If 2009’s Grammy-nominated, Brit Award-scooping Sigh No More exploded like a multicoloured rocket, Babel is something of a damp squib, a Roman candle that draws a few oohs and aahs but ultimately fails to soar to any great heights. The portents were promising.

I Will Wait, the album’s first single release, ignited the touchpaper of hope with its banjo and tambourine-driven bonhomie, infectious hooks and rousing finish. The opening title song is a sparkler, too, the track’s raw intensity adroitly balanced by two stripped back interludes. Marcus Mumford’s tender crooning of “know my weakness, know my voice” is genuinely touching.

Other lines in Babel introduce an agenda of biblical overtones. Satanic undercurrents swirl in Whispers in the Dark, another acoustic wall of sound punctuated by quieter passages, as Mumford spits out: “But a brush with the devil can clear your mind, strengthen your spine.”

After the catchy I Will Wait fades, a predominantly drum and embellishment-free set takes a repetitive turn, with one track sounding much like the next in structure and melody. The rot, or rather rut, starts when a quiet guitar and piano arpeggio intro to Holland Road gives way to an acoustic tsunami that’s reminiscent of the Pogues and the irrepressible Shane MacGowan in their heyday, before steadying for a comparatively sedate outro.

It’s a pattern that recurs ad nauseam until Not with Haste brings Babel to an anticlimactic conclusion. Hopeless Wanderer defines the album’s tone sonically, with frenetic banjo, mandolin and guitar strums spinning into an amorphous final wash. There are aspects of Babel to admire.

Ghosts that we Knew builds impressively from a simple fingerpick. Lover of the Light, Below My Feet and Lovers’ Eyes respectively use distorted banjo, grungy electric guitar and multitracked vocals to effect. The best thing said about Marcus Mumford’s solo excursion, Reminder, in which the leader accompanies himself with a rudimentary acoustic guitar strum, is that it is short.

Master M might have backed Dylan at the Grammy Awards, but rhymes such as, “So watch the world tear us apart / A stoic mind and a bleeding heart, Touch my mouth and hold my tongue / I’ll never be your chosen one” and “Keep the earth below my feet / From my sweat my blood runs weak” are unlikely to have His Bobness looking over his shoulder. Nor indeed Rhymin’ Simon, who, on the deluxe edition of Babel, backs young Mumford on a decidedly lacklustre bonus rendition of The Boxer.

Marcus Mumford faces a steep climb if he is to reach the lyrical peak of Paul Simon’s masterpiece.

Source: theaustralian.com.au

Noisecreep reports that Tight, which covers the titular group, will be released on September 25th following the band’s adventures as they hit the road on tour and live out the hedonistic lifestyle of a rock star *ahem* come porn star.

The band features Charlie Sheen’s former squeeze, Bree Olson, who also manages the band, which involves (in their own words) everything “from dressing the girls as rock-stars to breaking up arguments and fights between the band members.”

Alongside Olson, “The Go Gos meets Metallica” lineup includes Tuesday Cross, the girlfriend of Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes, on bass; alongside adult performers Alicia Andrews – the “newcummer” of the band on drums, Beligum-via-Montreal lead guitarist Layla Labelle and lead vocalist Kelley Jean.

In true rock n roll style, Jean was actually a replacement for former singer Monica Mayhem, an Australian exotic dancer and adult entertainer, who left the band after getting pregnant and returning back down under to get married.

In an interview with Noisecreep, Jean says that she was drawn to the idea of fronting the all-girl group as a way of eschewing her former career as a porn star. “After you’ve done adult things, it’s hard to be accepted,” says the Tight voclaist. “It’s hard for me to cross over to mainstream, but I knew I’d fit in with these girls, porn stars trying to make it in music! It just looked like fun.”

The Tight movie is already garnering critical praise, with the trailer trumpeting the New York Post calling it “the best mockumentary since Spinal Tap”, even though it predictably features more footage of the girls mucking around backstage wearing very little more than on stage.

The rockumentary is scheduled to premier at Las Vegas’ Cinefest at Palms Casino in October, and Jean hopes that afterwards, they can head back out on another tour. “Since we all live all over North America, it’s tough to plan a tour right now. But as soon as someone comes up with the backing, we’ll be there.”

Source: tonedeaf.com.au