Julian Plenti - Julian Plenti is Skyscraper

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 24 / 10 / 2009

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Review

Julian Plenti is the solo project of Paul Banks, the front man and vocalist with Interpol. Paul started his career as a solo artist before joining Interpol in 1998, and ‘Julian Plenti is Skyscraper’, his debut album under that moniker, is an easy album to fall in love with,especially if you like Interpol or any of their influences. It opens with the post rock track Only If You Run’.It begins in a slow, murmuring manner before the guitars and drums eventually kick in, while its vocal is slow and drawn out. ‘Fun that We Have’ starts off sounding like an edgy version of Chameleons, which was always a trade mark of the early Interpol sound, before it becomes more commercial and poppy. ‘Skyscraper’ is an acoustic-based number. Its guitars have an early Leonard Cohen-like sound and there is also a soft piano. It is lush,and very cinematic. ‘Games for Days’ has a Chameleons/Interpol feel and glows in the same way that Interpol do. ‘Madrid Song; sounds likes Tindersticks at their most moody, while ‘No Chance Survival’ is a slow downer of a track, very sad, lonely and quite neurotic. ‘Unwind’ has a quiet vocal, which is distorted at the start, and is backed by some Teardrop Explodes-style trumpets. ‘Girl on the Sporting News,’is a slow trip, elegant and very laid back, coffee table music even, while ‘On the Esplanade’ again recalls early Leonard Cohen in its soft acoustic guitar. ‘Fly as You Might’ has a snail-paced vocal while the music is gritty like the early Chameleons. It ends with ‘H,’ which is a short moody instrumental piece. A wonderful album.

Track Listing:-

1 Only If You Run
2 Fun That We Have
3 Skyscraper
4 Games for Days
5 Madrid Song
6 No Chance Survival
7 Unwind
8 Girl on the Sporting News
9 On the Esplanade
10 Fly As You Might

Label Links:-

http://www.matadorrecords.com/
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https://www.facebook.com/MatadorRecord
http://matadorrecords.tumblr.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/matadorre
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