Vehicles & Animals - Athlete

Another new band to arrive really during 2003 are Athlete, from South London, It has taken them almost a year to get notice before finally deciding to release their album back at the end of April. Having first seen them supporting Electric Soft Parade in November last year they are another band that really made a big impression on me. So this there debut album Vehicles and Animals. The band have been gradually getting bigger, following a nomination for this years Mercury Music prize, which they didn't win but did well just to make the shortlist. However it has been a long process for them having released and re-released all the singles a number of times, ...  Read the complete review

ATHLETE - VEHICLES AND ANIMALS The underlying fact that London based quintet Athlete are essentially an indie band may well scare many potential followers off. The word indie no longer congers up images of the glory days of Britpop when British titans Oasis and Blur battled it out for the number one spot, while the entire nation gazed on holding its breath in awe of the outcome (remember the 'Roll With It' versus 'Country House' fiasco?). Nowadays indie prompts memories of Toploader and poses as much potential as the next Travis album... basically we know what to expect. And to be honest the British music scene doesn?t need another indie band ...  Read the complete review

THE BAND Like all good things in life, I discovered Athlete accidentally. I won't bore you with the details because I'm sure it's the music you're interested in and not a crazy (but true) scenario involving a Mediterranean supermarket manager and a case of mistaken identity. So anyway, I bought the CD, played it and my findings are below. Generally if I like a band or their music affects me in a positive way, I like to RESEARCH the artist. I found the following website very useful: www.athlete.mu Soundclips from the album are available and I learnt a lot about the band's history. Just to summise, they are a four piece from Deptford, ...  Read the complete review

Athlete are one of the more "quirky" indie rock outfits to hit the scene. Their entertaining fusion of electronic beeps and whirrs with steady, melody rock music really does work extremely well. "Vehicles and Animals" feels like listening to a child experimenting with music and having great fun. Please do not be mistaken though - there's nothing immature about their sound. They have written some beautiful songs. The title track is a fine example of truthful, emotional songwriting and deals with the connection we all feel to our childhood. Other tracks were, in my mind, written for the great "sing-a-long" chorus - and this is ...  Read the complete review

Athlete came onto the scene via London-based Xfm's session show. They'd never played a signle gig before the single 'Westside' was played on radio, and after Clair Sturgess pushed them on her show, things snowballed. Now 18 months later, the Deptford group's first album is out on Parlaphone. It's a blend of synth loops, fuzzy guitars and mellow lyrics. The first thing it reminds me of was the dirty, lo-fi sound of Gomez, but with less of the blues, and more pop. The singles are all here, all pretty uplifting tracks like 'El Salvador' and that first track 'Westside'. My favourite is 'You got the Style' with the ...  Read the complete review