Ten by Girls Alouds Release Date: November 26, 2012 Rating: Buy It: Amazon

Despite their prefabricated formation through a television program called Popstars: The Rivals, Girls Aloud achieved both mainstream success and widespread critical acclaim in their native England. Through Popstars’ process of elimination, Girls Aloud’s membership amounted to Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts, Cheryl Cole (née Tweedy), and Kimberley Walsh. The group took shape in November 2002, and soon began a streak of Top Ten singles that broke a record for all-woman groups and remained unbroken through the end of 2006, when the compilation The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits was issued. Their first three proper albums — 2003′s Sound of the Underground, 2004′s What Will the Neighbours Say?, and 2005′s Chemistry — were similarly successful, though the latter stalled at number 11 on the album chart. Girls Aloud recharged with Tangled Up (2007) and Out of Control (2008), a pair of albums that were just as strong as any others in their past. As with their second and third albums, these releases were produced exclusively by Brian Higgins and Xenomania. The latter release was the group’s fourth number one U.K. album. Ten, the group’s second compilation, was released in November 2012 and featured four new songs.

Review
There’s so much I have to say about this album and these girls! In the past 6 months, I’ve become addicted to British pop and Girls Aloud are the icing on the cake for me. While the Spice Girls may be known internationally, Girls Aloud is the longer lasting of the British girl bands. They’ve been around for ten years. That’s longer than most bands that are on the charts today – think Britney Spears, without so many meltdowns. It took me quite a few days to finish this review because I love them so much and I couldn’t figure out how to express it properly! I’m somewhat of a music snob, I won’t deny it at all, but I love pop music like no other. I was an *NSYNC fanatic when I was a tween/teenager so true pop music has a special place in my heart. And that’s what Girls Aloud is – pure pop.

A lot of times people don’t think that pop music is legit or that it’s just silly. It’s true that Girls Aloud does have some songs with lyrics that aren’t too serious but at the same time, they have some great songs with wonderful lyrics too. That’s the beauty of being a pop artist. And they aren’t a throw-a-way group. The fact that they’ve stuck around for so long is a testament to that. Did I mention that they also performed for the Queen at the Royal Variety last December? THE QUEEN. That doesn’t happen every day.

The album, however, is a greatest hits album with four new songs that encompasses their best songs. I’ve honestly listened to it on repeat for over a week at this point. It spans ten years but I honestly couldn’t tell which songs were from this year and which were from 2002. Good pop music is good pop music. I dare you to listen to Love Machine and NOT dance. Seriously. The best part is that it was released more than five years ago. And I’d still rather listen to this than half the stuff on the radio today. Some of the lyrics are silly in this one, “Let’s go Eskimo?” but at the same time, it’s a quippy song that makes comments about women and men. They may not make extremely serious music but they don’t make pointless music either. It’s fantastic.

So Girls Aloud hasn’t made it over in the States and since this album seems to be their farewell, it doesn’t look good, but that doesn’t mean people outside of Great Britain shouldn’t be informed!  These girls are a force to be reckoned with that have great chemistry both on and off the stage.  I wish there was an American artist that I could compare them to but there really isn’t.  These girls are national treasures in Great Britain.  When Cheryl Cole’s husband cheated on her a few years ago, I thought for sure he would be run out of the country.  In other words, if you’re looking for a change of pace from the pop music on the radio in the US – gives these girls a try.  (Then you should try Take That, Cher Lloyd and Little Mix too!)  Now I’ll leave you with this…

The Lumineers by Lumineers Release Date: April 3, 2012 Rating: Buy It: Amazon or iTunes

In 2011, an eponymous, self-recorded EP led to touring, and before long The Lumineers started attracting devout fans. They’re drawn by songs like “Ho Hey” and “Stubborn Love,” Americana-inflected barn burners in the vein of the Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons. The roots revival has primed listeners for a new generation of rustic, heart-on-the-sleeve music. The Lumineers walk that line with an unerring gift for timeless melodies and soul-stirring lyrics.–Amazon

Review
I know, I’m back with another CD review that isn’t the new Mumford and Sons, miracles happen! This album, by the Lumineers, is in my top three albums of the year (the other two being this one and this one.) I am almost too much in love with this album and this band. I can read to this album, I can do homework to this album, I can bawl my eyes out to this album, all of which is a good sign.

I have that addicting type of personality. If I read one book in a series, I have to read the whole series. If I fall in love with an author, I must read their complete collection. I told you, addicting personality. I wish I was joking when I say that for the last two years my favorite song has been “Little Lion Man” by Mumford and Sons. No, it has never wavered. That has been my favorite song to the point of being a joke among by friends including Tina and Lauren. But this album, is giving Mumford and Sons and “Little Lion Man” a run for their money.

This album is full of slow songs, but full of heart. A whole lot of heart. The band is a trio who you can tell love what they do. There isn’t a single song on this album that I have a need to skip. Which is hard for me because as much as I have an addicting personality I also have this need to skip through CDs. One of my top three CDs of 2012, I skip through. I know, the shock!

Led by Wesley Schultz on guitar and lead vocals, the Lumineers album make it feel like they are able to read your soul and sing straight to it. Wesley is backed by Jeremiah Fraites on percussion, drums, and the like and Neyla Pekarek on cello. But this band isn’t Wesley’s show with two back up artists, this is a true trio. They all get along, they all have fun with each other and one can hear that on the album. It doesn’t matter if it is a slower song like “Charlie Boy” or a upbeat happy song like “Ho Hey” you can feel that they love singing and playing together, which makes the album even better to listen to. Plus, I had a chance to meet them recently and they all three are super nice and excited people, which to me is important, because if an artist is mean in an interview or to a fan it is harder for me to really enjoy their music. But don’t get me wrong, if they were horrible, I’d still be addicted to this album.

I’m thrilled that this album is one of my top three of the year. And no, I won’t tell you the order. No matter how often you ask. But really, you should give them a shot, you know how hard it is for me to recommend music. That’s more panic inducing to me then recommending books. You can stop laughing now.

Babel by Mumford & Sons Release Date: September 25, 2012 Rating: Buy It: Amazon or iTunes

Mumford & Sons’ second album, Babel, triumphantly expands on the foundation laid on its successful debut, Sigh No More.  Written on the road during two years’ worth of touring, its songs are like novellas with emotional development and dramatics arcs.  Reuniting with Sigh No More producer Markus Dravs, the band recorded Babel in 18 months at four separate English studios.  It opens with the title track, a grand number with the Mumford & Sons hallmarks of strummed acoustic guitar and banjo and a minimal kickdrum rhythm.  Starting off quietly with piano and soft acoustic guitar, “Holland Road” builds on Marcus Mumford’s ardent singing toward a lush horn-filled serenade.  “Broken Crown” presents itself as a quiet acoustic number – albeit one with defiant lyrics – before tambourine and glistening horns transform it into a full charged protest declaration. – iTunes

Review

This album could have been shit and I still would have given it five stars.  Thank god it’s not, right?  It’s amazing.  Mumford and Sons is by far my favorite band and has been since their debut album came out almost three years ago.  I’ve seen them live twice in the past year alone (they don’t come to my neck of the woods often so I’m pretty proud of myself) so I’ve actually heard about half of this album already but live versions and studio versions are so very different.  That said, this album more than delivered.  It captured the intensity that I saw in concert while maintaining the raw-ness that has always been a Mumford staple.  Everything about the band is great, but it’s the combination of Marcus’ vocals along with the choice of instruments in each song that makes each song and performance so perfect.  Not to compare them to other artists, but there is no autotune or other nonsense and you can definitely tell.  It makes them sound more real.  It makes their songs sound more real, the emotions sound more real.  It makes the connections more real.  It’s perfect.

Comparing Babel to Sigh No More isn’t easy because the band has grown so much in so many ways (front man Marcus Mumford is married to Oscar-nominated actress Carey Mulligan now!) but sound wise, the core is still there.  I will say that Babel is slightly more mellow than Sigh No More, however.  As a self-proclaimed lover of up-beat songs, I was a tad disappointed that there weren’t more songs that had some get up to them.  But seriously, only a tad, because the songs that do get you out of your seat really do.  The big three would have to be “Babel,” “I Will Wait” and “Lover of the Light” – there’s a reason “I Will Wait” was chosen as the first single after all.  And “Babel” is also the lead song on the album and the title track so it has a lot to live up to and it definitely does.  It includes a wide array of instruments and uses Winston on the banjo really well.  Plus the chorus makes you want to dance.  “Lover of the Light” has been around for a while and while the live version is slightly more up-beat, this one still has some gas with a heavy drum and bass line.  It’s definitely not one to overlook just because you might have heard it before.

Now my favorite?  Well that’s easy.  “Below My Feet” is by far my favorite track on the album.  I loved it when it was still just a live song that they performed and I had no idea if it would ever see a recording studio.  Hearing a polished version of it with real audio makes me love it even more.  Keep the earth below my feet / For all my sweat, my blood runs weak / Let me learn from where I have been / Keep my eyes to serve / My hands to learn.  LOVE.  IT.  Not to mention there’s some electric guitar in there – not the norm for every Mumford track – that gives it a little edge.  It’s a beautiful song that I’ve just been dying over for months and now that it’s on the album, I can’t stop listening to it.  Truly.  I can’t put into words how much I adore it.

While the entire album it stellar and I don’t want to point out other songs and leave out others, I must mention these next few – it’s almost obligatory.  When I saw them in concert a month ago in Bristol, TN/VA and they performed “Ghosts That We Knew” it was almost a religious experience.  The entire audience got quiet and swayed and sang along.  It wasn’t like the acoustic “Timshel.”  This was different.  The lyrics hit home just a little bit more.  I can’t explain it really, but you should definitely put it on your radar.  “Lovers’ Eyes” is also wonderful and something they’ve been performing for over a year.  And I must point out that they first performed “Hopeless Wanderer” for the first time when I saw them last year in Raleigh, NC.  I felt pretty special.

Anyway, I felt like I was bragging for half this post talking about seeing them live but seriously…it influenced my opinion of the album a lot.  Even if I hadn’t seen them, however, this album would still be the love of my life.  I can’t imagine myself listening to anything else in the near future.

My Head Is an Animal by Of Monsters and Men Release Date: Feb 16, 2010 Rating: Buy It: Amazon or iTunes

This Icelandic six-piece pull off a neat trick: They make whimsical sound tough. Their debut is full of familiar indie-pop gestures: wintry, finger-picked guitars; lyrics full of woodsy imagery; tunes that swell into campfire-style singalongs. But Of Monsters and Men put muscle behind their prettiness, turning songs from cute to grand, and their dippy hippie-isms – “The forest of talking trees, they used to sing about the birds and the bees” – sound mysterious, and vaguely menacing. –Rolling Stone Review (No, really that’s the whole review)

Review
Very rarely does an album make me fall in love quite the way this one did. Of Monsters and Men is an Icelandic band that won Músíktilraunir, a music contest in Iceland. Although this band formed in 2009, it has started to pick up steam in 2011, and more momentum in 2012.

They say that certain music comes into your life at certain times that you weren’t even aware that you needed it. This is that album. This is summer 2012 for me. That fact is important to point out for me. I assumed Mumford & Sons Sigh No More would be my album until Babel came out. (A month! A month!) But then Of Monsters and Men’s My Head is an Animal took over my life in the best way possible. All I do is listen to this album. At work, in the car, while doing homework. This album is playing. My BFF and I are going to Vegas in less than two weeks to go to a book signing with Tina. I’m the driver. If they don’t like My Head is an Animal by the beginning of the trip, they will by the end. Or they’ll suck it up because I get amazing MPG in my car. We’ll see.

The album starts off with “Dirty Paws.” Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir and Ragnar “Raggi” þórhallsson make it clear, this is our sound and we know how to rock it. And rock it, they do. Along with the rest of the band. They own their sound in the best way that they can. Then “King and Lionheart” comes on. This is my song. If only one song on this album can be my summer of 2012 song. This is it. It sums up about 90% of my friendships with people. And “Monster Sound?” Can þórhallsson just sing to me 24/7. I mean, I can’t pronounce his last name, but his voice makes me overly calm and content.  They can even slow it down. Or really slow it down with songs such as “Slow and Steady.” Of course they pick it up quickly with songs such as their current hit “Little Talks.”

Just give them a shot, I promise you’ll like them, and if you don’t please don’t tell me. I don’t deal with review failure well. I do blame them for getting me through Summer of 2012 grad school classes.