Surfing the Void [Import]

Klaxons | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 31, 2010)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: POLYDOR UK
• ASIN: B003SNIEF4
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #107,805 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Highly anticipated 2010 sophomore album from the British Electro Rockers. It's been three years since Klaxons burst onto the music scene, injecting a dazzling and much needed moment of Rave hedonism into the midst of Indie tedium with the truly original and enormously influential Mercury award-winning album Myths Of The Near Future. Now they are back with the eagerly awaited follow up. Produced in LA by Ross Robinson (Sepultura, Slipknot, At the Drive In, The Cure) and written over the course of a three year long musical journey, it's a brilliantly diverse and engaging Alternative Rock record.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A compromise of sorts..., August 31, 2010

By 

Nse Ette (Lagos, Nigeria) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Surfing the Void (Audio CD)

"Surfing the void" is the follow-up to UK Indie group Klaxon's Mercury Prize-winning debut "Myths of the near future". It was initially scheduled for release in early 2009 but the lads were sent back to work on the songs some more as their label found the album too experimental and weird.

There are a few upbeat catchy jangly tunes in the mode of "Golden skans" off their debut; lead single "Echoes", the racing "Valley of the calm trees", and the clunky frenetic "Flashover", Dance Rockers a la Franz Ferdinand.

"The same space" takes the tempo down somewhat still retaining those airy harmonies. Title track "Surfing the void" (falsetto-sung with squiggly effects and other weirdities) is where things get more dense and psychedelic, continuing through "Extra astronomical" and "Cypherspeed". The trio of songs sound like music for a Sci-fi movie.

"Venus" is darkly melancholic, the sunny "Twin flames" is set to pleasantly askew beats, while "Future memories" has a gentle martial feel.

A few songs may be rather challenging at first, but repeated play reveals what a winner this is proving what a sweet compromise this turned out to be.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid and somewhat incongruous second album from overhyped British band, September 27, 2010

By 

vedderoh1 "vedderoh1" (NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Surfing the Void (Audio CD)

Overhyped bands are such a big turnoff. Very few deserve any of attention and the vast majority are the equivalent of obscenities during a formal event. British quartet Klaxons payed honors to its name and offered an unmissable debut, yet in Surfing the Void they switched gears on behalf of an album that sonically is not too distant but renders equally eliciting.

Media does not forgive lethargy and Klaxons knew better than anyone what was expected from them was almost impossible to achieve. Follow that thought with the urge to separate themselves from the indie mold and into a niche, like very few have attempted and succeeded at. After failed partnerships with several other producers they turned to Ross Robinson, mostly known for shaping the infamous nu-metal scene from the late nineties, a guiding hand that illuminates every second of the record: more strident, at times unlistenable, guitar-laden tracks, rhythm and bass overpowering lyrics.

Surfing the void is not only result of interrupted starts or experimentation with Peruvian drug ayahuasca, but also of a monumental quest for continuity. Singer Jaime Reynolds' substance induced interest for esoteric imagery melts with the band's tacit desire to step apart from glow sticks and closer to heavy rock, and this is exactly where they barely miss the mark: even when lyrics remain challenging in their nuttiness, for such an ambitious vision they need a less constricting sonic palette.

First single Echoes is as empowering as any hit from Myths of the Near Future. The title track is pure schizophrenic fusion, a direct link between first and second albums in every aspect. Galloping Venusia introduces a coincidentally appeasing element with simple pop structure and strong chanting chorus. Cypherspeed is a fantastic closer for a record that plays difficult to ingest but easier to digest, a track where vocals purposely reign over music as if to make a point that their strength is not lost.

Interviews may provide sufficient material to begin to understand Surfing the void, because the transition from words to tangible results does not concrete completely. The chaotic energy, the party catchiness, the apocalyptic themes are all present, yet one feels something is lacking, the problem is pinpointing what that could be. What has been proved, on the other hand, is that Klaxons deserve respect in an (un)funny way. Beyond the label they received three years ago there is raging potential that can and has been channeled through familiar falsettos and kickass art into an acceptable second album that should rub off even on the unaffected.