Thursday 12 December 2013

Music - Part 152 - The Standards




The Standards – Sirens
DL
Out Now


Bangkok based rockers The Standards release their new album as a free download.  

The Standards?  No, me neither.  But you will.

The Standards are anything but as their name suggests.  They make noises, big noises, the sort of noises that musical instruments were made for.  In their own words “songs to dance to, songs to fight to, songs to fuck to”.  I’m not arguing.

The Standards are a five piece based in Bangkok, four blokes and one gal.  Their music is loud, yes, their music could fill theatres the length and breadth of our fair nation too.  They manically force themselves into the gap between 80s pop, 90s Indie and the power of Rock ‘n’ Roll, and what a gorgeous sound they make.

The Standards can write a tune or two (well, nine on Sirens to be exact) too, whether it be from the screaming opener Blood Will Rise beginning slowly and soon erupting into a musical ear orgasm with sirens (of course) and echoes and belting guitars and drums, or to the instant pop appeal of current single Where You Go with sing-along strapline.  You’d think they’d been around for years such is the standard (sorry) of the stuff on show here.


The Standards make songs capable of becoming anthems in arenas.  They’re huge in sound and bellow out like nothing you have heard for ages.  Guitars rip and voices soar.  Drums pound and choruses flow with ease.  Keyboards weave in and out of thumping basslines.  The title track being a prime example.

The Standards seem to have the knack adopting various styles too.  Take Politics with its punk/PiL vocals and guitar work, or the sexy rhythm and blues emptiness of PPPeople complete with soundbytes and spoken vocals.

The Standards?  I have now.  I like them a lot, and you will too, for they have given us one of the finest albums of 2013.

And, if that wasn’t enough, vocalist Matt Smith has lent his vocals to a truly brilliant reworking of Peter Gabriel’s Don’t Give Up.  The words are spoken over an apocalyptical electronic background which paces itself beautifully whilst the words are almost given new meaning.  The vocals are almost made for the track and I’m sure Mr Gabriel would approve wholeheartedly, and like Sirens, it’s also free to download.

~

The Standards website where you can download Sirens for free here.  You can follow them on Twitter here and do Facebook things here.

9/10

Links
The Standards website
The Standards on Twitter

Published on Louder Than War 17/12/13 - here






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