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Amplifier’s follow up album to their self-titled 2003 debut shows the band’s presence has not gone unnoticed by the help given to the project by both Steve Lyon (producer to The Cure and Depeche Mode) and Chris Sheldon (Foo Fighters to name but one). Their renowned influences are clearly felt on what is an amazingly accomplished rock album.
Amplifier have already been listed by many as the newcomer to watch out for on the back of their European gigs, as well as having played a variety of festivals over the summer - but from the sheer perfection of this album it seems crazy that they haven’t reached the front covers of music magazines everywhere yet. This is a band made to play festivals in front of massive sweaty crowds in a late night slot. They soar through songs with Matt Brobin vocals swimming with the distorted guitars and punched drum lines, somehow creating a graceful feel to something that could easily be construed by other musicians into a mess.
The bands drummer Matt Brobin provides a solid, confident backbone to the songs that are drilled into you with an attitude of passion and beauty complimented perfectly by their mature, intricate lyrics that are a refreshing breath of air to the rock genre. The band have the feel of a less produced Muse, the music stripped back from any distractions. Tracks like 'Strange Seas of Thought' have the same addictive element that The Foos and Queens of the Stone Age possess, with complicated guitar arrangements that carry off solos without the urge to air guitar and grow your hair into a mullet. 'Procedures' kicks of with a typewriter for percussion, inspiring a track with a decidedly funky edge to it which lets pray to God crosses the boundary to finding its way to an indie club near you.
The band never fall from one cliché to the next in order to hold the album together - they’re not producing angry rock, or music to turn up and encourage teenage boys across the land to piss their parents off. The music takes you from epic rock, right down to tranquil moments of pure beauty. It’s complicated and often mixes a vocal you could imagine on an acoustic singer songwriter’s set list, in with Death from Above inspiring sleazy rock instrumentals. There are moments in songs like 'Oort' when the band seem to settle into Kid A esque electronics before being swept away by the massive impact they can make with their guitars. Other than talent and quality, consistent these boys aren’t.
This album deserves to be bought, listened to and loved, with its electrifying tracks that take you on an emotional trippy journey making you salivate at the thought of experiencing the band how they were clearly made to be experienced, live.
