

Noah And The Whale

Last Night On Earth

Rating 4/5

Must listen to ”â “Wild Thing”Â and “L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N”Â

Sounds like – Arcade Fire, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Shins and The Flaming Lips

Review by ”â Gavin Dyda

People probably know this band from the “5 years time”Â hit single which was massive a few years ago, with its breezy lyrics and poppy vibe which sounded a bit too poppy and silly for me, but after hearing that they had a new album and then I caught a minute of their new single “L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N”Â on NME T.V I thought I would give them another chance.

Album opener “Life is Life”Â sounds like a cross between Flaming Lips and Mike and the Mechanics, but don’t let the latter name put you off as it’s a lot less cheesy. The second song on the album “Tonight’s the kind of night”Â has a similar piano melody in the chorus to the famous one in “Baba O’ Riley”Â by The Who, and is a nice number, that has a similar repetitive sound that’s been made famous in the alternative genre by Arcade Fire.

Then we get on to the current single, and the song that is probably the most catchy and poppy song on the album “L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N”Â and after getting over the chorus where they spell out the song name I was able to enjoy it, It’s the song you would get if you got The Shins to perform in a nursery school. Then we have “Wild Thing”Â the sort of song you could just lie on your bed with your headphones in and simply fall asleep, it has that guitar sound made popular by The Jesus and Mary Chain

which I could listen to all day.

On the latter tracks you hear influences such as gospel sounds, long piano melodies which I love, such as the piano instrumental “Paradise Stars”Â and the last song on the album “Old Joy”Â. The stand out tracks for me has to be “L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N”Â and “Wild Thing”Â which sound like there on both sides of the spectrum on the folk scale, one happy and poppy and the other a more mellow sound. Arcade Fire, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Shins and The Flaming Lips are a strong influence throughout the album, but even if you are not a fan of these bands you will still be able to find enough of their own sound in there.

Listening to this album It doesn’t take long for me to regret not giving them enough of a chance after listening to “5 years time”Â all those years ago. It’s like a folk band that’s put a noble effort and tried to sound as stadium rock as possible with sing along choruses etc. They might not ever get there but they would make a perfect opener for “Arcade Fire”Â.