{"id":53,"date":"2008-08-31T13:15:53","date_gmt":"2008-08-31T20:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/?p=53"},"modified":"2024-03-04T12:09:57","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T17:09:57","slug":"the-debut-album-from-the-airborne-toxic-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bostonsurvivalguide.net\/wordpress\/2008\/08\/the-debut-album-from-the-airborne-toxic-event\/","title":{"rendered":"the debut album from the airborne toxic event"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"airborne_500.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Why, when discussing a group\u2019s new album, do so many reviewers have the need to compare their sound to other bands? Is it that they wish to show off their musical pedigree and expertise by name-dropping the flavors of the day?<\/p>\n

I count no less than 20 different groups that Airborne Toxic Event\u2019s music has been compared to. They are as follows: The Smiths, Interpol, Franz Ferdinand, The Strokes, Trash Can Sinatras, Blondie, The Jam, Psychedelic Furs, New Order, Modest Mouse, Arcade Fire, Rilo Kiley, Billy Corgan, Arctic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend, U2, Marvelous 3, Maximo Park, Morrissey, and Echo & the Bunnymen. I\u2019m sure there have been others, but that will do for now. Well, I\u2019ll go ahead and toss one more on the pile, courtesy of my dad, who says they remind him of The Beatles. Yes, that\u2019s right, The Beatles. Their latter work, I\u2019m fairly certain, as \u201cyou want to be out on the street, crawling up the walls like a cat in heat\u201d is quite a far cry from \u201cI Wanna Hold Your Hand.\u201d But surely it\u2019s no more bizarre than Blondie. Seriously\u2026 Blondie?? <\/p>\n

Perhaps it\u2019s done innocently, as in \u201cGee, if you like any of these bands, you might like these guys too.\u201d But being the type of person I am, I\u2019m more inclined to see it as \u201cYour band sucks, nothing you do is original, it\u2019s all been done before. Yes, I\u2019m writing about music instead of creating it myself because I\u2019m a total loser with the need to show how knowledgeable I am to compensate.\u201d Or even if not done with quite that level of hostility, it comes across to me as something of a put-down, not to mention pompous.<\/p>\n

What that crazy list above says to me is that a lot of people have been turned on by Airborne\u2019s music, they\u2019ve been swept away in the surging tide, and now have this strange need to explain it, justify it, by grabbing wildly at passing branches. Release it. Admit you love them, and release it.<\/p>\n

Do they have influences? Sure. All this proves is that they\u2019ve been living and loving music as they move around on this planet, and they don\u2019t reside in soundproof cardboard boxes. The truly great artists, while influenced by others, take those influences, add their own voice and vision, and make something uniquely theirs. Take David Bowie, for example, and his Ziggy Stardust persona. Not a whole lot of music fans in the early 1970s were familiar with Japanese Kabuki theatre, but if they had been, what Bowie was doing in his stage performances wouldn\u2019t have been unusual at all. And yet, in a rock context, and especially at that time, it blew people away. And speaking of Bowie, I\u2019m surprised he\u2019s not in that list, if only for Mikel\u2019s Heroes-like cry at the soaring crest of \u201cSometime Around Midnight.\u201d<\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s cool when the ear picks out these little things. But what draws me in, ultimately, is the emotional response I have upon listening. These guys do that for me, in a major way. Since the album came out on August 5, I literally haven\u2019t stopped listening to it. It accompanies me on my way-too-early morning mile-long trek along Boston\u2019s waterfront to work, and I find myself zooming past the other hapless commuters, tapping along with Daren\u2019s punctuating percussive blasts on every passing surface along the way.<\/p>\n

What may start as sadness and frustration slowly builds, both musically and lyrically, into proud anthems of defiance and survival. Stubborn hope overcoming what seems like the most impossible despair. The repeated phrases in Mikel\u2019s prose take on a mantra-like quality. Propelled by Daren, Noah, Steven, Anna\u2026 they complement each other beautifully and seem to speak in one voice\u2026 the song elevates into a spiritual chant. Is their music a religious experience? For me, most definitely.<\/p>\n

P.S. On the eve of their tour<\/a> with the Fratellis, I’d like to wish them a fantastic time, lots of new fans… and I can’t wait to see you guys again!! If anyone out there doesn’t have their tickets yet, what on earth are you waiting for?<\/em><\/p>\nshare this: \"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"reddit\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"tumblr\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why, when discussing a group\u2019s new album, do so many reviewers have the need to compare their sound to other bands? Is it that they wish to show off their musical pedigree and expertise by name-dropping the flavors of the day? 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