First Listen: Klaxons – Surfing The Void

Three years is a long time in music but it seems to have done little to diminish the popularity of London four-piece Klaxons. The nu-rave pioneers have had a lengthy break since 2007’s Myths Of The Near Future but now they’re finally back with follow-up Surfing The Void. Get our verdict on it before its release tomorrow.

   1.  Echoes

If there were a ‘best’ way to announce your return after a lengthy hiatus, this would be it. Echoes smacks of all the juicy, immediate goodness that Klaxons’ debut had in droves. It takes about 30 seconds to make its point, so you’ve got a good three minutes to just sit back and enjoy the rest of this tune, if you can keep jumping violently around the room. An awesome reintroduction.

   2.  The Same Space

Okay, who put Panic At The Disco on? What, this is Klaxons you say? Well this is different. Aside from the delayed Rapture-esque guitar, it’s kind of hard not to imagine Jamie Reynolds dressed in a skinny black suit with make-up caked around his eyes as he sings The Same Space. Not that it’s a bad track or anything, it'a just...unexpected. Um...next song please...

   3.  Surfing The Void

Vocal duties are definitely being shared around on this sophomore record. A number of different voices creep into the title track, which sounds like riding a ghost train whilst on a bad acid trip. In a way similar to Myths track Magick, there’s this really rough-edged feeling of paranoia here, and it makes you want to pull your hair out and smack your best friend in the face, but in a wholly good way.

   4.  Valley Of The Calm Trees

You’d think for a song called Valley Of The Calm Trees there’d be a ‘calm’ feeling to it. Well I suppose by Klaxons’ standards this one’s the equivalent of a frontal lobotomy. Taking away some of the grit of the opening trio, VOTCT lets the hooks do the talking, only they don’t have a lot to say. As well as the removal of the band’s frontal lobe, this one sounds like they’ve a testicle or two taken out as well. Moving right along...

   5.  Venusia

Venusia is an ancient Greek city supposedly founded by one of the victorious heroes of the Trojan war. Klaxons’ musical interpretation of the place is like a chapter ripped out of The Odyssey, marching tentatively towards some prophecised cataclysm but too afraid to turn back. It’s fitting that we’re now smack bang in the middle of Surfing The Void because just like the intrepid Greeks of old, we have to find out how this story ends.

   6.  Extra Astronomical

This one probably best displays the musical evolution of Klaxons. It’s still all doom-saying bass, screeching guitars and deceptively angelic vocals, but the climax is withheld rather than willingly poured into your ear lobes. And in a funny way it works. It’s this maturity in song writing that makes you keep coming back for more. Drawing out these euphoric peaks also lets you hear what’s actually going on in the songs instead of being berated by hit after hit of sonic ecstasy.

   7.  Twin Flames

As always, Klaxons mystify us with their other worldy lyrics and song thematics. Twin Flames chronicles two telepathically connected individuals as they venture out and just generally become this wickedly powerful mega-being, or something. There’s a nice shuffle to this track too, but it seems like a bit of a black sheep, like they’ve just taken us down a gear before the big finale.

   8.  Flashover

This was the first taste we got of Surfing The Void when it was released as a teaser track a few of months back. In retrospect it was an excellent preface to Echoes but at the time people weren’t convinced. If you were one of those detractors, go back and listen to it again. It’s a torrential sonic sandstorm passing over your head. Instead of ducking for cover, I recommend you lose yourself in the grimy chaos.

   9.  Future Memories

It’s at this point where you realise the ebb and flow of this album is perfectly arranged. They tempt you with a sugary treat, release all that chemical energy with a banger, allow you to rest your weary head and then do it all again. Future Memories comes in at the end of that cycle. This isn’t about whipping you into a frenzy, just like a lot of this album isn’t. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You’ve got to keep the blood sugar at a safe level. Otherwise you’ve got diabetes.

   10.  Cypherspeed

You’d expect an album like this to have a big closing number and Klaxons once again do not disappoint. Not quite as demonic as Myths’ Four Horsemen Of 2012, but we’re still two years off from that anyway. Besides, this is Klaxons 2.0, and nu-rave was soooo three years ago. Instead, Cypherspeed builds the tension with an awesome bass hook and cracking chorus. There’s this nagging insistence that doesn’t let you go and just when you think you’re home free, Klaxons leave you with a haunting message from beyond the void.

As good as this album may or may not be, it unfortunately will never have the timeliness or impact of its predecessor. Which is a shame because this really is a good album, maybe even better than Myths in some parts. It covers old territory, sure, but you can’t reinvent the wheel with every release. Surfing The Void will catapult its makers into the spotlight once again, but it will probably end up being one of those self-prophesising myths that gets mixed up with the true brilliance of Klaxons’ debut.

Surfing The Void comes out tomorrow (Fri Aug 20) through Modular/UMA.

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