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Athlete are becoming better known nowadays. "Wires" is currently shooting up the charts and they're just released their second album entitled "Tourist". I therefore decided it was time to update my review on their first album "Vehicles & Animals". Athlete have been compared to Beck, Mercury Rev, The Beach Boys, XTC, Gomez and Turin Breaks to name but a few. However, I happen to think that their music is pretty much unique, even though it’s full of weird instruments and special effects. Out of all the CD’s in my (rather vast) collection, Vehicles and Animals is still a huge favourite. It’s a superb collection of 12 great songs all of which are infectious tunes that really get into you head. I’d be hard pushed to find a track I actively disliked.
Athlete hail from Deptford in South London and were formed at the start of 2000 by four friends who had known each other from the age of 14. They’re made up of Carey Willets (bass), Joel Potts (guitar and vocals), Steve Roberts (drums) and Tim Wanstall (keyboards). They first came to the attention of Radio One in 2002 when they became Jo Whiley’s Record Of The Week with their single “Westlife”. They then entered the top forty with “You Got the Style” and “Beautiful”. Their eagerly anticipated debut album “Vehicles & Animals” was released in April 2003. Parlophone gave Athlete plenty of time to record their first album so that they would be completely happy with it, and the result is a splendid set of great songs. It's almost impossible to pinpoint the
high points of this album.
[1] El Salvador Released as a single in April 2003 ~ Highest chart position = 31 A catchy start to the album with a great chorus containing a bit of a quirky/weird sample effect. Lyrically it deals with the problems of a newly signed band and all the insanity and hype surrounding them:
“First class and big hotels/ I can't quite put my finger on it / Videos and global sales / I can't quite put my finger on it/ Free drinks that you pay yourself / I can't quite put my finger on it”
[2] Westside This is the song that first got Athlete noticed. It’s another song about the problems facing a new band in the music industry today and whether they’re going to be just the latest craze or something more solid. The song starts deceptively quietly with a vocal lament but it soon kicks into a big chorus and vocals which repeat-to-fade.
“Chorus! / Whenever you look you can see that everybody wants to be part of the rockscene”
[3] One Million Slower song with which fades into a quieter middle section. The middle sounds a bit surreal with an echoey vocal effect. It all ends in a huge drumming effect. Not one of the best tracks on the album, but a pretty enough tune.
[4] Shake Those Windows I love this track as it’s a real anthem, which builds to an emotional finish. Joel Potts sounds a bit like Sting on this one and it’s a definite standout track on the album. Slower start to the vocals culminating in a really catchy chorus.
“Just let the record play and bring it back again / You can't appreciate what we were into then”
[5] Beautiful This is nothing like the Christina Aguilera record of the same name - I think it’s much better. It starts off as a quieter and slower song, which builds up into a faster and louder chorus. This is a showcase song from Athlete and up there as one of their finest tracks. The chorus is particularly striking and sung with real emotional and effect:
“Oh this is beautiful / I've got to soak it up / I've got to soak it up.”
[6] New Project This track starts well, but degenerates into wild rock and weird short-wave radio noises. The second half spoils it somewhat as it just sounds far too experimental, a bit like Rick Wakeman on acid.
[7] You Got The Style Released as a single in June 2002 ~ Highest chart position = 37 One of the best tracks on the album and one of the hits from last summer. An extremely catchy song - you hear it once and it’s going round and round in your head for the rest of the day. Lyrically it purports to be about the 2001 Oldham race riots. However, it reminds me of the heat wave we had last July/August because of the extremely catchy chorus:
“Oh it's getting hot in here / There must be something in the atmosphere / Oh I could be laughing about it / And making the most of the true British climate / Oh it's getting hot in here / There must be something in the atmosphere / Oh oh-oh oh oh”
[8] Vehicles & Animals The track which lends its title to the album. It has strong vocals and it’s fairly mellow in sound. However, it’s not particularly outstanding - a nice enough tune but it doesn’t really go anywhere.
[9] Out of Nowhere At the beginning of this track Athlete sound so much like The Specials it’s rather uncanny. It’s a funky song, which builds up into to a chorus that they almost shout instead of sing. It has a great beat and it’s a real sing-a-along tune. Lyrically it’s all about passing out after a fight/accident and being lucky to be alive.
“Out of nowhere it came and hit me on the head / Out of nowhere”
[10] Dungeness This starts as an uplifting song and goes into a fancy electric guitar splurge in the middle. Unfortunately, it deteriorates into a silly keyboard section that sounds a bit like the theme tune to a children’s programme. Once they’re got the experimental bit out of the way, it goes back to being a nice tune again.
[11] You Know This is a great big ballad that breaks out into another shouted chorus. It’s one of the mellowest tracks on the album. The vocals are not the strongest, but it does have lovely words:
“You are loved and you know you are / yeah you know you know you know you are”
[12] Le Casio A short track which rounds of the album nicely by winding us back down to earth. Nicely sung but not particularly impressive.
As you can probably tell by now, I love this album and I can’t wait for their next one. However, it has received mixed reviews from the music press, possibly because it is impossible to pigeonhole this band into any specific category. It’s true that Athlete do love to play around with weird and wonderful sound effects, which are not always everyone’s cup of tea. But I say hats off to them for trying something different - this album is a true original. Although the vocals on the album are a little bit raw in places, I think this just adds to the charm of this album. It’s great selection of happy infectious songs and it’s easy to wind down the window, crank up the stereo and sing along to all of them at the top of your voice. I do hope they manage to overcome their critics and continue bringing us great songs for many years to come. Give yourself a treat, take a break from Travis or Coldplay and cheer yourself up with Athlete. As one music writer wrote “Put Coldplay on to remember your problems and Athlete to forget them”, and I really couldn’t put it better myself.
Released on 7th April 2003 on the Parlophone label. It can be purchased online at:
www.cd-wow.com £8.99 inclusive of postage and packing www.101cd.com £6.99 plus £1.00 postage and packing
Further information on Athlete can be found at www.athlete.mu or www.athletemusic.de.vu/
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Athlete
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It's a shame that Britpop brings up memories of dull guitar-rock traditionalists stuck in ... more
thrall to the spirit of the 60s, because it's very tempting to dub Athlete's debut album, Vehicles and Animals, a minor British pop classic. The work of an East L...
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Advantages: Excellent follow up to the debut album. Joel Pott has got rid of the mockney accent Disadvantages: Will be too much like Coldplay for some people
Andy.mack 21.03.2005 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Tourist - Athlete
Jun 13th, 2004
(Mar 11th, 2005)
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