The Airborne Toxic Event were formed in March 2006 by Mikel Jollet in what he described as the worst week of his life: His mother was diagnosed with cancer, he became aware that he was suffering from a potentially fatal autoimmune disease and his long term girlfriend left him. After this series ... Read review
Taking their name from a chapter in Don DeLillos classic post-modern campus novel White ... more
Noise, resolutely independent Los Angeles quintet The Airborne Toxic Event (hereafter referred to as TATE) had a unexpected and unlikely US hit when the gloriously self-conscious "Sometime Around Midnight" was picked up for a television soundtrack. A sloppy epic of self-abnegation, criticised by some for lyrics little deeper than a greeting card verse, it sure sounds like the late-night thoughts of a man feeling unworthy of himself let alone the girl who keeps treading all over him. No wonder the public identified with it. Mikel Jollett, the former journalist who leads TATE, started writing this album as a novel before changing format and his songs are little vignettes and character sketches not dissimilar to fellow Angelenos Rilo Kiley. They work too. Tunes like "Wishing Well" and the single aspire to The Arcade Fires widescreen indie sound, while "Papillon", the pop-punk of "Gasoline", the cute and tinny "Something New" and the delightful self-pity of "Does This Mean Youre Moving On?" are as convincingly reductive as the Strokes early efforts. But they are all extremely catchy, and at times unexpectedly wise. The Airborne Toxic Event is hardly an event, but it will certainly stick with you. --Steve Jelbert
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Advantages: 3 good tracks. Good use of numerous instruments. Disadvantages: Tried to be too experimental. Inconsistent quality of songs. Tried to be something they're not.
The Airborne Toxic Event were formed in March 2006 by Mikel Jollet in what he described as the worst week of his life: His mother was diagnosed with cancer, he became aware that he was suffering from a potentially fatal autoimmune disease and his long term girlfriend left him. After this series of events, he decided to form a indie rock band. The Californian 5 who make up the band are Mikel Jollet (guitar & vocals), Noah Harmon (bass), Steven Chen ... ...
After ‘Sometime Around Midnight’ being played numerous times on American radio stations the band gathered a lot of attention, the album eagerly anticipated because of it. The highlights of the album are the mentioned before ‘Sometime Around Midnight’ which tells a story of an ex-girlfriend leaving a bar with another man. The lyrics combined with the strings make it an epic unrivalled by any other on the record. ‘Wishing Well’ and ... more
The Airborne Toxic Event were formed in March 2006 by Mikel Jollet in what he described as the worst week of his life: His mother was diagnosed with cancer, he became aware that he was suffering from a potentially fatal autoimmune disease and his long term girlfriend left him. After this series of events, he decided to form a indie rock band. The Californian 5 who make up the band are Mikel Jollet (guitar & vocals), Noah Harmon (bass), Steven Chen (guitar) Ana Bulbrook (keys & viola) and Daren Taylor (drums).
After ‘Sometime Around Midnight’ being played numerous times on American radio stations the band gathered a lot of attention, the album eagerly anticipated because of it. The highlights of the album are the mentioned before ‘Sometime Around Midnight’ which tells a story of an ex-girlfriend leaving a bar with another man. The lyrics combined with the strings make it an epic unrivalled by any other on the record. ‘Wishing Well’ and ‘Gasoline’ are the other two tracks worthy of a mention which both have a sense of Keane mingled with The Strokes. The other tracks left me bitterly disappointed for a band I held in such high esteem. The three very good tracks mentioned above seem to be so different than the rest which is not a good thing. It could be described as the difficult second album within the first. ‘Something New’ lacks any depth and is painfully repetitive. What makes matters worse is the sound quality of the CD – quieter than it should be but upon turning up the volume a notch or two; a part of the quality is lost.
To summarise; they should’ve stuck to what they did so well and leave the experimenting for the next album. Don’t buy the CD just download ‘Sometime Around Midnight’, ‘Gasoline’ and ‘Wishing Well.’
remarkablyoptimistic 29.05.2009 (29.05.2009)
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Review of Airborne Toxic Event, The - Airborne Toxic Event (The)
Product Information for "Airborne Toxic Event, The - Airborne Toxic Event (The)" »
Product details
Title
Airborne Toxic Event, The
Performer
Airborne Toxic Event (The)
Genre
Rock & Pop
Sub Genre
Alternative
Release Date
22/09/2008, 09/02/2009
Original Release Year
2008
Label / Distributor
Majordomo / Essential Music/Cinram Logistics
Producer
Pete Min
Pieces in Set
1
Studio / Live
Studio
Stereo
Stereo
Format
Performer
EAN
826663109757, 826663113099
Catalogue Number
2666310975, 2666311309
Additional notes
Album Notes
After building a substantial following in their native Los Angeles and creating a buzz on the Internet, indie rockers the Airborne Toxic Event signed to Majordomo records to release their self-titled debut. THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT showcases the quintet's energetic sound which draws equally from the biting passion of the Clash and the expansive, anthemic feeling of the Arcade Fire. The music rocks hard, but it's also augmented by strings and keys, creating a distinctive sound that's at once fresh and familiar. "Gasoline," "Happiness is Overrated," and "Sometime Around Midnight" are highlights of this overall impressive debut.
Album Reviews
Entertainment Weekly (p.59) - "[The album is] enthralled with guitar noise....It's also sewn through with an endearing passion that screams of potential." Q (Magazine) (p.93) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[With] opener 'Wishing Well,' the lustful 'Gasoline' and 'Something New''s confused relationship tracing a historical line from The Strokes to The Killers..." Blender (Magazine) (p.80) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "On 'Innocence,' a gorgeous viola intro gives way to ecstatic new-wave-ish keyboards, and the rousing 'Sometime Around Midnight' makes late-night pining sound positively heroic." Clash (magazine) (p.101) - "A tragic record of turmoil set to towering pop blasts; an emotive hurricane is upon us."
Titles on disc 1
1.
Wishing Well
2.
Papillon
3.
Gasoline
4.
Happiness is Overrated
5.
Does This Mean You're Moving On
6.
This is Nowhere
7.
Something Around Midnight, Sometime Around Midnight
8.
Something New
9.
Missy
10.
Innocence
13.
Girls In Their Summer Dresses, The (exclusive UK track)
12.
This Losing (exclusive UK track)
11.
Winning Side, The (exclusive UK track)
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Listed on Ciao since
18/07/2008
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