Gemini [Vinyl]

Excellent!!

This was actually a gift for a friend... he says it's great. Haven't heard it myself but if he says it's good it must be.

With tracks entitled "Summer holiday", "Bored Games" and "Golden Haze" you don't need to be Inspector Morse to work out the central theme of this album. "Wild Nothing" is essentially a vehicle for Jack Tatum from Blacksburg, Virginia and described by the Guardian as a "tortured boy wonder". Tatum's influences hark back to the 1980s but to the slightly darker side of jangly pop and bedsit angst. The sounds on Gemini will delight anyone who dearly loves Swedish wonders Radio Dept because Tatum tends to place himself in the ball park of dreamy fuzzed vocals, combined with waves of synths and a light ethereal quality to his music. As a starting point check out the albums clear highlight the gorgeous "Chinatown". The review in Dusted nailed this down when it stated that it "blows in like a summer breeze through cotton curtains, billowing, translucent and utterly, lullingly pretty".And yes you knew we would reach this point since like the debut by fellow Americans "Pains of being pure at heart" this album does owe a rather large debt to the famous/infamous C86 tape released by NME, capturing a perfect snapshot of bands or more precisely musical under achievers with its soundtrack of "jangly" guitars and fey melodies. Check out the blissful "Summer Holiday" on Gemini and you will instantly recognise the sound and the source. Other highlights include the Smiths like "Golden Haze" with uncanny like Johnny Marr accompanying riffs. "Confirmation" is alternatively more in the territory of the the Cure (an influence probably most prevalent on the title track) or even New Order with a bass driven shoegazing song full of whispery chorus's accompanied by synths that float in and out. "Drifter" falls into the same category and yes there are some problems here with repetition, a tendency for songs "to drift into one another" and a general lack of earth shaking originality.So is this just an exercise in genre hopping, an affectionate tribute/pastiche or an album with huge potential and chock full of great songs? On balance the later judgement holds way since a four star rating on Amazon means "I like it" and in truth I like it alot.

I've only given this 3 stars and I feel a bit harsh, because there have been times when all I want to listen to is this album.The reason why I've rated it thusly is mainly because Wild Nothing are almost an exact copy of Cocteau Twins, albeit with more intelligible lyrics. Wild Nothing would suit you if you are a fan of the twee/pop variety pitched anywhere between the aforementioned Cocteau Twins and Best Coast, for example. The other reason I've knocked off a star is that there are a handful of tracks which do absolutely nothing for me, so while there is a bunch of good stuff, there is too much filler to warrant a classic status.Anyway, on to the good stuff. Stand out tracks are "Drifter" which is a slower tempo dream ballad-type track. "Bored Games" goes down the MBV route of programmed drums over fuzzy delayed guitar and yearning lyrical refrains, "Chinatown" has a nice synth-flute loop that gives way to stadium rock drums, and "Our Composition Book" fades in with jangly guitars very much in the style of The Smiths "some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" or "Ask". The whole album has a dark 80's thread running through it and yet maintains this sunny side also. If you like dreamy 80's guitar vibes and a good pop song it won't let you down.