ALBUM REVIEW: Klaxons – Surfing The Void

STREET DATE: 08.24.10 | EMUSIC | AMAZON| INSOUND | ITUNES

RATE SURFING THE VOID:
[STARRATER]

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STREAM: Klaxons – “Echoes”

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London based dance-rock outfit, Klaxons, have been working on their sophomore album since July 2007, just months after receiving the prestigious Mercury Prize for their debut effort, Myths Of The Near Future. They had completed recording Surfing The Void, the heavily anticipated followup, last March when their label – Polydor – insisted they re-record parts of the album, deeming it too experimental for listener consumption (ha!). The result is actually a formidably loud, dance compelling record, that would make one interested in hearing how hard it sounded before the reworking.

Klaxons have been tagged to a variety of genres, from dance to punk rock, to the recently coined new rave, though they’ve renounced any association to it. They’ve been compared to outfits like Foals, Late Of The Pier, or Does It Offend You, Yeah?; all of which subscribe to the growing trend of trip rock/dance music. But Surfing The Void does not meddle with electronica like other progressive rockers; it is a futuristic sounding rock odyssey, the perfect soundtrack to your next acid trip. Tracks like “Extra Astronomical” and “Flashover” are concrete links to that new rave sound: hard hitting percussion, frontman Jamie Reynolds’ furious delivery, dark, electrifying guitar solos. There is not a moment on the record where they slow down or change the momentum, from the punk friendly “Echoes” to the murky cult sounding “Cypherspeed.” Reynolds talks so much about the future and arriving on other planets, you’d think this is a sci-fi concept album.

While Surfing The Void can get a bit redundant at times, the Klaxons are acting on their best strengths here, doing what they do best while improving the formula; now they provide fans an even heavier, spaced out means to lose their shit to. More than anything, this LP establishes Klaxons as a rock band with real potential; it isn’t a ground breaking record, but it grows on you with each listen.

77 — [Rating Scale]

by Daniel Koren on September 4, 2010 ‡ 2 reactions