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The FollowEmpty Orchestra Smash/Stomp This album leapt right out at me. The press included comparisons to some of my favourite groups including The Cure, Smashing Pumpkins, Smiths, and it was produced and mixed by Lee Ranaldo. How could they go wrong? After all, a decade ago the same Sonic Youth legend produced another Aussie debut LP, You Am I's 'Sound As Ever', and helped kick start the career of one hell of a rock band. Later, for good or ill, I found out that the mastermind behind The Follow, Azaria, was a contestant on Popstars. Not letting that put me off, I press on. It all starts with enough promise. Goddess Of Time builds slowly and strongly into a crescendo of wailing, pick scrapes, and a driving beat. Smashed Heart works well too, sounding like a semi-goth take on 'His N' Hers'-era Pulp. The World Is A Mirror, with its shoegazer references, is probably the album's best track. Unfortunately though, the bulk of 'Empty Orchestra' is messy, threatening to undermine the good work on the album. Much of it is an atonal jumble of noise and vocal histrionics. Worst of all, the album doesn't come across coherently. Azaria seems to have too many ideas in his head and not enough space to spread them out on. Still, there's a couple of great songs here, and it's also remarkable that Azaria recorded all of the parts himself. There's a bucket load of promise here, and we're bound to hear more (and hopefully more focussed) work from him in the future.  |
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