary Numan mould of pop music there is little room for virtuosity, every guitar or xylophone melody feels perfectly calculated and placed, the simple but effective nature of the melodic lines rendering some of the songs a classic anthemic quality, which is at the same time understated.

This backdrop allows Jack Ladder the space to match his heartbeat to the drum machine, bringing all the passion and life to the songs as he pleads, purrs and croons his way through these ten remarkable tracks.

One of the things that sets Ladder apart from his contemporaries is his lyrics. Slow Boat to China opens with the image “I watch the whale ride the wake / throwing fountains at the sun,” while on what should be the next single To Keep and to Be Kept, a wry sense of humour shows through the deadpan – “and me, I’ve always been a country of one / since we met, border control’s all come undone.”

Reputation Amputation adds diversity to the album’s sound by showing Ladder’s rock'n’roll leanings, his howls adding credence to all those Nick Cave comparisons while an incredibly distorted guitar and almost dance-like beat brings to mind Marilyn Manson’s The Beautiful People.

The delicate Let Me Love You is a standout track and a gloriously understated love song, with Ladder’s vocals mixed to the front, the acoustic instrumentation sounding crisp and natural, not a synth to be found.

If you are not a fan of 1980s pop or are sick of bands with synthesisers and snare reverb – don’t be fooled. This is not a genre record, but a clever and rewarding album that should be making all the Best Australian Releases lists for 2014 in a few months. Highly recommended if you like: music.
(Beat)

4 Kommentare:

  1. Dieser Kommentar wurde vom Autor entfernt.

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  2. Ihr wollt dieses Album nicht allen Ernstes mit dem wunderbaren Gabriel Bruce Album vergleichen?
    Es hat natürlich wirklich einige schöne Songs (To Keep & To Be Kept z.B.), aber auch so fürchterliches Nick Cave trifft Billig Gothic Disco (Reputation Amputation) oder Nich Cave trifft Bontempi Orgel (Let Me Love You)
    All in all gerade noch

    6,5

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