Album Review: THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT – ALL AT ONCE

I have heard of ‘The Airborne Toxic Event’ since their inception with debut self titled album in 2008, but have simply never gotten around to giving them any real playtime. Whilst in Austin for SXSW a month or so ago, I noticed tickets were on sale for upcoming NY shows and decided to take the plunge and make the commitment. In doing so, I purchased both albums and have been listening frequently of late in preparation for said show later this week in NY.

Hailing from Los Angeles, the band received widespread acclaim from the likes of the LA Times, Q and the Boston Herald. The last of which named their debut album, ‘The Airborne Toxic Event’, debut album of the year. The band aggressively toured the album with a "30 Shows in 30 Days" tour of the United, during which the band performed thirty consecutive nights across England and Scotland towards the end of 2008. The following year, they toured almost nonstop, throughout North America, the U.K., and Europe. The biggest and best summer festivals among the shows - Coachella, Lollapalooza, T in the Park, Fuji Rock, The Reading and Leeds Festivals, Oxegen, Pukkelpop etc.

From the debut album, tracks such as ‘Gasoline’, and ‘Sometime Around Midnight’ were immensely properly from the first album which had sounds with more than a swipe of ‘The Strokes’ and perhaps a smidgen of, ‘Interpol’. This new record was produced by, 'Dave Sardy' who whas recently produced, 'Band of Horses', 'Wolfmother', 'LCD Soundsystem' and 'Oasis' to name but a few. With, 'Sardy' at the helm in the production room, ‘All At Once’ is more ambitious and maybe assured than the debut. Preceding the album release at the end of March, the band released two singles, ‘Changing’ in North America, whilst ‘Numb’ was issued in Europe.

‘All at Once’ begins with an energetic album title track which nicely reacclimatizes us with ATE’s sound and, Mikel Jollett’s folksinger, ballad like vocals. ‘Numb’ is next up with crunching guitar riffs and smart lyrics. That said, it’s not the strongest track on the album and in all honesty, is on the bland side. ‘Changing’ however gets us back and despite being a little poppy with the keyboard accompanying, this is a catchy tune with a summer sound. I am often reminded of, ‘Razorlights’, ‘Johnny Borrell’ when listening to ATE and there is a strong correlation to, Borrell’s lyrical delivery in ‘All For A Woman’. A very, ‘Razorlightesque’ of ‘Slipway Fires’ tune.

Some of ATE’s songs are almost folk songlike and the next three in ‘It Doesn’t Mean A Thing’, ‘The Kids Are Ready to Die’, and ‘Welcome to Your Wedding Day’ do remind me of old Irish folk tunes by ‘The Pogues’ lyricist, ‘Shane MacGowan’. The passion and strength in, 'Jollett’s' vocals on ‘The Kids Are Ready to Die’ are great to hear and I am sure would be fantastic in an acoustic setting. ‘Welcome to Your Wedding Day’ is a bit more funky and jazzy, but still has folk song undertones.

We are back to the more familiar indie rock sounds that were a feature in the debut album with ‘Half of Something Else’. With wonderful backing vocals from, 'Anna Bulbrook', this one explodes in to life and has me wanting to drive, walk, run, type faster. The album finishes strongly with ‘Strange Girl’ and the strings heavy, ‘All I Ever Wanted’. Cello, violins and much more collaborate well on this one and the result is pleasing on the ear. We have a subtle and smooth closer to, ‘All At Once’, in ‘The Graveyard Near The House’.

This band doesn’t blow me away, but it is good listening. I feel that I might get a better idea of what this band are all about when I see them live later this week. They have a ‘Libertines’, ‘Dirty Pretty Things’, ‘Razorlight’ sound to them that I like and, Jollett can oftentimes sound like, ‘Pete Doherty’, ‘Carl Barrat’, ‘Joe Strummer’ and ‘Johnny Borrell’ and that isn’t a bad bunch. The well out of touch NME (which I use to love) again shows that they are totally out of touch in giving this album just 3/10…I mean, come on...play the game. Following two decent albums, I thoroughly look forward to seeing what ATE live. Rating 7.5/10.

Changin' 

The Kids Are Ready to Die