Tweet Tweet!

HOME 
REVIEWS
albums
singles/downloads
gigs
demos
NEWS
INTERVIEWS
FREE MP3s
STREAMED MUSIC
MUSIC VIDEOS
FORUM
LINKS
ABOUT US
CONTACT US
SEARCH
Follow SXP on Twitter
- RSS Feed
 
SoundsXP Presents
Next show:

BAD FRIDAY!
Peluché,
Dead Coast,
Les Sueques,
Calva Louise,
Flights of Helios,
Videocean,
Dirty Blondes
+ SoundsXP DJs

The Windmill, Brixton
Good Friday, 14th April 2017
3pm till late

Buy tickets here


On Our iPod

Latest Forum Posts
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Album Review

Rodney Cromwell
Age of Anxiety Happy Robots Records

Article written by Ged M - May 21, 2015

rodney_cromwell.jpg
He’s gone through a few names now – he was also “Arthur” in Arthur and Martha - and was a member of retro-futurists and 2002 Festive Fifth summiteers Saloon, but Adam Cresswell has always made quality but quirky pop. Musically, there are echoes of OMD, Kraftwerk, the Pet Shop Boys and New Order, depending on the degree of experimentalism and electronica employed, and he even gives the BBC Radiophonic Workshop a run for their money on ‘Baby Robots’. Lyrically, the bible-black humour reminds this listener of Neil Tennant and Luke Haynes, especially on the motorik ‘Barry Was An Arms Dealer’ and the crazy, compelling ‘Fenchurch Street’, which begins with a frantic New Order-ish sound, confessing “I have such unnatural fears: the Blackwall Tunnel, Southend Pier…”. ‘One Two Seven’ is danceable technopop pitched at the perfect beat while ‘Fax Message Breakup’ is a more aesthetic form of Kraftwerk-style electronica but with a memorable melody.

And that’s at the heart: these are pop songs, whatever the degree of programming or vocodered vocals employed. ‘Black Dog’ might be about depression and mentions trepanning but it speeds along on insistent, jittery rhythms while ‘Cassiopeia’ has warm synths and a feeling that’s more organic than mechanical. If there’s a criticism, it’s that Adam's - sorry Rodney's - voice is too often hidden behind electronic treatments, so it’s a joy when Alice Hubley, the “Martha” of Arthur and Martha (and now Cosines), adds warmth and a sharp but humorous tone to the relationship fable ‘You Will Struggle’.

‘Age Of Anxiety’ is an askew view of the world and its woes, but with enough gallows humour and blissful tunes to leave you feeling optimistic about the future.

Links:
https://rodneycromwell.bandcamp.com/
http://www.happyrobots.co.uk
https://twitter.com/robot_rocker

LATEST FEATURES
Remembering the Radio Trent Rock Show
LATEST NEWS
Wedding Present headline Refugee Rock benefit
Blitzen Trappen visualise sound of new album
Extended Katsenjamming
Yuck Spit Out New Album Update, Share First Track
Need Replacements For Your Old Vinyl? Alt-Rock Pioneers' Reissues Coming Soon
Music & Booze At Old Spitafields Independent Music Market This Saturday
Micachu and The Shapes New Album Could Be Good... Or Bad
Public Image Ltd.'s New Album Can Only Mean Trouble (And Rants About Plumbers...)
Alive & On Fire: The Dead Weather Announce First Album In Five Years
A Spectre From The Past With Veruca Salt's New LP? Listen In Full!
LATEST FREE MP3s
Foxtails Brigade "Far Away and Long Ago"
North By North "Pistoletta"
Die Liga der gewöhnlichen Gentlemen "Nach dem Spiel"
Theatre Royal "The Days Grow Hotter"
Oliver Gottwald "Freunde fürs Leben"
Heart/Dancer "Outro"
Clowwns "Idiot Bouncing"
Double Denim "Wide Open"
Flout "Rainchecks"
The Scenes "City Of White Blankets"

 

© Sounds XP Design by Darren O'Connor and Adam Walker