The Villagers (mercury nominated) - Becoming a Jackal.

Becoming A Jackal is the fantastic debut album from Conor O'Brien under the pseudonym Villagers, the album released on May 14th 2010 went immediately to top of the Irish and UK Indie charts, the tracks are a range of melodic dark tales and solemn sing-along's. The LP has been critically recognized and is a nominee for 2010s Mercury Music Award Prize, and deservedly so, the 11 tracks on Becoming A Jackal deserve their place in the running for the much sought after Mercury Award.
Title track and 2nd song on the album 'Becoming A Jackal' is a beautifully written indie-folk song, with a quirky chorus and a stomping beat, the song shows just how emotional the music is to O'Brien and how he can connect on an intimate level with the listener, something all great musicians can do.

Ship of Promises is the following track, the backing beat and fast-tempo contrast the struggling lyrics of identity, "You see a mask from your window at night, so you wake and you go outside, and you put it on, and they treat you in a different way", revealing the judgemental nature of society and how looks have become the bedrock of popularity show how Villagers view the world we live in.
Lay back, let the goosebumps appear, close your eyes and let the Villagers take you on a journey, listening to the album is an intimate experience, take the time out of your scheduled lives and connect with the music on an emotional level. To suit this experience comes songs, 'The Meaning of the Ritual', 'Home' & 'Twenty Seven Strange', songs depicting personal and social experiences that express a lot of feelings in our hearts, the null experiences and the idle life of being a stranger to one another rather than experiencing life, O'Brien's dark lyrics intend for you to step back and think.
Tracks 10 &11 are reflective of the album, 'Pieces' reminds the listener of how emotional and connected one can be to the music, it is an incredible feeling when you hear the vulnerability in the lyrics of a song but it is also a massively empowering sensation for both the artist and the listener when something is being sung that you can relate to. Track 11, entitled 'To Be Counted Among Men', is a terrific song to round off an incredible debut album, O'Brien's tone and subtle guitar playing make for one memorable finale.

The Villagers - Becoming A Jackal 9/10 - Listen to - 'Becoming A Jackal', 'The Meaning of the Ritual', 'To Be Counted Among Men'

Thomas R Johnson
Twitter - @TheJourno_Tom
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The Horrors go from the screeching underbelly of Southend-On-Sea to Mercury Prize nominated kings of alternative.

The Horrors went from black-clad garage rockers to a psychedelic and experimental quintet in just 5 short years, the band formed through a mutual love for rare and vintage vinyl originating from the 1960s mostly, during their first rehearsal they performed two garage classics, The Sonics' - 'Witch' and Screaming Lord Sutch's - 'Jack The Ripper', the latter was to be the opening track on debut album Strange House, during late 2005 and the year of 2006 they performed raucous sets to spread the name through the garage underworld of London, most notably their performance at The 100 Club, an historic event for all Horrors fans for those who attended or were unable to attend. 

In 2007 the debut album was to be released, 'Strange House' came out and the freaks and weirdo's came out in full to get their hands on the 12-track LP. The album was fairly unheard of apart from those who had taken an interest in the article published in July 2006's NME or gone to see the band live, critics ignored it and turned their noses up at The Horrors after glancing upon their outlandish hairstyles and love affair with black clothing, the music itself represented something different that was not being recognized in the musical market and has yet to be fully realised how dynamic their sound was in a derivative mainstream producing yet another manufactured pop act, the 5 members of The Horrors in an almost garage music spin-off of a band of brothers group were keeping musical integrity and standards of an audience who were willing to listen to the quintet's brash rock sounds. The song that first struck passion for The Horrors into my heart and many others is 'Sheena is a Parasite', the song is a rough depiction of a maddened woman being driven out of society, the video is a suitably raw to match the thrash style of the song, directed by Chris Cunningham you can begin to understand the video, which was banned from being played on MTV stations due to "strobe lighting" and not the gruesome depiction of a female with her guts hanging out. To send off 'Strange House' The Horrors played a gig supporting lifelong heroes and idols The Sonics, which was their last gig until a year later when they had finished recording their follow up album and premièred several songs at the Bethnal Green's Rich Mix on the 23 May 2009. 

Primary Colours is the second, and latest, album by The Horrors, taking a surprise twist and completely reinventing their sound, with Rhys Webb, previously on organ, now on Bass guitar, and Tom Cowan providing the switch from bass to keyboard. The sound they released received critical acclaim and had many a journalist going back on their original statements about the band, with their change in sound there came a change in live performance, having been to see The Horrors four times, one just after the release of 'Strange House' and three times after 'Primary Colours' had hit the shelves, I saw the development of change in the antics being changed for intimate atmosphere, previously there had been rubix cubes and Faris' infamous painted hand trick nowadays there was stares into the audience to create a tension to their gigs that surrounded the music and created an intense atmosphere. The album was voted #1 in NME's top 50 albums of 2009 poll, and nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, the stand out track for me being 'Who Can Say' Faris' breaking into an emotional connection with the listener effectively summarises the progression of the band's sound, a true psychedelic summer track in fitting with the rest of the album.

My rating for 'Strange House' - 8/10 - 3 tracks to listen to - Sheena is a Parasite, She is the New Thing, Gloves.

My rating for 'Primary Colours' - 7/10 - 3 tracks - Who Can Say, Scarlet Fields, I Only Think Of You.

Thomas R Johnson.

twitter- @TheJourno_Tom