13 January 2011
It’s not easy trying to ‘make it’ from over the pond, but Kiwi kids The Naked & Famous already reached international waters last year with a top 15 nomination in BBC’s Sound of 2011 poll, as well as playing Brisbane’s BigSound conference two months before an album tour here in November.
Fronted by Alisa Xayalith and Thom Powers, the five-piece give nothing away in the sleeve for debut record, Passive Me, Aggressive You. The simple one page offering contains no lyrics or pages, just basic information and a few thankyous that may as well be in bullet points; this comes as a surprise when considering the vibrant and layered cover art.
It takes only 3 minutes and 55 seconds to realise the labour is all in the audio. All Of This opens a meticulously chosen sequence of tracks that should only be heard in this order. Besides, the fact they use the word ‘fucking’ in the first minute says these guys won’t accept anything less.
Xayalith’s manic vocals over an electro-shoegazing backdrop in tracks like first single, Punching In A Dream and Frayed could be likened to Ladyhawke or Passion Pit, but it’s Powers’ vocal juxtaposition that sets them apart. Xayalith’s light weaved through Powers’ shade forces you to sit up and listen; just to fathom the moanings of man vs woman that blur into one androgynous haze.
Just like that, you’re in deep. I could go into concept themes here about the polarity of passive and aggressive, male and female or female and male depending on who you think wears the pants; but I don’t think The Naked & Famous are pitching anything but good music on this debut. The guitar-heavy angst and swelling drums over tweaking synth lines and Powers’ breathy whispers incite all sorts of warm fuzzies.
Although sixth track, Eyes, does shy away from generic keyboard demos and implements a masterful harmony which leads us to one of the most genius outros on the record (the other is in Girls Like You); it’s the fact that it wouldn’t be completely out of place at an ‘80s discothèque that’s slightly unsettling.
Unsurprisingly, the second released single Young Blood is so close to perfect it’s frightening; hence its #1 debut in New Zealand and consequential success. On the surface it’s a radio-ready pop-electro track cut from the same cloth as The xx. However, with opening lyrics “We're only young and naive still. We require certain skills,” Xayalith sings with blistering, raw nostalgia that sucks you into their vortex in a way Romy Madley Croft seems incapable of. Annoyingly, the bubble is almost popped with the generic lyric “yeah, yeah, yeah.” It may work for Jet but that in itself begs the question of why they would want to fall under the same category.
Of the three final tracks, A Wolf In Geek’s Clothing is the standout. Just when you thought you had them pegged, packaged and pigeonholed, they hit you with this song. The pounding alarm of angst and squeaking distortion rings loud, and you wake up! Peakers and candy-kids the world over will froth for this track.
The Naked & Famous may not be genre-breaking or even seditious, however this certainly isn’t a safe debut, instead showing Passive Me, Aggressive You as only the beginning. But for now, if anything, they have proven New Zealand can produce better crop than Scribe... or that Dane Rumble guy.
Fronted by Alisa Xayalith and Thom Powers, the five-piece give nothing away in the sleeve for debut record, Passive Me, Aggressive You. The simple one page offering contains no lyrics or pages, just basic information and a few thankyous that may as well be in bullet points; this comes as a surprise when considering the vibrant and layered cover art.
It takes only 3 minutes and 55 seconds to realise the labour is all in the audio. All Of This opens a meticulously chosen sequence of tracks that should only be heard in this order. Besides, the fact they use the word ‘fucking’ in the first minute says these guys won’t accept anything less.
Xayalith’s manic vocals over an electro-shoegazing backdrop in tracks like first single, Punching In A Dream and Frayed could be likened to Ladyhawke or Passion Pit, but it’s Powers’ vocal juxtaposition that sets them apart. Xayalith’s light weaved through Powers’ shade forces you to sit up and listen; just to fathom the moanings of man vs woman that blur into one androgynous haze.
Just like that, you’re in deep. I could go into concept themes here about the polarity of passive and aggressive, male and female or female and male depending on who you think wears the pants; but I don’t think The Naked & Famous are pitching anything but good music on this debut. The guitar-heavy angst and swelling drums over tweaking synth lines and Powers’ breathy whispers incite all sorts of warm fuzzies.
Although sixth track, Eyes, does shy away from generic keyboard demos and implements a masterful harmony which leads us to one of the most genius outros on the record (the other is in Girls Like You); it’s the fact that it wouldn’t be completely out of place at an ‘80s discothèque that’s slightly unsettling.
Unsurprisingly, the second released single Young Blood is so close to perfect it’s frightening; hence its #1 debut in New Zealand and consequential success. On the surface it’s a radio-ready pop-electro track cut from the same cloth as The xx. However, with opening lyrics “We're only young and naive still. We require certain skills,” Xayalith sings with blistering, raw nostalgia that sucks you into their vortex in a way Romy Madley Croft seems incapable of. Annoyingly, the bubble is almost popped with the generic lyric “yeah, yeah, yeah.” It may work for Jet but that in itself begs the question of why they would want to fall under the same category.
Of the three final tracks, A Wolf In Geek’s Clothing is the standout. Just when you thought you had them pegged, packaged and pigeonholed, they hit you with this song. The pounding alarm of angst and squeaking distortion rings loud, and you wake up! Peakers and candy-kids the world over will froth for this track.
The Naked & Famous may not be genre-breaking or even seditious, however this certainly isn’t a safe debut, instead showing Passive Me, Aggressive You as only the beginning. But for now, if anything, they have proven New Zealand can produce better crop than Scribe... or that Dane Rumble guy.
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