Customer Reviews

Violence Is Golden

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

DIM MAK is the new SUB POP - almost every release/act on their roster is pure quality - and UK's new SCANNERS are no exception - imagine the punky howl of PJ HARVEY mixed with the early swagger of PRETENDERS and some 80s synth-rock in between, and you'll approximate the sheer force of SCANNERS - truly one of the best bands I've heard in some time, VIOLENCE IS GOLDEN is also one of the best debuts I've heard of the last few years, seriously. Rushing out of the gate with the one-two punch of opener JOY and should-be-hit-single-if-they-get-a-video-on-mtv LOWLIFE, this CD never lets up - varied, insistent, sexy, ragged, raw, powerful. SCANNERS' debut CD deserves to be much higher than 21,000+ in sales!

I happened upon this band by accident but they were a very worthwhile find. Very punk/new wave and very creative.

"Just a bomb in the opening frame / Yeah my love leaves a permanent stain / I'm in love with my digital toy / My drum machine always set to enjoy / Joy!" Or so starts London's The Scanners with their superlative 2006 album, "Violence is Golden." And what a start to a debut album as the song has this great Pixies guitar line starting off, then kicks in with a Meg White bass drum pounding, and bassist and singer Sarah Daley who sounds somewhere between PJ Harvey, Garbage, and Debbie Harry with her deliciously suggestive lyrics...add in some 80's synth and you get perhaps the most hook-laden and catchy track of the year: Joy.

This CD just doesn't let up from there. Next up is their top 40 hit single, "Lowlife," which has suprisingly enough a Joy Division-ish / New Order bassline and Sarah riffing on Karen Oh or perhaps oddly enough Dayle Bozio. And now the lovely and dark, "In My Dreams," which finds The Scanners ranging in an obscure early 90's Australian rock act reference, The Baby Animals teritorry. The chorus has songwriter and guitarist, Matthew Mole, kicking in with some deep backing vocals, "You're not alone / You're not alone" accompanied by Sarah's high rock wail, "Too far gone for this wicked world / Too far now from a wicked world." It's not short of sublime pop-rockery my friend.

Track 4, "Changing Times," has The Scanners changing gears laying down a minor soundscape that builds throughout the song to this manic desparate PJ Harvey "Dry" screaming accompanied by electronic beeps and squeaks. It kind of sounds like apocolypse though your not quite sure what they are singing about. It picks right back up with a Kim Deal cool bass line and we are back to hit-land with "Bombs." "Their building bombs in the bathroom / Right next door to me / his bomb factory / not how this country used to be / it seems like years ago / when everyone used to be / living the good life just like you and me." Amen, brother Matther, Amen. 9/11 has changed some things, eh?

The rest of the album is pure top of the shelf but is highlighted by perhaps their best hit, "Raw." If anything The Scanners debut album might suffer a little bit from the sameness between songs but I fail to find that a major flaw or if a slight ding as all the sameness is so freakin' engaging. "You give me something because I'm raw to the core / I said I'd love you and I'd love you to death / I'd said I'd want you till you breathe your last breath / I'd said I'd need you and my need is divine / Yeah like the lover who got stuck in his mind." Ahhh, a love song.

To finish it off is the downtempo fifty-ish pop beat of "High Flyer," combining the best of Concrete Blonde, Rilo Kiley, and Roy Orbison...how's that for eclectic? And we're back to the Pixies and a little of The Throwing Muses for their last pop-rock delight, "Violence is Golden."

Look for The Scanners to release a Sophomore follow-up to "Violence is Golden," sometime in late 2008, early 2009. Sarah, Matt and their flatmates will no doubt take the world by storm album by album, tour by tour. For now enjoy getting in on the ground floor and buy this criminally under-the-radar disc. You'll be listening to it over and over just like me. ...mmw

ThIS bAND IS REALLY AWESOME...YOU SHOULD BUY IT RIGHT NOW!!!!!IT IS INCREDIBLE..ITS LIKE A MIX OF SUPER SYNTH MANIA AND SONIC YOUTH WITH A HOT BABE SINGER...BUY! BUY! BUY!