No Frills Reviews

Problem Patterns – Blouse Club

On their debut album, Belfast’s Problem Patterns continue in the tradition of their Riot grrrl heroes. Queer feminist punk is the tag line, but gender politics isn’t the only thing on their mind (although it certainly occupies space). They take aim at a whole host of targets; bad bosses, post-punk posers, and possibly even dudes like me writing this review. It can feel like being battered by a barrage of slogans at times, but that’s kinda the point. Their messages are clear and they’re leaving no doubt about where they stand, it’s no longer the time for subtlety and soft persuasion. These songs carry the energy of being on the frontline of a march.

The music reflects their urgency. The album is bookended by apocalyptic doom metal chugs, but there’s no metal indulgences as hardcore punk ferocity is the only appropriate vehicle to get these messages across. Amongst all this sits the short interlude of Pity Bra which gives a glimpse of light; friendship and camaraderie amongst the struggle. A brief tale of some Sleater-Kinney stage banter, an acknowledgment of shared values which joins the dots between them and some of their musical ancestors.

And it helps that there’s plenty of bangers here; bangers borne out of, and delivered with, righteous fury and frustration.

Best Tunes: A History of Bad Men Part II, Lesbo 3000, Pity Bra, Letter of Resignation, Picture of Health

Jay Worthy/Kamaiyah/Harry Fraud – The Am3rican Dream

In a rap landscape that’s often overblown and over-serious, this is a breath of fresh air and one of the breeziest hip-hop albums of the year. The brisk 26-minute run-time reflects an easy-going attitude that’s on display throughout. There’s no time for too much contemplation and no room for any grand statements; every problem is made to sound like a minor inconvenience and addressed with a quick brush off the shoulder. Producer, Harry Fraud, serves up light funk and 70’s R&B slow jams that are carefree and hook-filled. Which is the perfect backdrop for Jay Worthy and Kamaiyah’s laid-backed flows; Jay’s authoritative boom perfectly contrasted by Kamaiyah’s nonchalant drawl.

Best Tunes: 9AM, Entrepreneur, Figueroa Fortunes

Westside Gunn – And Then You Pray For Me

Westside Gunn is pretty much the peak of underground rap. Big enough that he can get features with the likes of Kanye and Travis Scott, but always a bit too dark to become a truly mainstream concern. This has been billed as his final studio album; it’s only actually his fifth, but he’s built up a near-impenetrable catalogue of mixtapes (his Hitler Wears Hermes series alone racking up 8 instalments). While I’ve become burnt out on overly-long hip-hop LPs, this is my favourite of this year’s many grandiose attempted-epics. While it may be a bit of a curtain call for him, this serves as about as accessible an introduction you could get to his cocaine and caviar cinematic rap stylings, as drug-dealing meets high-fashion amidst beats fit for claustrophobic paranoia or celebratory swaggers.

Best Tunes: 1989, Suicide in Selfridges, KITCHEN LIGHTS, House of GLORY, AND THEN YOU PRAY FOR ME

The Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds

Large chunks of this are like a pastiche; overblown, cliché rock & roll bullshit as performed by old men. When Mick Jagger sings “I’m too young for dying” it doesn’t feel like there’s any melancholia or irony underneath it. It just sounds like a cut and paste line that he could have sung at any point over the past 60 years. The production is also a bit crap, with the volume turned up on everything; removing any subtlety and sounding like a tinny wall of sound.

But it’s still a pretty enjoyable listen, partly because it’s straightforward rock & roll bullshit. It works best when they cover their old honky-tonk blues ground, but the 80’s pop of Mess It Up is also a sly banger. And Richards finds some of the self-reflection that evades Jagger on the Springsteen-y ballad Tell Me Straight.

That album cover though.

Best Tunes: Dreamy Skies, Mess It Up, Tell Me Straight, Rolling Stone Blues