June 23, 2009

Album review: Magnetic Morning - 'AM'

Shoegaze goes a step too far

3 / 10 Considering MM’s pedigree – they comprise Interpol’s Sam Fogarino and Swervedriver frontman Adam Franklin – it’s astonishing how much their debut sounds like Doves covering My Bloody Valentine. Unrelentingly maudlin and hell-bent on ramming every potential silence with soporific guitars and proverbially pathetic fallacy, ‘AM’ only perks up on its two covers: ‘Motorway’, Kraftwerk’s ‘Autobahn’ with Super Furries-style harmonies, and a cover of ’60s girl-group The Shangri-Las’ ‘Out In The Streets’, which imbues the original’s saccharine chutzpah with a swathe of malevolence. For the most part though, there will probably be more life in your post-Glasto socks than is to be found anywhere in ‘AM’.

Laura Snapes

Click here to get your copy of Magnetic Morning's 'AM' from the Rough Trade shop

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