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Apr 14, 2014In its imperfections Amphetamine Ballads occupies an especially human place. Saviours of rock n’roll? Nah. It doesn’t really need saving, and anyway this lot are far more about destruction. A modern classic? Just maybe.
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Apr 18, 2014While Amphetamine Ballads is as exciting as any debut record in recent times, it’s also a reminder that the British ability to conjure depth from a sparsely coloured palette is as strong as ever.
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Apr 14, 2014It's not the easiest listen in the world, but it's not supposed to be: at a time when most of what passes for alternative rock sounds desiccated, Amphetamine Ballads feels raw and potent and alive.
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Sep 5, 2014There's a subtle power in the moments where the intensity backs off to just gentle, wordless strums, and the Snakeheads work well at maintaining a balance on their debut album before slamming all the doors and backing you into a corner of the club.
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Apr 14, 2014Amphetamine Ballads probably shouldn’t feel like quite so much of a breath of fresh air--there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that it wears its influences (or has them tattooed, probably) very much on its sleeve--but it carries a threatening urgency so often conspicuous by its absence nowadays.
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UncutApr 14, 2014This stone-age jalopy has a definite theatrical charm--malevolent Nick Cave-ish narratives, vicious basslines, squally guitar and touches of honking saxophone, all executed with a visceral energy that's almost painful to behold. [May 2014, p.67]
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Apr 14, 2014There aren’t quite enough classic songs here to render their voice vital, but as long as boring bands exist, this kind of piss and vinegar will always be welcome.
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Jul 23, 2014There are a handful of moments here when he turns himself inside-out over the course of a song, bringing him into the orbit of those artists he so obviously idolizes. Now he just needs to figure out how to emulate his starting position.