As the end of 2014 is nearing lists are beginning to pop up everywhere. Everyone has their own favourite albums and that is what makes the lists great, they get people talking (or arguing). However, none of the lists I've seen have got the top five albums on the year right yet, so it's up to me to give you the definitive top five. Here is number five:
Leeds five-piece Eagulls are without a doubt one of the UKs best live acts, their intense post punk noise makes for a sweaty night out to say the least. The band's eponymous debut album is no different, turn it up loud enough and the band, who very rarely make conversation between songs at live gigs, could almost be in the room with you.
'Nerve Endings' gets the kicks off in a shroud of feedback which is eventually broken into by a heavy baseline. Screeches of guitars echo in the background as frontman George Mitchell cries out "Theres no reason, no sense, no meaning/behind my awkward smile". The song was written about Mitchell's own troubles with anxiety making the bleakness wistfully personal.
The album doesn't get any less bleak as it goes on. 'Hollow Visions' builds up slowly before diving into a whirlpool of bittersweet guitars while on 'Amber Veins' Mitchell talks of heroin use. Penultimate track 'Opaque' comes with the album's standard whirring guitars and throbbing bass. The poetic lyrics tackle the subject of sexual abuse with Mitchell roaring "now its too late/you've found your prey/you had you way".
One of the album's stand-out tracks and a definite crowd pleaser is 'Possessed' is a tangle of post-punk noise. The track has made some notable TV appearances on Later... with Jools Holland and even on David Letterman's prestigious Late Show. The latter is a major steppingstone to cracking the US, something this angry bunch of Loiners thoroughly deserve if this fantastic debut album is anything to go by.
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