3 stars (out of 5)
Three years ago, Melbourne-based New Zealand band Evermore took a massive step in its evolution with the release of electro-infused concept album Truth Of The World. However, its fourth album, Follow The Sun, is a step back to its chiming pop roots, a place where reverb-drenched vocals and walls of harmony go toe to toe with bright pianos and taut guitar phrases. Though the brothers Hume boast a record bristling with anthemic potential, their attempt to go for the jugular of prime-time radio has left a bit of heart on the mixing-room floor.
Single download: Sometimes It's Easy
For those who like: U2, Coldplay
- Shane Gilchrist
3 stars (out of 5)
New Zealand electro-pop duo Kids Of 88's follow-up to 2010 debut album Sugar Pills might lack the killer thrust and grind of dance-floor hit My House, yet Sam McCarthy and Jordan Arts show a knack for polished restraint that might provide Modern Love with longevity, an asset arguably as valuable as any banging single.
That said, The Drug, almost buried four songs from the album's end, is a big earworm, complete with wiggy keyboard pulses, New Romantic guitar stabs and a sing-along chorus that actually requires no words.
Single download: The Drug
For those who like: Pet Shop Boys
-Shane Gilchrist
4 stars (out of 5)
Three years on from the love-versus-nihilism of 21st Century Breakdown, eight since the even more charged American Idiot, singer-guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and company have shed a little of the political sermonising in favour of the basement-band fun of 1992 breakthrough second album Kerplunk. Uno!, the first in a trio of albums to be released within months of one another, once again offers infectious melodies, three-chord phrases and rapid-fire drumming as Armstrong sings with a sneer, a smile and, at times, with tongue firmly in cheek.
Single download: Kill The DJ
For those who like: Buzzcocks, Supergrass
- Shane Gilchrist
