Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

Popular Workshop

We're Alive and We're Not Alone

Label: This Is Fake DIY Records Release Date: 06/10/2008

42926
holliy by holliy October 10th, 2008

Starting an album with feedback and a brooding stumbling of drums before lurching into a rhythmic onslaught of grating (dis)chords is a rather good plan, isn't it? Well, I think so - and the opening of Popular Workshop's debut album, We're Alive and We're Not Alone, is a rather fine example of the technique.

You would, of course, be justified in pointing out that it's not exactly a new trick; and that quibble could, in all fairness, be applied to much about this album. The jerkily crashing guitars tempered with scratchily clean-sounding rising chords; the reverberating disco-tinted basslines lifting the whole and adding an extra layer of energy behind the already pretty vital tunes; the yelled vocals with occasional whoops and howls and extra-stylised pronunciation to add texture; the sharp and pointed production adding an extra layer of aggression... It's all a little bit post-punk, with a hint of darker Brit-pop; there's a definite hint of Josef K in there, and some Fall, and a bit of Ikara Colt...

In short, you've probably heard most of the ingredients before; but it seems a tad churlish to complain about a certain lack of originality when said ingredients are this well put together. The jumps between different levels of sound are placed exactly where they should be, while still being sufficiently extreme or laced with oddity to maintain a surprising air. Those vocal acrobatics are timed just right to lift the sound; the wails of noise and feedback add just the right amount of depth to the sound; the rhythmic thuds and bounding basslines are played with the conviction necessary to allow the industrial forcefulness not to sound clunky or overdone. And the odd deviation from template - the alien siren wailings or piano played with an out-of-control randomness - fits the genre well enough to complement it while still adding just enough variation to keep things interesting.

Some songs, of course, work better than others. Funkier basslines are one of PopShop's strong points, and the less jerky, more guitar-focused songs sometimes tend to fall down as there's not enough momentum in what you're hearing to sweep you along and let you forget that it all sounds a tad... well... familiar. But on many of the higher speed songs with more life and momentum, the sound is so forcefully gleeful as it pours out of the speakers, that the old tricks come across as fresh and new again and it's a pleasure to listen to it and be reminded of exactly what's so fine about quirky post-punk indie jerkiness.

  • 6
    's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing


  • Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alternative must sees



Left-arrow

Lambchop

OH (ohio)

Mobback
96475
42870

Tilly and the Wall

O

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024

  • 106145
  • news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143

    news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141
  • news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139

    Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138
  • Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137

    Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
  • Festival Review


    Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019

  • 106135
MORE


    news


    The Neptune Music Prize 2016 - Vote Now

  • 103918
  • Takeover


    The Winner Takes It All

  • 50972

    Takeover


    10 Things To Not Expect Your Record Producer To...

  • 93724
  • review


    The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium

  • 4317

    review


    Sonic Youth - Nurse

  • 6044
  • feature


    New Emo Goth Danger? My Chemical Romance confro...

  • 89578

    feature


    DiS meets Justice

  • 27270
  • news


    Our Independent music filled alternative to New...

  • 104374
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2025 DROWNED IN SOUND