“Those worried that British guitar music has lost its ability to refresh old forms should pay heed to Django Django, whose debut album posits an updated psychedelia that beguiles and delights. The songwriting here is routinely top-notch, the album gaining impact as it plays and the moods shift imperceptibly.”
THEATRE IS EVIL
by Amanda Palmer
Released: 9 September 2012
Score: 70,000 silver
“Theatre is Evil bristles, crackles, aches, and moans with surprising efficiency considering its 15-song length, pairing fractured synths and staccato guitar riffs with Palmer's throaty, untamed pipes, sounding for all the world like a brazenly cool, alternate-universe version of No Doubt.”
FRAGRANT WORLD
by Yeasayer
Released: 14 August 2012
Score: 70,000 silver
“Fragrant World challenges from the first to the 15th listen, yet lacks the hooks that made Odd Blood such an impossible album to ignore. But, at the same time, Yeasayer are a talented bunch who make forward-thinking, 21st century pop music designed to make you think while you dance.”
SOME NIGHTS
by fun.
Released: 14 February 2012
Score: 70,000 silver
“Everything with this band is bigger and more over-over-overdubbed than [Ruess' former band] the Format, which makes fun. about 10 times more annoying.”
THROUGH THE NIGHT
by Ren Harvieu
Released: 14 May 2012
Score: 90,000 silver
“Hers is an arresting voice, soft and sweet, but dark in hue and sharp with melancholy, like a vinegar smoothie. Retro fetishisms aside, this is an impeccable debut: two feet in the past and one open mouth pointing towards a very bright future. ”