Haim - Days Are Gone

When I saw Julian Casablancas on is solo tour back in 2011 a little American band called Haim opened for them. It pains me to this day that I can’t really remember what they sounded like or what they played. (I know I loved them, I bought a shirt!) Little did I know that I was watching a band that was going to grow into what they are today.

Three sisters, Este, Danielle, and Alana Haim, along with drummer Dash Hutton, make up the group that has been topping the charts in the UK as well as making a name for themselves in the US. It seems like everywhere I go I am starting to hear about them more. They were even playing Days Are Gone in my favorite bar this past weekend. Needless to say I danced a lot in my seat.

So what is so great about them? Well, they started rolling out EP’s with singles like “Forever” and “Don’t Save Me,” that got everyone interested and moving like Rick Astley to their almost 80’s era rock sound. That and they’re girls making sounds like the Arctic Monkeys. But listening to the other tracks on those EP’s didn’t convince me of their magnitude. I would like the first track then wade through the second and third in an attempt to gauge the strange sounds. I figured Days Are Gone would be similar. Welp, I was wrong.

Not many times do you listen to an album straight through and like every song. Days Are Gone is one of those albums. Hooked immediately into “Falling,” and then almost flowing into the familiar “Forever” the record builds into itself with songs continually more catchy than the last. It changes pace on “Honey & I” an almost intimate and quiet song compared to its predecessor “If I Could Change Your Mind,” and then builds again to the roaring titled track sung by Este, “Days Are Gone,” an ode to growing up and moving on. The next track, a personal favorite of mine because of its BAMFness, is the ultimate “you broke my heart, you’d better watch out,” anthem. Words cannot express how cool the “My Song 5” is, or how cool you’ll feel when you listen to it. Just do it, ok? And wear a leather jacket whilst.

The record doesn’t even lose momentum when they take it down for the only “slow” song on the album, “Go Slow.” You don’t go slowly for long however (have I said slow enough?), when they end the record with probably one of the strongest songs on the LP, “Let Me Go,” and then the closer “Running When You Call My Name.”  If you haven’t picked up Days Are Gone yet, put it at the top of your list. These girls are going to be the next biggest thing. I mean, Alana toured with Julian, how could they not be?

Songs to Look Out For:

Forever

The Wire

If I Could Change Your Mind

Don’t Save Me

Days Are Gone

My Song 5

Let Me Go

Oh sheesh just get the album. 

The Maccabees - Wall Of Arms

So I haven’t been at this in awhile! I’ve been super busy with that whole swimming career ending thing, and the graduating from college thing, and the trying to find a job thing, but do not fret! All three have been somewhat successful! And now I’m back.

So how good is the new Arctic Monkeys album, am I right?

I’m glad you like it, because I’m not going to talk about that in my post today. Instead I’m going to converse on the missing Maccabees album that Amazon so graciously filled my void with. Pretty sure that album isn’t sold anywhere in the States, and the copy that I got is falling apart a bit, but the disc plays so who am I to care!

Fist off, it’s awesome. It’s the perfect balance of Colour It In, and Given To The Wild. Not quite as brit pop as the former, and not quite as electronic as the latter. The leap between those two records is so great that it was jarring to hear for the first time (even though GTTW was my favorite album of 2012), Wall Of Arms is a much-needed stepping-stone in the progression.

The record starts off much like its predecessor, with fast guitars and familiar beats, that change quickly into the more complex, full sound that Given To The Wild mastered. Many of their songs on Wall Of Arms flirt with the tempo changes that make Given To The Wild so great, and Orlando Weeks voice begins to hit its stride, the uniqueness of it much more apparent than in Colour It In.

But, like any good record, it takes a few listens to fully appreciate the beauty of the music. The first run through, although no Given To The Wild, which is in a category of its own, and not the catchy excitement of Colour It In, which is when I discovered the Maccabees so therefore a special record in my heart, Wall Of Arms definitely holds its own. It’s a much-needed sequel in a trilogy of great records by The Maccabees.

Da Best:

One Hand Holding

Young Lions

Wall Of Arms

Bag Of Bones