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Perth MusicCD Reviews - Plain White T’s, The Bumblebeez
Plain White T’s – Every Second Counts
With a recent US billboard #1 song, the Plain White T’s release their 4th full length album in Australia titled Every Second Counts. The aforementioned #1 song, Hey There Deliliah, is actually from the bands third album but a re-release found a huge audience and included on the new album as one of two bonus tracks. The pop-punk boys from Illinois have a sound along the lines of Jimmy Eat World, All American Rejects or even The Ataris. As with most bands that are the in-thing in the US, it is only a matter of time before that extends to pop audiences in Australia.
All of the songs on Every Second Counts are really quite catchy and the production is above average for a pop-punk album. It seems an advantage to Australian audiences that this is the first Plain White T’s album released by a major record company in Australia as the band sound like they have just developed into a mature band and previous albums may have been almost teeny-bop material. But it is a bit strange that this album was released in the US almost an entire year ago and just getting released here now.
Hey There Deliliah is the best song on the album along with Our Time Now and Hate (I Really Don’t Like You). Friends Don’t Let Friends Dial Drunk is quite a fun song with lyrics I’m sure a lot of people can relate to. A few songs could be labeled as fillers and might be there to make up the numbers but as a whole the album has more catchy pop songs then duds. 6.5 out of 10.
The Bumblebeez – Prince Umberto & The Sister Of Ill
The Bumblebeez have been through a very turbulent time the last 3 years. The brother and sister team were signed to a major US label and touted as the next big thing to come from Down Under. They were added to the famous Lollapalooza tour, which was then cancelled and then they were dropped from the US label that had only just signed them. As all of this was happening the duo soldiered on collecting various raps, beats, samples and jams that eventually came together to make the album Prince Umberto & The Sister Of Ill.
The songs were put together by The Bumblebeez in their hometown of Braidwood, NSW, produced by UK producer James Ford, who has produced albums for The Klaxons and The Arctic Monkeys, and then mixed by Zdar in Paris. This definitely gives the album an international feel which is indicative of the here, there and everywhere musical style of the 16 songs. At just under 40 minutes, the album goes from electro-pop to acid jazz to punk rock and everything in between.
First single Dr Love takes a few listens to get into the groove but is probably the best song on the album to sing-along to in a big group. Clubb Clubb, Freak Your Loneliness and Pump Up The Bass are all stand out tracks and all represent a different genre of music. The album as a whole can be a bit too much all-over-the-place sometimes but the diversity is also something that isn’t seen on enough albums these days. 6 out of 10.
