Electrelane are an all-lady band from Brighton, who I first heard when I was about 19 when one of the boys in my university halls was listening to No Shouts, No Calls (2007) in his room. There are albums and there are albums, if you know what I mean, and this is one of the latter. From the quiet-tinkle-into-organ-burst of The Greater Times to the mad head-bopping cascade of The Lighthouse, this is a wonderful wonderful piece of work.
I'm not quite as familiar with the other albums, mainly because they were never the latter 'album' for me, so I'll just mention some stand-out songs from the other releases (minus Axes which I have yet to listen to properly).
One such of these songs is Film Music, from Rock It To The Moon (2001) which has something of a James Bond swag to it and is perfect for daydreaming to, i.e. imagining yourself as the protagonist in a 70's spy flick as you make your way to work. Yeah, it's awesome - listen to it here.
The next song is altogether entirely different from anything else of their's. The Valleys from The Power Out (2004) always makes me think of Wales (yes, the country) and the Sound of Music and it is both wonderfully bizarre and absolutely awesome. About 3:45mins in it goes incredibly epic and choral and it's breathtaking - listen here.
I think the main appeal of Electrelane for me is their diversity. I don't think that one album sounds the same and it is a risky business to change your sound so, because the fans might hate it. On the other hand it's incredibly dull when an artist sounds the same the whole time, and even if I weren't to enjoy a new release from them I would still hold them in high esteem because they had the balls and the imagination to create something entirely different from previous work. And in any case, I don't think they've missed the mark yet so Electrelane, I salute you.
