The reviews for Do You Believe are in and the word is good.
Arun Kendall in Backseat Mafia says Michael P Cullen has “has one of those enigmatic, baritone voices that recalls Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Tindersticks and The National, and, like those singers and bands, writes deeply personal, poetic narratives. But he is no mere pastiche of these artists: he has carved out his own unique niche mixing sharp lyrics with melody and soaring choruses.” Read the full review here.
Jonathan Frahm writes in For Folks Sake: “Elevated by its foreboding musical structure, Cullen looms over the track with his trademark vocals to deliver a story that, despite its vaguer inclinations, ultimately relates itself well to any listener who’s felt love and heartbreak. Read the full review here.
Gabe Kahan says in Hype Machine blog Blah Blah Blah Science that “Michael P Cullen’s newest single “Do You Believe” channels the brooding alt rock of Radiohead … [and] seems to evoke a darker rendition of Spoon in their heyday.” Read the full review here.
Brazil’s Punchland writes: “I was first notified by a friend of my mine about Michael P Cullen and his “Nick Cave” vibes… but unlike the notable godfather of warped sadness I just mentioned, Cullen seems to have a darker, yet stronger optimism. His latest single, “Do You Believe,” is a testament to the power of genre-mixing and overall “fuck you I make my music my way” listenability. The song starts with a whimper of Blackstar era Bowie and ends like a Smashing Pumpkins song. ” Read the full review here.
Comments Off on Do You Believe – GrungeCake Song of the Day
Thanks to Richardine Bartee and arts blog GrungeCake for nominating Michael P Cullen‘s new single, Do You Believe as Song of the Day.
Richardine writes: “Check out the video below for the dark song by Australian recording artist, Michael P Cullen. Outside of the song’s lyrics, I think the actress Morgane Housset depicts the reality of what it’s like to be alone. In the scene when she enters the train from Abbesses station (Paris Métro), it says it all over her face.
Comments Off on Pop Matters Premieres Do You Believe
Leading online pop culture journal Pop Matters has premiered Michael P Cullen’s new single, Do You Believe.
Writer Jonathan Frahm describes Michael P Cullen as “closer to the poetic leanings of You Want It Darker-era Leonard Cohen with a dash of the likes of more off-kilter composers like Nick Cave or Kishi Bashi. Yet, at the center of it all is an artist that is unabashedly individualistic.”
On the new single he says: “Cullen continues his descent into the realm of mysterious “indie romance” by posing listeners with a ubiquitous question at its center. “Do You Believe?” is the singer-songwriter’s latest, featuring a particular bluesy melange of baleful and wistful that Cullen inhabits so well.”
Comments Off on Johnny Taylor reviews Live At Lazybones for Now Hear This
Thanks to stand up comedian and music aficionado Johnny Taylor for this very kind review of Live at Lazybones in his outstanding music blog Now Hear This.
I had the good fortune to review the excellent single “Believe” off of this EP back a few months ago. It was a strong teaser and left me aching to check out the entire record. Cullen’s Nick Cave-esque vibe really appeals to the tortured twenty-something lying in my rapidly aging 40-year-old meat suit. So when I opened my inbox to see it waiting there for me, I was pretty stoked to give it a listen.
Will the whole EP (recorded Live at Lazybones as the title suggests) measure up to that great first single? Or will it all be fools gold? No need to wonder long. Let’s dive in!
We start with Black Dog which isn’t a Led Zeppelin cover. It is, however, a delightfully Tindersticks-tinged opener. It sets a perfect vibe for what Michael P Cullen is all about. Dark lyrically, but not sacrificing melody in the process. Really excellent beginning. We move onto Nothing Special and it’s another gem. Lyrically it’s a bit too reliant on rhymes in the verse but it doesn’t detract from the rock solid chorus. Good stuff. Black Coffee & Cigarettes is next. It’s got melody for days. A good choice for the second single. The next track is the first single off the EP entitled, Believer. I raved about it a few months ago and nothing has changed. It’s like a darker R.E.M. Really solid tune …
Thanks to the great Mike Mineo for featuring the second single from the forthcoming Live at Lazybones EP,“Believer (live)” in his longstanding and seminal independent music blog Obscure Sound. Mike has been a great champion of MPC’s music in the past featuring “Do You Believe” from Love Transmitter, “Nothing Special” and “Cha Cha Cha d’Amour” form True Believer and “Black Dog” and now “Believer” fromLive at Lazybones. Mike writes:
With a sound that reminds very fondly of The Church’s psych-friendly jangle-rock, Michael Cullen’s numerously featured tracks have drawn a positive response, with several of those posts noting his standout live persona. This live rendition of “Believer”, featuring the Soul Searchers in Sydney, comes via his recent EP Live at Lazybones. His haunting vocals aid the track’s “tale of bedroom debauchery and cauterized regret”, the growing guitars meshing cohesively with Cullen’s suavely quivering vocal presence. It’s another highlight from a very worthwhile act.
Read more reviews of Michael P Cullen in Obscure Sound here
Comments Off on Black Dog in Super World Indie Tunes
Big thanks to the sharp and literate Irish new music blog Super World Indie Tunes (SWIT) for this ecstatic feature on Black Dog:
“Well you’re telling me you’re free spirited and stuff like that” Yeah, we’ve all been there, let’s face it honey we’re not here for the conversation. This is an immaculate live performance of “Black Dog” by Michael and the Soul Searchers. The band are Tim Powles (The Church), Craig Wilson, Andy Sharpe and James Harland-Wright. Are they tight? You better believe they’re tight, tighter than a camel’s arse in a sandstorm my friend. Sure, all the references to Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits are valid but who cares? This is a gothic masterpiece, dark and cold as hell on a Good Friday and they’re playing for keeps, nobody dare crack a smile. Me? I love it. Black Dog is the first single from the forthcoming Live at Lazybones EP, where this was recorded, all red velvet, gut-rot whiskey and regret. You could be in here forever.
Michael Cullen – True Believer: Album `unique and uniquely valuable’
by Arne Sjostedt on November 20, 2014
Artist: Michael Cullen
Album: True Believer
Label: CD Baby
Rating: 4.5/5
A rich offering, this album invites you to stay for the ride and take in its tones. Made using analogue equipment, it has been patiently constructed, is even tempered and makes for good company. In it, you come to feel that Canberra gent Michael Cullen is deeply concerned with the craft and artifice of his creation, but also with the content he delivers. Everything is very deliberate and I was left feeling strangely contented. Inspired by the likes of Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits, you nevertheless get a very Michael Cullen experience. He is strong and has a distinctive baritone vocal that weaves through the music, making this album unique, and uniquely valuable.
Following a twelve year hiatus, former Hardheads and Watershed frontman Michael Cullen has brought out album number two. Listening to it, it feels like no time has passed at all as True Believer works as the perfect sequel to emotionally charged Love Transmitter.
Picking up from where he left off, True Believer takes Mr Cullen’s music to another level of atmospheric and hypnotic bleakness. There are elements of Motown, New Wave, and Post punk, just to name a few. The various elements meld together to create a deep smooth and all encapsulating vibe.
Once again Mr Cullen has recruited The Church’s Tim Powles to help out on the drums, piano, and organ. This paired with Michael’s heavy jagged guitars and deep baritone vocals creates a breathtakingly powerful sound that is not like anything else around right now! The old school production of the music gives it a great timeless / vintage feel!
Album opener Black Dog sets the scene for the album. Digging into the depths of depression, the lyrics are harsh and confronting, with powerful lines such as “I’m just a black dog, who can’t forget.” The agony and desperation is executed though Michael Cullen’s vocals. Amongst all this is the somewhat subtle reference to Leonard Cohen’s Tower of Song.
The vivid feeling of breakdown and despair continues with the airy remote sounds of Believer. The bleak and desperate feelings of isolation come though in great atmospheric fashion.
I walk alone is a brooding new wave anthem. The slow new wave keys paint a hypnotic spacey soundscape that brings out a barren feeling of isolation. The slow deep vocals further add to the feeling of remoteness.
I never knew is a dark and chilling experience into a tale that went wrong! Michael Cullen goes for a spoken work vocal delivery that gives the gritty confronting words a vivid imagery.
The album closes with the rough and raw post punk tune Broken Horses. Showing elements of his pre-solo work this track gives the album a nice sharp twist to the end!
Michael Cullen has followed up his debut release with another fantastic release that takes the power and emotion of Love Transmitter to a new level. Every bit of passion is poured into the music and felt the whole way through. Hopefully we won’t have to wait another twelve years before the next Michael Cullen album!
Released last month, “True Believer” by Canberran Michael Cullen is a hedonistic, lush, red velvet-curtained fragile and beautiful album. Imbued with the sexual frustration and louche ambivalence of Robert Forster from The Go-Betweens and underpinned by a Nick Cave-like gothic baritone darkness, Cullen threads a self-deprecating tone throughout this release that is endearing. Each listen reveals more complex layers, greater humour and a melodic strength.
A stand out for me is “Broken Horses” – a rousing pop song with a catchy chorus and a deep dark heart. Every song is great – flashes of Tindersticks and Leonard Cohen weaving in and out of this lounge-room lothario performing in a haze of smoke and whiskey. You can buy this album through Cullen’s website.
Who is Michael Cullen? He apparently played in a number of post punk bands in Sydney in the 1980s and 1990s including No Man’s Land, The Hardheads and Watershed. He released well-received a solo album in 2002, and “True Believer” represents a very welcome return. He recorded this album with Tim Powles, drummer for another Backseat Mafia favourite, The Church.
“I asked Leonard Cohen, how lonely does it get?” Michael Cullen wonders on the opening track, “Black Dog” of True Believer. Listening to True Believer, it makes sense that he would ask Cohen about loneliness because it is Cohen’s shadow that hangs over the album. The cold, dense sound recalls some of Cohen’s later records. Like Cohen, Cullen looks for answers about life in past relationships and his own life experiences. And he’s not afraid to throw some of the blame on himself.
Cullen might consider himself lost in the world, but there’s a focus in the songs found on True Believer. The music never overshadows Cullen’s tales of self-doubt and broken relationships, and the moody atmosphere enhances the vibe. The organ flourishes evoke a bit of sadness while also generating sympathy.
Cullen started his career playing in several post-punk bands, and while that influence doesn’t appear sonically, it does so in mood and aesthetics. There are hints of Ian Curtis-style self-loathing. Cullen has also been compared to Nick Cave, but his voice sounds a lot like another singer who dealt with many demons: Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock.
Regret is a running theme on the album, but instead of running away Cullen seems to be embracing his past-life even as he toggles between being pissed off and mournful. “What would I give to kill all these regrets?” He asks on “True Believer”. Cullen faced some health issues between True Believer and his last album, the critically acclaimed Love Transmitter. As a result, he was not able to promote it normally and though he never mentions it explicitly, it’s hard not to think of it when he mentions he’s been crashed and burned but still, “as good as new.”
True Believer is a pretty apt title for an album like this. It’s a kind of musical therapy for Cullen. He may occasionally feel broken, but he’s still here telling his story for those who want to listen. Cohen though, probably isn’t listening. “He didn’t answer,” Cullen declares sounding slightly upset.
At first impression I felt as if I were sitting in a movie theater watching a cult classic spin off an old west cowboy move with “Black Dog” and as the second track “Believe” came in I was taken to a pop culture video of psychedelic proportions.
This album “True Believer” is one of a kind. Unique in the concept and the diversity of the music. Michael Cullen reminds me a young Bowie on a magical rock and roll ride through possibly a more mellow Clock Work Orange.
This album was released on October 1 of this year. It will be one you’ll want in your pop alternative collection.
Track three “Nothing Special” reminds me of a slightly more rocking, Doors track. This album brings the past into the future and ignites memories of the golden youth.
Maybe it’s the way in which he records the music along with the gift of music that makes this collection so unique and enjoyable. It’s all recorded with tape machines and analog equipment. Nothing digital here.
In the early 1980/1990’s Michael performed with several post punk groups early on in his career but his style is clearly his own and makes sense. It’s the inner Michael Cullen. Major influences on his music are clearly heard in the range of melodies in each song.
Guardian Liberty Voice Underground Examinations Music Review
Michael Cullen – True Believer
by Garrett Jutte on December 27 2014.
Michael P Cullen rides in from Sydney, Australia, on broken horses and black dogs for this solo album, True Believer. Moody baritone is his weapon of choice as he preaches about how the sweet things go bad. Released October 1, is True Believer enough to trump the rest, or is it nothing special?
Michael Cullen is the former Watershed and Hardheads frontman that has moved onto solo expression. With the help of timeEbandit on drums and percussion, and Danton Supple, Michael Cullen maintains an old-fashioned feel and sound within True Believer. The recording is very specific, as it is done with tube microphones and semi-acoustic guitars to properly capture that old-fashioned flavor. True Believer is the follow-up album to Cullen’s solo debut, Love Transmitter.
Cullen leads the album with his raspy voice, which is reminiscent of Lou Reed or Johhny Cash. His voice yet somehow remains slightly more smooth than raspy. The usage of the organ is a bit more warm that it is haunting, which is unexpected.
“I realize I never knew who you were.”
“Damaged” and “Nothing Special” feel like they came from a tired homeless fellow sleeping next to Pink Floyd’s The Wall. “Cha Cha Cha D ‘Amour” attempts to energize the album in a seductive sort of way. It successfully creates and sticks to a rhythm, although it is not energetic enough to really become anything more than a slow dance, much like the rest of the album.
Cullen weaves together a quilt of brooding mystery. The theme is carried throughout the entire album and even though each individual track presents a different mood, they all reside within the same realm. The subtle variety is what makes tracks like “I Never Knew” stand apart from “Believer.” Ultimately, each track feels incredibly personalized and distinct. Although only nine tracks long, the album taps into many different feelings, mostly the kinds found when time is spent purposely alone.
“Nothing Special” is the first real showcase of Michael Cullen focusing on actually singing the lead vocals instead of speaking them. This bittersweet tale demonstrates how experienced of a singer Cullen is. Standing strongly alone as well as with the organ, Cullen may remind some Jim Morrison of The Doors. It is fairly easy to fall into the music and zone out while listening to True Believer. The rhythms are never too elaborate or complex. Few of the tracks are outstanding enough to single out.
“What would I give to kill these regrets.”
Michael Cullen stands as a solo artist after many years of playing in bands. His feeling is rooted in deep broody sensations, the likes of which will appeal much more to older audiences. The pace is likely too slow for many fans of ordinary indie music. The specific recording specifications play a big role in the feeling that will both lure and turn listeners away. True Believer proclaims definitive darkness as the pathway Cullen has chosen for himself.
Underground Examinations is a series of Independent Music Reviews with the intention of giving new music a fair and appropriate opportunity to be enjoyed.
Well, this is a first, I think. This is a four bottle CD, and I really do dislike it. However, I disliked it a lot less after the second listen, and by now (fourth spin) it’s beginning to grow on me.
Michael Cullen’s last CD, 2011’s “Love Transmitter”, I am unfamiliar with, but it seems all who heard it loved it. This fact, plus the quality of “True Believer” (I can see shedloads of you shelling out to hold it in your hands, then scampering out to see the man in the flesh) gives me pause.
“True Believer” takes us through loves lost and almost won, via European streets and Melbourne alleys, dashed hopes and determined belief and – a certain contempt amid the vulnerability.
You’ll notice a few reference points along the way (which I won’t disclose) but I will say something I’ve said before, that there are a huge number of talented artists in this country who wouldn’t be out of place in the European markets.
Take “True Believer” on its merits – it has many – and let the songs do the talking. One point worth mentioning is that Cullen has taken his time with this LP, he hasn’t dashed it off; the songs are been carefully structured. Also, the lyrics seem to have all come from a common theme or event, and that gives “True Believer” a great unity of purpose.
Most of the CD is played by, and recorded by Cullen and timEbandit Powles (I bet he got teased at school); I’d want to see them live. Apart from anything else, the use of the synthesiser is way cool, under-stated and integral.
My favourite track is “I Walk Alone”, but you coulda guessed that.
Yep. Four bottles of those tiny aperitif things. Or four espressos and a florentine. Or four Gitanes and a croissant.
Sydney, Australia’s Michael Cullen is back with his new solo album, True Believer. A post-punk veteran since the 80’s, True Believer finds Cullen growing and channeling more of Nick Cave and poets like Leonard Cohen than the moody atmosphere of influences Joy Division and its singer Ian Curtis found on Cullen’s first album, Love Transimitter. Cullen also sounds like he’s truly come into his own here, retaining influences but finding a unique voice for himself in the process, and the fuller and more polished production only bolsters this even more while enough of his earlier gothic broodiness remains intact for any fans of his previous work.
With a little adjustment to style, many of the songs here would have easily found a home amongst 80’s jangle pop like The Go-Betweens and late-era Orange Juice. In fact, although they are two very different songs, Cullen’s “Believer” channel much of the same Northern Soul influences as Edwyn Collins’ “A Girl Like You,” only forgoing Collins cheery disposition. Other songs like “Damaged” seem more like poems with songs and stark instrumentation built around them, much in a similar fashion to Cohen. True Believer is a much stronger work with a focus and a conciseness more solidified than on its predecessor, and will undoubtedly become one of the sleeper hits of the year.
Former Hardheads and Watershed frontman Michael Cullen has released his second album True Believer, the 12-year-long awaited follow-up to his debut album Love Transmitter.
Cullen teams up once again with Tim Powles(The Church) on drums/keys, with Danton Supple (Morrisey, Coldplay) lending his mixing talents. True Believer was recorded to tape and is a smooth nine track album of broody vibes – eerie, hypnotic and relaxing. The songs are about regret, bitterness and a love gone sour. If you like Nick Cave you will love Michael P Cullen.
The vocals are a rich baritone cocktail of spoken word, singing and crooning while Powles provides seamless, charming accompaniment on the keys and drums. It’s intoxicating. I often found my mind wandering, zoning out of the vocals and focusing just on the sound of the organ. It has to be experienced.
The first track on the album Black Dog is a song about hopeless depression. The lyrics are dark, soulful and honest and are delivered with the syncopated feel of a live poetry reading and it’s a great introduction to this album. From here the album continues down its dark path, deeper and deeper into the pain of this failed relationship. The final track Broken Horses is a gratifying end to the album, a pop punk track that pulls you out of the pit and revives the soul with the hopeful thought of blue skies.
True Believer is definitely worth a listen and will fill the void in any music collection.
Australian singer/songwriter Michael Cullen released a new album titled “True Believer” this month. Recorded on tape with percussion and drums by timEbandit Powles and mixed by Danton Supple, the indie alternative album is a welcomed and refreshing throwback to the days when songwriting was artistry.
Cullen’s raspy baritone voice and soulful lyrics on the album will remind listeners of other raspy voiced poets such as Tom Waits or Lou Reed. Cullen’s penchant for catchy guitar licks and lyrics delving into life’s heartaches and heartbreaks will remind listeners that real music with soul is not quite dead yet. His use of the organ in songs provides warmth to the background of tracks and invites you to stick around for a journey into a musician’s heart. American listeners may not be familiar with Cullen’s work but may appreciate his gritty tales reminiscent of Johnny Cash’s spoken baritone no fuss lyrics.
Some of the tracks on the album that stand out are “Black Dog”, “Black Coffee and Cigarettes” and “Damaged”. The first track on the album, “Black Dog”, asks another singing/songwriting hero Leonard Cohen “How lonely does it get?” Indeed it must be lonely when most of the music heard on the radio these days is manufactured bubble gum pop. The song “Damaged” is one of the few tracks on the album that makes use of an electronic drum machine but uses it in a minimalist way with more focus put on Cullen’s unique voice. The songs on the album are all constructed in a simple way to focus more on the subject matter of Cullen’s angst as opposed to nifty production techniques and sound effects.
The album “True Believer” was released Oct.1 and is available for download on iTunes and Google Play. Try giving it a listen this weekend; it surely won’t disappoint.
True Believer is Michael Cullen’s new album. The baritone poet is back again with his follow from critically acclaimed Love Transmitter.
The nine track piece centres around Cullen’s deep and melancholy voice, mixed by Danton Supple who formally worked with Morrissey and Coldplay.
The album starts with Black Dog a dark sentiment about a man not knowing what is coming his way. The lyrics are unforgiving with a directness that leaves no room for ambiguity for the listener. Cullen’s voice does take on the forefront as the music simply follows Cullen’s movement.
The music, when allowed does create a haunting, almost disturbing sound especially in Believer. It starts off similar to Black Dog, with Cullen’s vocals forcing the track forward. The song picks up its pace on the 1:20 mark, definitely the original place for the track to start. The message and character of the song really comes through and we get to some really great harmonies between Cullen and the instruments. A good song but a disappointing start.
Probably the biggest criticism of the album so far is there is too much concentration on the vocals. When there is a collaborative approach, when the volume is evenly spread amongst the vocals and instruments the songs really come alive.
Nothing Special is one of the best songs on the album as we get the vocals and other instruments working together to create a really strong song. Also Cullen’s voice isn’t as strain and forced in this track which allows you to get lost into the track.
After Nothing Special the album starts to work. With some great tracks like Black Coffee and Cigerattes and I Walk Alone you start to really enjoy the album. Most of the songs are really good but Black Dog lets the album down. The beginning of Believer doesn’t help this impression. The vocals aren’t great, as if Cullen is trying too hard to make a ‘voice’.
The arrangement of the tracks is what needs to be addressed here. There is a really powerful message behind the song, something really personal Cullen is trying to get through but having it as an opening song doesn’t work.
After this however the album is great and shouldn’t be overlooked because of the first song. Broken Horses ends the album with a full stop and Cha Cha Cha D’Amour deserves a listen as well. With only nine tracks you are definitely wanting more but there certainly isn’t a lack of quality from Michael Cullen.
(Independent – 1st October 2014)
Features: Michael Cullen plus timEbandit Powles (Tim Powles
of The Church)
I asked Leonard Cohen, how lonely does it get?
Now that’s lonely… With his distinctive baritone and dark indie rock sound, Michael Cullen is often compared to Nick Cave and Tom Waits but it’s Leonard Cohen he evokes on the first track of his new release, True Believer. The song is called Black Dog and features his typically literate take on life and love.
In my own way, stylish in the face of my destruction…
he sings while a girl chorus sweetly contrasts his gravelly baritone. It’s romance in a gothy mode – Michael’s mood of choice.
True Believer is the second solo release from Australia’s Michael Cullen with his favourite collaborator Tim Powles (the Divinyls, the Venetians, The Church) and comes as a highly anticipated follow up to his first solo album, Love Transmitter. First released in 2002, the album got little promotion and Michael’s career was sidelined by health issues. However, the release established his languid, melancholic sound, anchored by his expressive baritone and its reputation grew by word of mouth. In 2011, Tomatrax (an Aussie music blog) named it in the top twenty Australian albums of all time and a re-mastered version of Love Transmitter was re-issued in 2012 to critical accolades.
Michael has a long history in Australia’s indie rock scene starting in the post-punk 1980’s, including The Hardheads, a band he formed with his brother Jon. He met Tim Powles along the way and they’ve been collaborating for two decades now. They worked together on Love Transmitter as a new direction in indie pop, characterized by feedback drenched guitar, Michael’s resonant baritone and analogue keyboards with Tim on the drums.
You can hear a retro rock tone to Michael’s songs, much of them featuring the rhythmic simplicity reminiscent of groovy 1960/70’s pop/surfer rock. Nothing Special invokes the Doors at times with a churchy organ in the mix while the tempo slows down to a crawl for Damaged, a moody, synthy meditation on being in love with a wrecked psyche.
Your told me love was a fairytale, because you’re bitter…
It’s a kind of ultra slow rhyming rap. There’s a dark side to his work even on tracks like Cha Cha Cha D’Amour with its upbeat invitation to love – albeit with a Halloween kind of flair. Every song has something different to offer, including I Never Knew, with his vocals deliverd in a spoken word mode. The album ends with a bit of a surprise in Broken Horses. Here the vocals are smoother, more pop-ish, delivered with a layer of harmony.
All in all, a raspy, sexy ode to the gloomier side of life.
Tracklisting:
1. Black Dog
2. Believer
3. Nothing Special
4. Black Coffee and Cigarettes
5. Damaged
6. Cha Cha Cha d’Amour
7. I Walk Alone
8. I Never Knew
9. Broken Horses
Veteran singer-songwriter Michael Cullen was featured back in March with his excellent track “Do You Believe?“, whose strategic meshing of synth-pop and ’80s-flaired alternative reminded me fondly of both Depeche Mode and Talking Heads. That cut was off his album Love Transmitter, released back in 2002. With his new album True Believer, released earlier this month, Cullen seems to be retracing back to his roots in enjoyable form. As noted previously, Cullen has been involved in several Australian acts whose style is akin to the jangly rainy-day brilliance of Aussie legends The Church, who Cullen has worked with in the past alongside drumming collaborator Tim Powles.
With that in mind, True Believer highlight “Nothing Special” sounds like it could easily have been created during The Church’s heyday, which is quite the complement. The chorus – with its haunting organ and handclap percussion – is immediately captivating upon its initial reveal 0:36 in, providing nostalgic glimpses at Australia’s great alt-rock scene of the past, where The Church and The Go-Betweens set the bar. Gotta love the fierce, brass-accompanied intensity around 02:17, as well. Fortunately, Cullen isn’t attempting any out-of-place sort of stylistic transitioning, as some veteran artists do; “Nothing Special” doesn’t defy any stylistic norms, but it does plenty in affirming Cullen’s continued success as a songwriter steeped in the Aussie alt-rock tradition.
Despite the song Nothing Special on his new album True Believer, there is distinctly something special in the voice of indie pop star, Michael Cullen. Hailing from Sydney, Australia with a few old semi-acoustic guitars, tube microphones and a crisp, baritone-flavored voice, sets him apart from his long list of musical influences including, Nick Cave and Tom Waits.
Cullen definitely isn’t a rookie to the game as he has been performing with numerous punk bands since the 1980s like No Man’s Land and Watershed. After facing many health disputes and releasing a poorly promoted album back in 2012 called Love Transmitter, Cullen has made a comeback and redeemed himself with a nine song track list of unforgettable hits on True Believer.
The mix of modern blues and adult alternative sounds make its mark from the opening of the track list in his latest song Black Dog. From start to finish, Cullen gives us a four-minute preview of his soulful tone and gut wrenching lyrics singing, “You tore out my heart with no regrets.” We’ve all been there Mike!
Names like Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen immediately bring to mind a very specific kind of music to those who are familiar with them. While Australian songwriter Michael Cullen is obviously heavily influenced by these two inimitable artists, he’s a got a musical sensibility all his own. The eclectic mix of songs on his new album, True Believer (Speartackle 2014) showcases his style well and provides a long awaited follow-up to his critically acclaimed debut release Love Transmitter (Speartackle 2010).
Building his songwriting chops in a number of post punk bands in the 80’s and 90’s Sydney music scene, the tunes on True Believer have more in common with compositions from artists like Depeche Mode and Joy Division than any of the aggressive, high energy music that we normally associate with punk. With hand claps accentuating the back beat on some songs, there is also a distinctly indie rock influence permeating the album.
By far the heaviest influences, and obviously so, are Waits, Cohen and Cave, whose raspy baritone and spoken word style make up the majority of the tunes on the record. The opener, “Black Dog,” immediately calls to mind Cohen; indeed, this seems to be his intention, with Cullen singing “I asked Leonard Cohen how lonely does it get / for all the black dogs who can’t forget?”
While Cullen can pull off this style well, sometimes the comparison is so obvious it seems sort of contrived; it lacks the theatrical, disregard for convention of Tom Waits’ voice and doesn’t quite have the emotional grip of Cohen’s. What makes the tracks where he is singing in this style work, however, is the way the vocals are set against pop influenced instrumentations and full textures, on tracks like “Believer” for example. Here both 80’s rock and contemporary indie rock are brought together to create something wholly unique to Cullen’s sound. When it comes to his vocal style, he’s no one trick pony, either.
On “Nothing Special” Cullen moves away from the raspy spoken-word style mentioned above, doing some more conventional rock singing, and it sounds great. His vocal style fits seamlessly with his songs and the contrast between songs like these and the others adds a variety to the album that keeps it interesting.
Cullen’s fondness for different styles is one of the more enjoyable parts of this record. “I Walk Alone” is a highlight, starting off with a heavy backbeat almost suggesting hip-hop, and evolving with an indie rock vibe. Likewise, the up-tempo closer “Broken Horses” stands out with its solid playing and atmosphere similar to some of R.E.M.’s tunes like “The One I Love.”
For fans of Nick Cave, bands like Joy Division and of dark, moody music in general, this record will be a pleasure to listen to. The timbres that come from the all analogue equipment he uses adds another interesting dimension to his sound. True Believer was released on October 1 and is available on Amazon and iTunes. You can find out more about what Cullen is up to on his Facebook page.
Michael Cullen is an Australian singer song writer. He plays old semi-acoustic guitars, records on tape, uses tube microphones and other analog equipment. Michael has been performing in bands for the past two decades and his experience really shows on this 9 song release. He has a distinct baritone voice and a musical style that is truly his own. While his bio indicates that he has much experience in the punk genre, he is much more diverse than a single genre.
This release is his second as a solo artist and his previous release Love Transmitter was well received. The Tomatrax music blog ranked it in the top twenty Australian albums of all time. (I Walk Alone is now ranks ninth on their top 100 tracks of 2013.) It was very well reviewed and created much anticipation about this 1 October release, True Believer.
Michael had some help on this one from timEbandit Powles of The Church. The album was mixed by Danton Supple. They are spinning the release as adult alternative, indie rock and indie pop. Frankly, I think it is just great music. True Believer has the following tracks:
Black Dog
Believer
Nothing Special
Black Coffee and Cigarettes
Damaged
Cha Cha Cha d’Amour
I Walk Alone
I Never Knew
Broken Horses
I feel that this is a great piece of work. I really like the way that he creates a dark haunting feeling with his music. I also enjoy the fact that while the mood carries through the entire work, the songs offer a nice assortment of styles. I like albums on which there is a mood but variety. He does a great job of mixing things up while keeping the mood the same. In many ways, it reminded me of some of Alice Cooper’s early material.
Black Dog might well be my favorite track on first listen. It has a nice twangy westernish guitar with some haunting backing vocals. It has very dark tone to it and his delivery of the lyrics add to the gloomy tone. Broken Horses is another great track which keeps a dark tone while being much more popish than the rest of the tracks. If you want some of that punkish sound, you should enjoy Believer. Black Coffee and Cigarettes is great tune which reminds me of Pink Floyd’s The Wall complete with some great organ sounds and weeping guitar. I also thought the use of the organ was great in Nothing Special.
As you may have gathered from my previous paragraph, I really like this album. I am going to have to give it a few more listens to pick our my favorite track(s). I can honestly say that there is no track that I dislike. I think adding this to your music library is a no brainer. I suggest you get this album and follow Michael on Facebook
Whenever a music recommendation lands in my inbox proclaiming to sound like Nick Cave or Ian Curtis, I’m always equally curious and dubious. In most cases, the artist is simply trying too hard and what they gain on technique they lose in originality. No matter what, I always give them a listen.
It is rare that such an album will draw me in from the very first track and more unusual still that it will keep me captivated right to the end but that is exactly what happened the first time I listened to Michael Cullen’s True Believer.
True Believer is Cullen’s sophomore album consisting of nine tracks and is released in October 2014. The album was mixed and recorded in Tim Powles Spacejunk III studio and Studios 301 between 2011 and 2013 and was co-produced with Powles and mixed by Danton Supple (Morrissey, Coldplay).
Cullen sets the tone for the album from the very first note and fans of Nick Cave will recognise his influence immediately. “Black Dog” is a tale of depression, self-loathing and loneliness which you can listen to below. You know that times are hard when even Leonard Cohen can’t broach the depths of your bad luck.
“I asked Leonard Cohen / how lonely does it get/ for all the black dogs / who can’t forget”
The tales of woe continue with the organ-thumping “Believer” before the bitterness sets in with “Nothing Special”, “Black Coffee and Cigarettes” and “Damaged”.
“Cha Cha Cha d’Amour” is another standout track. This song has great rhythm and talks about the dance people take when they are playing games in a relationship.
The themes of betrayal and loneliness continue with Cullen’s epic organ-drenched anthem “I Walk Alone” and the rather bleak “I Never Knew” before the frenzied guitars and drums in “Broken Horses”.
True Believer is an emotional and intense album that draws you in from the opening chords. It takes the listener on a gut-wrenching journey of betrayal and loss before finally releasing them in a breathless state with heart beating out of the chest.
I give True Believer five out of five stars and really do recommend the album to fans of Nick Cave, Joy Division, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits or Leonard Cohen.
Influenced by the likes of Nick Cave, Tom Waites and Leonard Cohen, this Aussie singer-songwriter looks kinda world-weary. If his lyrics are anything to go by, love has not been kind to Michael Cullen. Regrets are at the root of many songs, but artists tend to self-mythologise, especially under the weight of such heroes as the above mentioned. True Believer (released 1st October, 2014) delivers Cullen’s baritone soul-baring with aplomb and with sympathetic production. Long-time collaborator, Tim Powles (The Church) co-produced and was also one of the contributing musicians. True Believer is the follow-up album to Cullen’s debut, Love Transmitter, which got a thumbs-up from critics.
This is more than singer-songwriter angst, with various musical styles complementing both the country-tinged barren landscapes and the urban Gothic tales. Curiously, the album cover looks like an image from a medieval tapestry, as if Cullen is on some kind of quest. Naming his record, True Believer is a bold statement. Given his bleak poetic lyrics, it is unclear what it is he believes in. Women leave; women disappoint; women treat him cruelly.
“Black Dog” looks through a glass darkly in best Nick Cave tradition, with wonderfully moody vocal, twangy guitar and epic lyrics – “you tore out my heart with no regrets”. In “Believer”, with swelling keyboards, Cullen declares, “I loved the wrong woman”. “Nothing Special” is catchy with an uncharacteristic sing-along chorus.
Evocative titles abound, such as “Black Coffee and Cigarettes”, a tale of another love gone wrong, and “Broken Horses”, the up-tempo final track reverberating with more twangy guitar – “we stand like broken horses waiting to be shod”.
Songs that remind you of someone else don’t have to be a bad thing. And Cullen has such good taste. He appreciates the artistry of a melancholy narrative and biting observations. Recriminations fly in “Damaged” – “you’re bitter all the way through” – a languid meander through Leonard Cohen’s oeuvre. A Bob Dylan-esque delivery and jangly guitar grace “I Never Knew”.
If I were Quentin Tarantino or David Lynch, I would hire Michael Cullen for a soundtrack. True Believer is for rainy afternoons, ghost towns and lonely motels or whatever personal daydream accompanies the sound of your own heart breaking.
Michael Cullen is an Australian song writer and performer. Michael plays old semi-acoustic guitars and makes music with tape machines, tube microphones, and other analogue equipment.” May well represent enough to interest many who hold Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ many different approaches to writing and recording techniques; Just take a listening to True Believer’s opening track ‘Black Dog’ which is darker and warm, partly acoustic with a nod to the past tonally. Influences can be mapped over the first half of the album, in broad strokes think Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, The Triffids have all infused Michael Cullen’s vocal at least in some way. previously Michael played in a number of post punk bands in Sydney in the 1980s and 1990s including No Man’s Land, The Hardheads and Watershed.
‘Nothing Special’
A slightly smudged musical perception can be detected over the first opening songs, apart from the Michael Cullen’s recording approach, there is a much enjoyed darker atmosphere on numerous occasions, either direct or guitar and drum bombastic, When playing ‘Believer’ I’m thinking of The Styrenes only without the grand piano, whereas ‘Nothing Special’ sounds early 1980’s post-punk waved, on ‘Black Coffee and Cigarettes’ more independent, sounding fine, if a tad over-stretched. Then if you got a band of sorts – Michael Cullen plus Tim Powles of The Church, the album was produced by the pair and mixed by Danton Supple. ‘Damaged’ is minimal musically with the personal lyric taking center stage. ‘Cha Cha Cha d’Amour’ by contrast is brighter one of another ‘True Believer’ stalwart. Although ‘I Never Knew’ has a strong narrative, that like much of this 9-track album gets my vote.
True Believer is one of those uncommon albums most should find solace and empathy within, even if the musical vernacular us estranged the tales of love and loss are universal. 8/10
Comments Off on Critical acclaim for Love Transmitter Re-Mastered.
Critical acclaim for Love Transmitter Re-Mastered.
The reviews are in and we are thrilled with the response to the re-mastered version of Love Transmitter. Here are some highlights:
Craig Manning writes in Absolute Punk that “You can’t quite tell whether he’s sad, pissed off, wasted, or in a state of perpetually not giving a shit, but that fact, the enigma of Cullen’s delivery throughout this album, makes it a consistently compelling listen”. Ryan Robinson in Listen Hear magazine says, “Professional Entertainers … is the best song I’ve heard in ages. It’s contrasting joyful tones and brutally depressing lyrics keeps me pressing repeat. Perfectly timed at just under three minutes, this is a song that needs to rock the airwaves.”
According to PunkNews.Org, Love Transmitter resonates “with moody melancholia and a strange, dark beauty [and] is a reverb-drenched, atmospheric slice of synth pop that explores both the nature of love, and the nature of love gone wrong.” Meanwhile, Mart Kawaii of flowersinagun blog writes, “Love Transmitter is definitely a must hear – no accident that in 2011 it was named in the top twenty Australian albums by music blog Tomatrax .”
Of course, you can’t please everybody and Michael has never aspired to universal acclamation. Liam Allen in his Freaks of Nurture blog, whilst rating the album 7 out of 10, nonetheless thought that “the experience of listening to this album is like stepping inside the mind of a paranoid schizophrenic in need of his meds!” Thanks Liam – nice turn of phrase!
However, Will Oliver who published his review in Soletron, Hiplanta.com and his own Abysmal Hymns blog asks rhetorically, “Is it any secret that the 80′s were the last great decade of pop music? … teaming up with the Church’s producer Tim Powles, [Michael Cullen] has recaptured the feeling of the great era of music and in doing so made one of the most convincing New Wave revival albums of the year.” Rob Perez writing in The Music Universe says, “It’s refreshing to hear an artist evoking the spirit of the 80’s, 90s, and the 21st century without sounding cheesy. Michael Cullen’s new album, Love Transmitter, is definitely one of [the] best indie albums of the year.”
You can read these and may other reviews in full here. Thanks to all the reviewers for taking the time to listen and to write about Love Transmitter.
Comments Off on Love Transmitter Re-Mastered Reviews
PunkNews.Org
Michael Cullen Love Transmitter (2012)
by Six Foot Pianist on March 31 2014
Michael Cullen is a veteran of the Australian circuit, having cut his teeth on the Sydney music scene in the early ’90s with guitar-driven three-piece The Hardheads. When The Hardheads morphed into Watershed in 1995, they recruited legendary drummer Tim Powles (The Divinyls, Angry Anderson) on sticks, and this kicked off an artistic collaboration between Cullen and Powles that has now been going strong for twenty years.
At the turn of the century, Cullen and Powles worked together on a record called Love Transmitter and the album has recently been re-issued and re-mastered. Resonating with moody melancholia and a strange, dark beauty, Love Transmitter is a reverb-drenched, atmospheric slice of synth pop that explores both the nature of love, and the nature of love gone wrong.
Cullen clearly admires the gravelly, cowboy vocals of artists such as Nick Cave, Johnny Cash and Tom Waits, his sleazy baritone infusing every song with a haunting, quasi-gothic quality. And underneath his rich and powerful voice, crunchy drums and oceanic guitar parts combine to create a swirling, gnashing wall of sound.
Album highlights include the swaggering, bass riff-led “Spill” (“You think you’re different honey? The world’s full of girls like you”), the infectious “One Is Still My Number” and confrontational album opener “Do You Believe?”. Cullen’s distinctive and uncomprising vocal will no doubt turn off some listeners, but fans of theatrical New Wave should find plenty to get excited about here.
Michael Cullen: ‘Love Transmitter’ Review: Moody Rock
by Patrick Hickey Jr. on March 19 2014
Heavy on the heartbreak, self-reflection and extra noir, Michael Cullen’s new album, “Love Transmitter” is the type of album best played in a Greenwich Village dive bar or on the Walkman of the goth chick from “The Breakfast Club.”
Like Ally Sheedy herself, it’s either hit or miss. Even though a few songs showcase the lyrical ability and vocal talent Cullen has, most if the time he sounds like a venting 20-something, as repetitive tracks and his sometimes over the top voice are too cumbersome for your ears to carry.
Even considering the often mellow retrospectives most of the tracks are, Cullen’s storytelling prowess isn’t as consistent as it should be.
The sound, for the most part, is the type fans of bands the likes of Toad the Wet Sprocket and Crowded House will dig. There’s even a hint of The Bravery in his sound. Solid guitar work sets the scene and nearly every track features smooth drum work, courtesy of legend TIm Powles. Even the lyrics are smooth- “Tidal Waves,” at times sounds like poetry with the mention of showers and African flowers.
But where those aforementioned bands had one of a kind frontmen, Cullen’s voice, although it grows on you and has a deep resonance, isn’t as catchy as it needs to be. His range is at times is impressive, but he never feels like he’s exerting himself. In “All Used Up,” Cullen isn’t able to connect with the lyrics and as a result it sounds like he’s simply toying around. In “Hey Sister,” Cullen does what he does for a good portion of the album, this half cool speak, half singing, that ultimately grows tiresome.
On the album’s title track however, Cullen sings, like holding notes, real singing- and puts his hand inside his chest and pulls something out. Between the solid riff and Cullen’s lyrics, this is more along the lines of what this guy is capable of.
There’s nothing wrong with moody tunes, especially when they’re emotional enough for the listener to feel every thorn in the singer’s heart. Cullen is only able to succeed at this endeavour once or twice on the album, but when he does, the payoff is worth it. The rest of the time, it just feels like he’s trying to be cool.
In the end, Cullen doesn’t have to try. He just needs a producer that can help him harness what’s already there.
For the fans of Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen I recommend to check Australian singer/songwriter Michael Cullen, who just re-issued and re-mastered his classic record “Love Transmitter”. The album was released for the first time in 2002 and produced by Tim Powles of The Church.
The opening track “Do you believe” sets a romantic melancholy mood, soon moved by one of my favorites “Tidal Wave”. The following “All Used Up” builds beautiful tension with tinkling guitar riffs. Another classic post-punk track that deserves attention is “Transmission” – very melodic and catchy.
I can’t miss “Spill” – a song I like very much and which recalls a hybrid between Nick Cave in “Alice Watching” and some early Morphine songs in my mind.
A key element to the record are the casual, but nicely fitting drums by Tim Powles, which combined with a feedback drenched guitar and Michael’s resonant baritone vocal bring out a romantic, yet dark hybrid. The two musicians have been collaborating for nearly 20 years, back from the times when Michael was in guitar driven “almost punk” band The Hardheads, later renamed Watershed.
We can hear Tim Powles’ from the cult band The Church influence on the record.
Love Transmitter is definitely a must hear – no accident that in 2011 it was named in the top twenty Australian albums by music blog Tomatrax . Michael and Tim are currently working on a series of recordings which will form Michael’s next album.
by Ryan Robinson on March 8 2014 also posted in Mediocrity is the New Genius
For Fans Of: Joy Division, The National, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Interpol
Heartbreaks are easily spotted when sung in a baritone. Matt Berninger and Ian Curtis have proven this theory time and time again. Both Joy Division and The National cover a lot of topics in their musical discographies, but isolation, loneliness, and heartbreak are the reoccurring theme. Michael Cullen is another name to add to the list, with a title that rolls of the tip of the tongue. The Australian singer-songwriter brings aboard his New Order style synthpop and combines it with a bleak outlook on personal topics. It’s a great way to have an insider view on the intimate topics that Cullen is expressing.
Although his album, Love Transmitter, was originally released in 2012, it takes new life with a remastered copy after critical acclaim in his home country. Heralding itself with a terrible album cover (don’t judge it), it opens with the wonderfully titled, “Do You Believe?”, which had me thinking he was covering a Flaming Lips track. This is the complete opposite. His apparent love for the boiling drum beats that grind out the entire song is shown here. It lays the blueprint for the wonderfully crafted tune. The sharp, but sad synth keys trickle like icicles into Cullen’s crooning voice.
The song is followed by a shift in pace with “Tidal Wave”, which caught me off guard with how low Cullen’s voice can reach. He pulls out his darkest ego and punishes the listener with a wispy side until he reaches the chorus. Lyrically, the song is pretty bland, but the striking, Interpol style guitars are incredible. “All Used Up” seems to have soft, blast-beats opening the track, which works it’s way into a steady downward spiral of noise. Cullen finds ways to take miserable noise and transform it into a memorable tune that I find myself falling back too.
It’s no wonder this album has won many accolades with the indie community in Australia. Michael Cullen and fellow musician, Tim Powles, control space like it’s in the palm of their hand. They shift from an in-your-face bruiser of a song into a soft and somber tune like, “Hey Sister”. Every shift in keys present a new emotion that only music presents. Arms spread wide, and eyes closed, this is how the track is supposed to be listened too. “Transmission”, which isn’t a Joy Division cover, seems appropriately titled due to the related sound to the band. I find that when Cullen goes for the high notes, it flows better with the spashing guitar and brittle drums. His music has a very deep sound and the handshakes of approval should go to Tim Powles’ help with instrumentation. The duo just kills it as musicians.
What makes my job incredible is when I’m presented with musicians like this that people need to hear. Love Transmitter is a find that makes me smile, even when the dark theme drains any happiness from my head. It’s knowing that I’m only going to enjoy every sound on this album. Combining the Gothic tones on “Chinese Hammer”, and the spoken word sections on “Spill”, Michael Cullen transitions ahead and keeps this ride entertaining.
Then there’s, “Professional Entertainers”, which is the best song I’ve heard in ages. It’s contrasting joyful tones and brutally depressing lyrics keeps me pressing repeat. Perfectly timed at just under three minutes, this is a song that needs to rock the airwaves. “One Is Still My Number” is the one track that I couldn’t dig on my first listen. It felt too thrown together and tacky. When it drives into the chorus, that’s when I was convinced that I enjoyed it. It’s the best song-writing on the album though. Michael Cullen shines as a song-writer and musician. His ability to stay ahead of the curve and keep the 80′s goth rock stylish really takes talent (Have you seen Robert Smith lately?). Love Transmitter is an album that requires a setting. It requires and mindset that brings out the worst, but it demands the listener to open up their mind. What it provides is a shoulder to lay on, with 10 solemn stories to hear while the tear-ducts are worked to death. It’s the best sadness I’ve ever felt.
CD Review: Michael Cullen – Love Transmitter (Reissue)
Back in 2002, Michael Cullen, former front man of The Hardheads and Watershed, released his debut solo album. Ten years on the album has been remastered and re-released in a shiny new digi-pack. This is good news as the album was easily one of the most underrated to have arrived in the noughties. The mix of dense sounds, beautiful melodies and sharp witted words made for an absolutely sensational long player. The re-release of the album allows those that missed it first time round a second chance to discover its beauty.
On this release there are lots of little tweaks to the sound here and there to give the music a little more atmosphere. At the same time the passion and emotion that was exerted in the previous version is still here in its dark and gloomy glory!
This record was something of a departure from the loud and roaring sounds of the former garage rock bands. As his press release put it, the album is a “red wine soaked magic pudding of a record, consisting of equal parts dark beautiful melody, seamless ensemble musicianship and velvet voiced seduction!” What wasn’t lacking however was the raw passion and emotion that allows his previous bands to charge ahead. This time round, however, it was displayed in a more subdued fashion.
The album opens with the slow moody sounds of Do you believe. There chilling vibes flow through in a subtle but intense way to create a dark atmospheric sound scape.
Tidal Wave is a ballad that gradually becomes chaotic. There are some sharp lyrics, the best example being the opening line “love is an ocean, why don’t you get wet”.
All used up is a very dark and gloomy tune looking at despair and what could have been. Mr Cullen uses some interesting effects on his vocals to create a chilling echo sound. Overall this is a brilliant piece of work that consists of dense sounds and beautiful melodies.
Transmission is the major highlight to the album! The fast energetic vibe paired with the deep dark atmospheric undertones create a chaotic vibe that is contained within some beautifully crafted tunes. The music alone creates vivid imagery while the cleverly crafted lyrics add the story in.
Chinese Hammer sounds like a darker version of Frank Sinatra. The mix of Joy Division-esq drums and wailing organs produces a massive unnerving atmosphere.
Professional entertainers is a faster almost poppy offering. However any ounce of upbeat poppiness in the music is more than offset by the deep dark and dryly witty lyrics.
One is still my number sounds like post punk crossed with rhythm and blues, the end result is both unique and infectious. This is led my a solid vocal style that pushes out some bitter emotion. To top it off the lyrics in this piece are sharply delivered with some cleverly crafted metaphors.
Closer is a slower tune acting as a kind of warm down to the intense energy that was experienced over the previous 9 tracks.
This is an absolutely brilliant album! All songs on offer manage to be self contained as well as fit together with one another to create a smooth flowing long player. If you somehow missed it first time round here is a great chance to discover one of the great Australian albums of the last decade!
The Next Big Thing? Michael Cullen “Love Transmitter”
by Wil Cifer on Nov 22, 2013
Is it any secret that the 80′s were the last great decade of pop music? While bands from Siouxsie and the Banshees to Echo and the Bunny Men now give an edge to 80′s night at clubs every where, once they fell under the label New Wave or “College rock” in the heyday, they were punk bands they grew up and started writing pop tunes. This fact is not lost on Australian singer song writer Michael Cullen. In teaming up with the Church’s producer Tim Powles, he has recaptured the feeling of the great era of music and in doing so made one of the most convincing New Wave revival albums of the year.
The album opener “Do You Believe” rolling in with the dark clouds. Cullen’s vocals evoke Byran Ferry in is more “Love is the Drug” midrange. The fact the bass sits under the guitar and synths, make it less post- punk like the Cure and a more new-wave sound. His voice drops down into his more Nick Cave lower register on “Tidal Wave”. There is a more sonic dissonance to “All Used Up” that is more Gary Numan than Joy Division to me, though the taut guitar line is trying to capture that kind of tension.
More often than not I would say post-punk and New Wave , while elements of what comprises goth, are more fitting way to describe what Cullen does as he lacks the blatant bat cave creepiness. They keyboards that coat the back frequently touch on melodies that would not be out of place on a post- Pornography Cure album, but add solemn ambiance rather than anything hinting a predilection towards Halloween. There is an Echo and the Bunnymen, laziness to the melody of ”Hey Sister” that drifts by.
The guitar constricts around “Transmission” which creates a drone not unlike indie rock bands who pull from similar influences like Interpol and Arcade Fire. The lyrics to this song seem autobiographic in regards to the personal issues that inspired this darker dip into songwriting. This honesty is refreshing. The soul baring lyrics set this apart from younger bands who are angst ridden to keep up appearances, you can’t fake hard living. I don’t want my misery manufactured, but dished out in these cathartic doses.
Cullen’s baritone narrative on the bass line t goes back into the Nick Cave mode. I like the lyric “You think you are different honey/ the world’s full of girls like you” . This song has an almost blues like swagger to it. There’s a woozy wavering to “Chinese Hammer” that makes me think of what it might sound like if Leonard Cohen wrote a song for a David Lynch soundtrack. This is the albums least focused song, on an album thats otherwise pretty air tight.
The albums best guitar work appears on “Professional Entertainers” . This song is rather upbeat, holding more of an indie rock vibe, than the sonic tension that appears earlier on the album. He lowers his voice back down into the straight ahead sardonic humor of “One is Still My Number”. The later half of the album gets more upbeat, bringing to mind bands like Television.
The album ends on a more morose tone, back in the more Roxy Music meets New Order vein, synths whispering in the back ground. I enjoy his more plaintive vocal tones, though appreciate the varied vocal colors on the album. If you prefer an equal dose of 80′s flavored pop hooks and new wave to your post-punk, with less emphasis on the punk than this is the album for you. It fit my mood on the first listen, so color me gray without an overdose of morose and file this under highly recommended.
Michael Cullen’s “Love Transmitter” Finds the Pulse
Nov 21, 2013
Michael Cullen’s record Love Transmitter feels old school Nick Cave with dark undertones of Tom Waits. Cullen makes a definite mark with this record, letting the former punk prowess shine through the current crooner.
Shaped out of some cathartic life events for Cullen, Love Transmitter takes hold and doesn’t let up. The Australian artist has been immersed in music for over a decade and has honed an unique sound in the vein of Jim Morrison’s solo career and Joy Division. Particularly haunting is the track “Hey Sister.” And Cullen’s “Closer” is simply terrific in it’s raw power.
With Love Transmitter, Cullen asks that you ponder your mindset whilst letting go of the past. Sometimes intensity is exactly what you need.
read the original review here
Under The Gun Review
Album Review: Michael Cullen Love Transmitter
by Brian Lion on December 21 2013
Michael Cullen‘s Love Transmitter is the result of a marriage in shambles, the subsequent near-nervous breakdown, and a much-warranted depression; 35 minutes spanning 10 melancholic tracks of gothic new wave and moody indie rock. This is a newly released remaster yet even with an updated production it still sounds just as sad.
Almost anyone can relate to the material found on Love Transmitter. It’s one of those albums you lock yourself in your room and reflect with.
“What did I do wrong?”
“Should I have done something differently?”
We’ve all asked ourselves these questions at some point or another, and more often than not, those questions are in regards to a relationship gone awry. Cullen decided to take those questions and emotions and weave them into a creative vehicle. In a recent interview with Cullen, he explained to us, “Life is the grist of the artist’s mill – it can’t really be any other way and the artist’s own life makes for the most authentic source material.”
Seeming to also draw influence from fellow Australian, Nick Cave, ofttimes, Cullen will drop his voice to a far lower register, evident on tracks like “Tidal Wave” and “Spill.” This, in the whole of the album, can feel somewhat hokey at times but for the most part is forgotten once his normal vocals come back into play, which work far better with the tones and moods on most tracks. Despite its simplistic lyrics, “Tidal Wave” is one the album’s strongest offerings musically.
However, the deeper vocals work on “Hey Sister,” which is another stand-out on Love Transmitter. Serving as a mid-tempo gloom, “Hey Sister” is straight-forward on all accounts but it doesn’t try to be anything it isn’t and that’s commendable. Cullen doesn’t reach beyond what he knows and that’s part of what makes this album such an honest effort, apart from being directly influenced by his personal woes.
As depressing as it is, Love Transmitter‘s themes and tones are fantastic. It spans many areas of rock and feels straight out of the late ’80s post-punk scene. “Professional Entertainers” is a great example of this, reminiscent of Joy Division and Echo And The Bunnymen, but that could be said for a large portion of this album.
Love Transmitter has been out for quite awhile now and I’m sure things have been looking up in Cullen’s life since, so needless to say, I’m curious to see how the next effort will play out, influenced by a brighter look at life. The depressing series of unfortunate events faired quite well for this release, but will a less depressed Michael Cullen stack up against the woeful one? We’ll have to wait and see.
Australian musician Michael Cullen first recorded Love Transmitter in the early-2000s at a time when his life was in dire straits. Over a decade later the album, recently remixed and reissued, holds up as a post-punk masterpiece full of sonic melancholy and precarious anger.
With brooding vocals and humming guitars, Cullen takes listeners through a woeful wonderland. His lyrics are wonderfully unsettling as he sings in a deep baritone that commands attention. “Spill in Love” features a funky bassline as Cullen takes a jab at his female protagonist singing, “You think you’re different honey/The world’s full of girls like you.” He channels the haunting vocal styling of Leonard Cohen on the poetically reflective track “Hey Sister.”
“Professional Entertainers” is upbeat in its pessimism. “I’m surrounded everywhere I turn by professional entertainers,” Cullen sings, keenly observing people’s need to put on a show in every aspect of their lives. “All Used Up” is one of Love Transmitter’s many highlights. The music perfectly mirrors the frustration and confusion that comes at the end of a relationship.
Cullen is a true visionary in his ability to construct an album that is at once timeless and retro. He tackles universal human issues with a deep vulnerability that enhances each note. Love Transmitter is a beautiful album and it will continue to reach new audiences decade after decade.
With the sheer number of album releases that are available to us in this day and age, it’s easy to let so many of them pass us by, especially when them come from unknown or lesser known artists. Such is the case for Michael Cullen, an Australian singer/songwriter whose dense, dark, and trippy debut, called Love Transmitter, recently got reissued in a search for new listeners. A hybrid of a bunch of different goth-rock and post-punk bands – Joy Division, The Cure, and New Order are the most obvious influences – Love Transmitter is more or less what Beck’s Sea Change would have sounded like if it came out in the 1980s, and if that comparison can’t grab Cullen a few listeners, then I doubt anything can.
According to press materials, Cullen wrote and recorded this album in a haze of heartbreak and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. That haze is evident all over this album, from the tranquilized Tom Waits vibe of “Hey Sister” to the trance synth dirge of album opener “Do You Believe?” This album legitimately sound like a guy at the end of his rope, and that fact alone makes it captivating – even if the songs themselves sometimes get dragged down by Cullen’s own emotionally catatonic state.
While this album got a reissue in 2012, it’s apparently been floating around for more than a decade now. Cullen says that the album was written and recorded in the fall of 2001 and the early winter of 2002. That fact means that the album’s dark 80s vibes were at least a decade too late to capitalize on the leftover interest in dark, dancehall-oriented rock music (Achtung Baby, anyone?), but also a year or two too early to really land in the middle of the 80s revival that would be spurred into the mainstream by bands like the Killers and Franz Ferdinand. In a lot of ways, then, Cullen’s sounds here were touching similar ground to what Interpol would hit (also in 2002) with Turn on the Bright Lights. Interpol’s record was embraced by the critical community, more or less kickstarting the renaissance of 80s goodwill in indie rock circles. Cullen’s record, meanwhile, was obviously not embraced in the same way, but the songwriter’s darker, more ponderous songs were absolutely cut from similar cloth.
Love Transmitter isn’t really an easy record to get through, if only because the songs are consistently shrouded in layers of musical and lyrical gloom. This certainly isn’t an album you’ll throw on at a party or for a fast summer drive, nor is it an album that will get as much attention as the other, more digestible 80s throwbacks that hit between 2002 and 2005. In the right mood, however, it’s possible that a lot of different listeners would find something to love here, from the guitar-heavy charge of “All Used Love” (which plays like a scuzzy forerunner to the sleazy Vegas intoxication of the Killers’ Hot Fuss) to the uneasy vocal multi-tracking of “Spill” (which wouldn’t sound entirely out of place on a Mansions record).
The album’s best track, though, is “Transmitter,” a dark bar-bound tale of obsession that boasts the record’s most memorable chorus. “Don’t blink, don’t blink, your life could be over before you finish that drink,” Cullen drawls, the kind of biting quip that this album is full of. You can’t quite tell whether he’s sad, pissed off, wasted, or in a state of perpetually not giving a shit, but that fact, the enigma of Cullen’s delivery throughout this album, makes it a consistently compelling listen. By the time we reach the end of track 10 (aptly titled “Closer”), Love Transmitter has served up enough misery and hazy confusion for any afternoon or evening, but even if this isn’t a record you put on repeat, it’s still one that’s hard to forget about once you’ve listened once.
Album Review: Michael Cullen Love Transmitter Independent
by Scott Alexander on Nov 23 2013
In the dead of winter, August 2012, way way back before retina displays and pastel iOS’s, Australian songwriter and down-under superstar Michael Cullen re-released Love Transmitter (Remastered) to an audience salivating for some real music, and something that wasn’t Gag-nam Style. With the return of shoe-gaze and eighties inspired sounds in the last few years, it’s time for this record, originally recorded in 01/02 to stand up and be noticed.
A solid record and a familiar tone, Love Transmitter, and its talented conspirators, Cullen, and Producer/Percussionist Tim Powles (who also is quite well known in his native outback home), have worked together extensively in the past and have checked all the boxes with this offering. There is an undeniable force at play when musicians have as much history as these two exhibit, and it shows in their music.
Leading in with ‘Transmission’, Cullen’s booming, rich voice sets an impressive stage, with thoughtful lyrics put together as such they have their own personal meaning, yet listeners are open to create their own story from the experience. Swimming a literal bit deeper with ‘Tidal Wave’ and ‘Spill’, songs two and three respectively melt into a melancholic haze which is broken immediately with ‘Professional Entertainers’. It’s perhaps a common theme in albums released lately, to absorb the listener in an amalgamation of emotion right off the bat. It will make some people skip through the album, but for the tried and true music lover, it’s par for the course, to stay awake for the whole trip.
Filling out the creamy centre of Love Transmitter is a bit of pure poetry, with instruments thrown in for hyperbole, emphasizing the message contained within. To give it away here would only be but one thought on what it even means. At nearly forty minutes laid out neatly across ten songs, this is an album that could be added to any playlist in its entirety without much hassle. In this day and age of iTunes and online radio, this is truly how to grasp the attention of todays shoe-gazers.
It’s refreshing to hear an artist evoking the spirit of the 80’s, 90, and the 21st century without sounding cheesy. Michael Cullen’s new album, Love Transmitter, is definitely one of 2013’s best indie albums of the year. While you definitely hear Bowie, Morrissey and plenty of punk/new wave/Goth and garage rock influences, Love Transmitter has plenty of original, reflective lyrics and just lots of really good tracks throughout the album.
While the influences are all over the place, the lead-off single “Do You Believe” definitely will have listeners picking out which artists did Cullen take from the most. Despite that, it is a deeply haunting personal song that will immediately have you thinking Interpol for its musicality while its moody lyrics will have you hearing Morrissey. There’s also plenty of Lower East Side New York City influences as “Transmission,” with its dark, New York City garage rock vibe will get you rockin’ (how often do you feel that on what’s suppose to be a new wave/Goth album?).
”Hey Sister” evokes a Leonard Cohen/Lou Reed sort of vibe while hands down the best track on the album, “All Used Up,” with its 90’s grunge vibe will instantly have you declaring this as one of your favorites songs you’ve heard in like, forever.
Thoroughly enjoyable, this is an album that will be a favorite of critics, discerning music tastemakers, and anyone in the mood for just really excellent music. Kudos to Michael Cullen for providing one enjoyable listening experience.
I like Synth Pop and New Wave. I love the flashbacks to the 80s I get when I listen to it. I like the mellow sounds, full of electronic sounds… it’s music you can dance to, sway to. Michael Cullen has fit his sound right into that of the classics in this genre of music; Nick Cave, Joy Division, The Cure… you get my point.
Synth Pop glory!
Now, to begin with, this album, Love Transmitter, is not new. It was originally released in 2002. It was Michael Cullen’s first solo album after being in the bands The Hardheads and Watershed. Now it has been remastered and re-released, for your listening pleasure (and mine). Do You Believe?, All Used Up, and Transmission are my favorite tunes on here. Some because of their lyrics, the other because of the beat.
The albums original release was well received. I think this remaster should be too. It has all the key ingredients that fans of this type of music love, so there is no reason not to embrace it. Of course, I probably have friends that still own the original release! Gravely instrumental sounds, a smooth baritone voice, the synthetic sounds of new wave music.
Michael Cullen is from Australia. He worked with Tim Powles on this album (you may know him the legendary band The Church). Tim not only produced Love Transmitter, but also played on the album.
Honestly, if you are a synth pop fan you will want to check this out. Listen to at least 2 songs before you make a judgement!
With success under various names (The Hardheads, which shortly were to transform into Watershed) in the early 1990’s, Australian rocker Michael Cullen resurfaced after an extended hiatus from producing music to release Love Transmitter in 2002. Synthetically infused, gothic-tilted rock with noteworthy collaborator Tim Powles behind the drum kit, Transmitter turned more than a few heads at the time. Now, in preparation for new material in the near future, Cullen has remastered and reissued Love Transmitter about a decade after its initial release.
I can actually remember hearing a handful of tracks from this record around the time it was released, on some defunct website that let you sample tracks from lesser-known, “underground” indie bands. I felt like I was listening to Nick Cave jamming with The Cure, as Michael’s voice has a distinct Cave-ish feel to it and the music dabbles in the goth-pop territories that made up a good portion of The Cure’s middle-era sound. Love Transmission is an easily digestible dose of this duality, cleverly written and expertly crafted, with the remaster apparently making the best of a mix that didn’t sound quite as good the first time around. The bass and synth work, in particular, take more of a front seat than on the original pressing. “Tidal Wave”, an old favorite, is an early example of this. “Hey Sister” almost has a gospel feel to it, quiet and contemplative before pulsing synths raise the heartbeat tempo just a bit. “Transmission” is, perhaps not ironically so, a very transparent tribute to Joy Division, complete with Cullen’s best Ian Curtis and a familiar snappiness to the drumming. “Closer” has a unique feel about it in comparison to the rest of Love Transmission”, almost pure retro in its heavy usage of synths and electronic drumming. It also happens to be one of the album’s better written tracks.
While the full product doesn’t quite draw me in anymore than the samples of it I’d heard in the past, Love Transmission is a formidable record all the same. It takes the better bits of a few different genres, merges them together into an organic brew of downtrodden modern blues and electronic sheen, grounded by Michael Cullen’s croon and earthy guitar tones. It works well, but I cannot fully speak towards the need or improvement over the original this remaster may or may not represent, seeing as how I never owned the original to begin with. Typically, though, ‘remaster’ is a good thing, especially for independently produced and/or released material.
This “Transmitter” Sends More Melancholy Than “Love”
by Robert Ottone December 21 2013
If you took James (of “Laid” fame), mixed him with Robert Smith and added a dash of Ian Curtis, you’d have Michael Cullen. Easily the darkest artist I’ve gotten to review yet, Cullen’s tunes are loaded with melancholy and dripping with loss. Oddly enough, there are underpinnings of hope, too, but those notes seem lost amid the darkness of the tracks themselves.
“Do You Believe?” reminds me of something that would’ve blasted from friends of mine’s cars as they drove around in the late 90’s. It’s not an ugly track, it’s just very dreary. Cullen is like Akira Yamaoka in that way, his music is beautifully complicated, filled with sound and wholly original while also being loaded with incredibly dark imagery and concepts.
I’d be hard-pressed to put a finger on just what kind of music Cullen is, other than that I dig it. Maybe it falls under the genre of “Rob Likes It.” As I’m a huge Joy Division, Yamaoka and James fan, I’m predisposed to like Cullen. He’s on Spotify if you wanna’ give him a listen. I’m following him and looking forward to more of his work, as I think it strikes a sweet yet sad chord at the same time.
“Chinese Hammer” has some serious Poets of the Fall vibes going for it, which is a very good thing. The song sounds like something out of Twin Peaks or the video game Alan Wake, again, very good things. Cullen really has a handle on whatever you wanna’ call his particular brand of songwriting. It isn’t fair to call it “dark,” per se, it’s more accurate to call it original, I guess. Love Transmitter is such a fascinating album, overall.
“Michael Cullen – “Love Transmitter”” is on sale August 1, 2012 from Speartackle Records.
Michael Cullen sounds much like a Goth singer throughout Love Transmitter. His voice is akin to Nick Cave’s, only not quite as bellowing-ly low. He also doesn’t sing murder ballads, like the kind Cave is famous for. Instead of focusing on death lyrically, the way most Goth performers do, Cullen is much closer to an atypical love song singer/songwriter – only with a voice that simultaneously suggests realms of darkness. He’s a bit of a modern day Leonard Cohen, without being the world class poet Cohen is.
A track like “All Used Up” has a punk feel to it — especially due to the way Cullen sings it, which is youthful and urgent. Ironically, Cullen comes off fairly positive during another one titled “Transmission,” which finds him yearning for a girl and meditating on how life can be over in a blink of the eye. (How un-Goth of him!) Singing over an insistent guitar groove, this Australian performer comes off about as smitten as Springsteen once did, back when he mostly sang about cars and girls. With “Spill,” Cullen brings T Bone Burnett to mind a bit, as he speaks his way through part of it.
Love Transmitter is an album that will appeal to fans of acts like Editors. It has many of the sonic markings of Goth music, without the usual shock rock lyrical content. He’s not really saying much that is new, but because he puts his lyrics in such an appealing package, his album is a winner.
Michael Cullen’s debut album Love Transmitter may at first translate to some listeners as a brooding and overly dramatic style of music that could be a tad difficult to identify with. To be fair, Love Transmitter is a re-issue that is over 10 years old and comes off sounding pretty dated but after a while the technological and musical reminders of days past tend to slip under the skin.
Well into a new decade, Love Transmitter is a testament to the gloomy 90’s goth death rattle and kicking against the heralding of a new breed of no care posi-rock and a plasticized age.
The music on Love Transmitter is definitely intense and intensely personal, with lots of lyrical reference to love lost and what could have been which is really no different than much else that has been on the market in the last several decades. Yet it is only in the last couple of decades with technologies advance that it has been translated in this particular way and Cullen has done a fine job of getting it across both in sound and the emotional content that is very real.
The opening organ strains of “Do You Believe” bring me back to a time when media and computer manipulation was just an infant and emotional pull was king. The lo-fi keys and damp understated drum hits are old school quality and Cullens brassy vocals are emotive and raw. “Spill” and “Transmission” are cool tracks with their 90’s alternative heavy bass and guitar tricks while songs like “Tidal Wave” and “Hey Sister” have a bit of a Nick Cave flair going on, all gloomy and indulgent in hopeful despair.
Love Transmitter is definitely one for fans of the goth and alternative scene from yesteryear. Dense and emotive, with just a touch of tongue in cheek sass, Michael Cullens has painted a personal history that still holds up to this day.
Do You Believe? Is the first track on Love Transmitter, and it provides listeners with a solid introduction to the styles and approaches that will be presented on the remainder of the album. Taken separately, the track is something that could easily be on rotation at alternative and modern rock stations.
All Used Up is a track that touches upon the work of Franz Ferdinand and an earlier new-wave tradition (The Psychedelic Furs, XTC); the hooky arrangements will ensure that listeners will have the track firmly implanted into their mind by the time that the disc ceases.
Chinese Hammer has a more deliberate feel to it; the comparison of human and fantastical here allows Cullen to put a decidedly new spin on the desert rock (e.g. The Doors) genre. While tapping out at the two and a half-minute mark, the pacing that Cullen utilizes here provides the track with an authoritas that belies its place in the middle of the pack.
Professional Entertainers is a ray of bright light on Love Transmitter; the faster tempo and slight bit of fuzz will appease listeners of all stripes.
One is Still My Number is a more straight-forward rock track in the vein of Cheap Trick or Foghat; there is little more here than vocals, drums, and guitar but Cullen is able to make the track into something epic.
Make sure to visit Cullen’s Bandcamp for the ability to listen to and even purchase the album. Love Transmitter is a rare example of an album that is as strong at its ending registers (One is Still My Number, Closer) as it did from its onset.
Top Tracks: Do You Believe?, All Used Up, One is Still My Number
Sounding a little like a drugged-up version of Peter Steele from Type-O Negative, Michael Cullen makes his solo debut.
You can be forgiven for wondering just who this Michael Cullen bloke is. Apparently he was frontman for some pop punk band or other. That must be where he wrote all his better lyrics, because as far as penmanship goes Cullen is pretty drab.
However, the strange haze of almost Tom Waitslike melancholy – bordering verrrry closely to melodramatic – saves this from being a complete trainwreck.
This was the most surprising release in my review batch this week.
Give it a try if you like bands such as Counting Crows. He sounds absolutely nothing like them, but its the atmosphere it creates that’s similar, and that’s no bad thing.
7 of Spades
Drum Media
Be prepared to be surprised with Love Transmitter. if you’ve followed Michael Cullen’s career through The Hardheads and the unjustifiably ignored Watershed, this is another side of him barely hinted at in those projects. Apart from anything else, Cullen has played the majority of the instruments, with Tim Powles of The Church taking care of the drums, percussion, beats, loops and production, as well as the odd backing vocal, along with the odd guest on the odd track, like Jon Butler drumming on two tracks, and Dave Skeet adding voice here, organ there.
In some ways, this record could only have been produced in collaboration with Powles. The songs have that otherworldly quality that we’ve come to expect of recordings made in Powles’s Spacejunk Studio, with that timeless kind of instrumental wash layered beneath and behind the voice. it works a treat with the vaguely ‘dark beatlish’ feel of All Used Up for instance. Cullen’s subversive sense of humour comes into play on the title track too. Powles must have smiled at the line ‘then she told me Kilbey was God/well I laughed at that’ the metallic, restrained grind of guitar chopping and building inexorably.
Contrasting that humour is the worldweary sadness of Closer, but there’s plenty of light and shade across the ten tracks, from the bounce of One is Still my Number and sarcasm of Professional Entertainers to the stumbling plea of Chinese Hammer.
References? You can hear Cullen is very much a man who came into his creative muse in the early 80s, so the references would be, i suppose, New Order or Jesus & Mary Chain, but there’s Aztec Camera and The Smiths there if you want to hear it. The truth is that while artists like that may have addressed his youth, Cullen has grown into his own voice, so forget the above and just listen to that voice and discover a quietly unique talent.
Michael Smith
CUrio
This is the debut solo album from the former front man of punk groups The Hardheads and Watershed. However if you were expecting another punk album then you would be in for a massive shock. Instead Mr. Cullen has gone for a very dark and moody soundscape. The results of this departure in style are quite astounding as each track is beautifully crafted. All Used Up and Transmission both stand up as powerful highlights.
Michael Cullen’s music is reminiscent of bands such as Joy Division, The Birthday Party and the Triffids to name a few. He manages to combine the best bits of each of these artists to come up with something distinctive of his own. The quality of the record is further enhanced by the production work of The Church’s Tim Powles.
This is a brilliant piece of work that consists of dense sounds and beautiful melodies. All songs on offer manage to be self contained as well as fit together with one another to create a smooth flowing long player.
Grade: Distinction.
Richard Rowe
2XX
Reviewing = Interesting. I’ve had this by the cd player for two weeks now, trying to decide whether it goes into the 2XX new releases draw or not, coming back to it every few days.
Giving it a good listen now, I have to say it will. I’m enjoying the guitar and the overall production (when I read about the Church connection I went “Aaaah, that sounds right”). Nice to find someone with their own sound though unafraid to show their interest in music history. I thought maybe I heard a little bit of Edwyn Collins styling in there too.
Well done dude.
singoda
seance list review 1
Well i bought this CD after reading a review which said it was produced by Tim Powles and also the mention of SK in the lyrics of one of the songs(the line is in every review you read and it will appear in this one later!)-so i thought got to have it.
Tim actually plays on just about every song-for example on Hey Sister he gets credit for bass,drums,guitar,percussion,organ and some vocals! Most tracks though he is doing drums and percussion.
I know nothing about Michael Cullen or if he has done anything previously however as a singer has a really distinct very deep voice – sort of reminds me a bit of the Joy Division – Love will tear us apart vocalist. Possibly even a melodic Nick Cave? I don’t know he just has a really distintive deep voice.
Their are some great tracks on this album lots of vocal hooks and indy rocken riffs – Do you believe and then Tidal wave kick of the album well in about second to even third gear. We then hit fourth gear for the almost indy punkish All used up which has a rockin riff. Hey Sister drops back a couple of gears almost nick caveish.
Transmission follows which is a superb track with the excellerator back on-Someting about putting his wedding ring in his pocket whilst riding a rocket and meeting a girl who was a love transmitter.
“she said that Finn was good and gave Cave a nod/ then she told me Kilbey was god/ well I laughed at that as you might/ then the rush came and I thought she was right”
We ease back a couple of gears for Spill and Chinese hammer which both work well. However the highlight of the album for me are the two tracks Professional Entertainers and One is still my number which are both really catchy tracks.I’d swear Professional Entertainers could be put on a Go-Betweens Album:
“I’m surrounded everywhere I turn by professional entertainers/ telling me how much they earn/ hard boiled c-c-c-campaigners”
great stuff i’d be signing this all day but i can’t get the next track out of my head:
“one is till my number/ you now its true/ one is still my number honey/ I’ve got the juice/ I try to be humble but it isn’t any use”
The album then closes with the dark closer where the deep voice is in deep mode.
Overall this is a great album with superb production by Tim Powles. The album has plenty of tracks which would be really radio friendly – will a track from this ever manage to get on rotation on JJJ? Its not the sort of album you nead to listen to heaps to get into – just a great easy listen with plenty of hooks.
David Rundle
Seance Lists 2
Recently Michael Cullen’s Love Transmitter arrived in the CD review pile
for the Uni magazine I edit. I’m not sure I’ve heard of this guy (he’s
Australian) but the blurb said “produced by Tim Powles” so I grabbed it.
This from the track Transmission:
—————
she said “I didn’t mean to be rude”
I didn’t see it otherwise could be construed
“you have an innocent face perfect for deception”
we talked about adultery and redemption
she said that finnn was good and gave cave a nod
then she told me that kilbey was god
well I laughed at that … as you might
then the rush came and I thought she was right
—————–
(And yes, there are three n’s in “finnn” on the lyric sheet. Not sure if
this is a typo or an attempt to differentiate between the Finn brothers.)
It’s like a darker and crunchier version of Stephen Cummings’ recent stuff
(blurb suggests Swervedriver as an influence). I heard a lot of Go
Betweens in there too (they also get namedropped on one track), recent
Leonard Cohen too perhaps. Strong growly deep vocals. Strong production,
though I found a couple of tracks a bit overcooked at first listen. Lyrics
need work, decent ideas but too many very forced rhymes or near-rhymes.
Kevin Bonham.
Garage Band
Transmission
tight
Gtrs build the wall; splashy reverse cymbals fill the pool. Oh… it’s quite the “The Cure” influenced thing. Vocals have the “Robert Smith” thing. Nice arrangement; recording is very harsh… almost like it’s been over-EQed (esp cymbal trax). The mix is good, recording is hurting… make sense? Brit-rock. Good stuff. I like the 8th note guitars that keep everything full. “Transmitter”. Wasn’t what I wanted to think, but I saw her slip something in my drink. It’s been quite the tense little number for a while… seems to need to break out and groove for a few bars. Good lyrics. “my cancers” (or whatever). With cleaner tracks (and without that harsh, grainy sound) this would be top of the pops. Nice job all the way.
super_enthused from Sandy, Utah
great lyrics
love transmitter, eh? I like it … a lot. Great story. I’m not gonna blink! Good sense of urgency created musically. Extra credits for mood, lyrics, and originality. Also for male vocals – nice voice!. I’m picking this for best potential movie soundtrack!
Plankton, Culver,Indiana
original
I don’t know what type of music this is, but it’s different. I like the guitar riff and the effect on it, sounds like the right amount of reverb. Vocals don’t fit into the mix as well as they should.
Built to Burn – West Bridgewater, Massachusetts
this song grows as it goes on
I like it. I knew I’m lucky after a few seconds. This guy knows how to do a good song.Extra Credit: Melody, Mood Special Award: Most Rocking Track
Had to listen to it again. I’d love to see the band live!
lofik7
Great Layering
You really did a good job with the instrumentation of this track. Very dramatic. I think the vocals are a little loud. They need to be more integrated into the mix. The lyrics are compelling, but I feel the volume of the vocal is overpowering this song. Its also got a good hook. i like the phrase love transmitter. Very clever. Good songwriting. Work on the mix and this will be a more solid track.
gutterstar – Hoboken, New Jersey
Overall Good
Cool lead in, builds tension. The vocal is right out front. The mix sounds good, the production sounds good. I like the chorus. The vocal is a little bit reserved, not as emotionally expressive as it might be, to me. The music builds tension, I am still waiting for it to let loose …. the bridge could get loud and loose and make it more compelling to me. the whole tune seems to hold back somehow. overall a good song. The playing is good and intelligent, the production clear. I’d change the arrangement and dynamics, but that’s just one guy’s opinion. overall, a good song with a solid chorus.
Abarrs – Tampa, Florida
Chillin’
Song had a nice feel to it, production was good, vocals were smooth and just right for the riff. it has a chillin’ mood to it, good work. I was waiting for it to climax somewhere but it didn’t but I get the idea …. good luck! Extra credit: Male Vocals, Guitars, Production, Lyrics, Mood
Patmulwany – Austin,Texas
Blade Runner Love Song
This could have the sound of a runaway subway train. Good song. i’d really ‘toughen’ this up. Maybe it’s the recording? maybe the mix. good words and well sang. Nice composition. Lots of tension and feeling, even though it’s pretty one note-ish. this has good potential. Rework and record. Good luck.
dgrundy – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
thurston moore meets depeche mode
hmm.. its kinda .. hmm.. its alright.. needs to kick in at some point and kick in hard.. the chorus is prettty gothy . hmm its good
dead_meat St Louis, Missouri
A Modern Joy Division
The fresh drum patterns are fantastic, reminiscent of Joy Division’s experimental percussion-style in places. Great skip-beats and effects used. The guitars are strong with good dark progressions throughout. The vocals work well and I do like the lyrics too (I especially like the timing skip on the second “don’t play”). For me, this track would benefit from a breakdown where there is a melodical departure from the main theme, but the track is a nice length and overall this was an excellent song with fine production. Great job. John, Misnomer – www.mp3.com/misnomer Extra Credit: Drums, Mood
Misnomer – Southend, Essex, United Kingdom
weird
space 60 bowie. britanian emo pop. nice tight verse, good use of unique vocal patterns. i appreciate. Extra Credit: Male Vocals, Guitars, Drums, Bass, Lyrics, Beat, Mood
moah, Grand Rapids, Michigan
CrazySexyCool
Really neato song, nice vibe going on, and I really like the weird cymbal effect. Despite being different, it’s still really catchy (I hope that’s what you were going for, some people get ticked at that kind of thing.) Really nice guitar solo, very simple, it serves the song well. However, the song does get a little tedious towards the end, but maybe that’s the short fast food/tv attention span talking… Extra Credit: Drums, Sequencer/Effects Programming, Mood
slobstar1 Winchester, Kentucky
Over Dramatic Cool
The overdramatic vocals in the first verse, well sounds like they’re sticking around, are strangely appealing. The music is reasonably cool. Maybe a better mix, yeah, a better mix. This is a cool song. All of a sudden hits me like I heard it once. There’s a Sonic Youth thing going on, musically, just not as dissonant.Extra Credit: Male Vocals, Melody
mrjones_fptoz – Fairview, New Jersey
Garage Band
All Used Up
a good demo
The lo-fi production doesn’t obscure the song too much, but will make it difficult to get airplay and possibly club-play. Maybe I’m wrong. Still, I don’t think it’s going to help. I would encourage getting a better recording done. You could improve the quality here by double in most decent home studios even.
The song and performance work really well within the genre. I would take it to be an established act if the production were better.
dantelolo from Chicago, Illinois on 16Nov2004
chaotic
wow this song starts very sudden… hm, I guess an intro would’ve been better for this song…
the vocals remind me of the beatles, they’re quite good in combination with the music
it all sounds very lo-fi … the bass guitar is rather monotonous in the beginning … the lead guitars are okay. Very nice chaotic ending, I like that! In some parts this song reminds me a little of Sonic Youth.
– eVa, LiquidSorrow from Borgerhout, Antwerp, Belgium on 16Nov2004
Not bad
Like the vox, nice production overall, nothing really new though, no hook for me, but a decent recording overall
BlindeaD from Toronto, Ontario, Canada on 16Nov2004
Cool shit.
Finally…a band that can play and sing. This is cool shit. I dig it. Cool chorus. I like the way that the guitars blend in. Come to Denmark and play gigs with us;) Good production, good sounds. This is good.
Vilgersence from Copenhagen, V, Denmark on 16Nov2004
Catchy
A catchy song with lots of energy in it, performed in a competent way. Production is good, overall a song that has got hit potential.
Sunvision from Unspecified on 15Nov2004
Love the quick beginning
The chorus could be developed further, specifically expanding the melody line, which would add a stronger dynamic to the song. I liked this song for the first minute to 1:30. After that I got bored. It has potential, I really like it. A very 80s New Wave type feel. The song is relying only upon melody/mood/beat, no guitar solos or anything, which is fine, but the melody/vocals need expanded to keep the song alive. Either that or throw in a horn section or something. Good though. Keep at it.
paintonmyhands from Taft, Ohio on 14Nov2004
good lyrics
I like the lyrics alot. The production is very nice great vocal effects. I can’t think of anything that could improve this track.
groovfidel from Virginia Beach, Virginia on 14Nov2004
“Weird Sex” factor inplay- repeated listening..
This song is like intercourse with someone who won’t bother with foreplay, climaxes a bit early and THEN wants to cuddle after. In other words, the song starts abruptly, almost mid-beat(I actually restarted it a couple times because I thought it was a streaming error). It then drives on steadily for approximately two minutes until it reaches it’s peak. It then lingers about without much purpose for the last minute or so. This is unfortunate because the band is tight, well rehearsed and sufficiently skilled. I liked the percussion especially, which distinguished itself without distracting. Production did a good job of capturing the fullness of the instrumentation, but not as well with the vocals, which sound a bit tinny.
My big problem with the track is the intro. On 2nd and 3rd listens I really enjoyed the music but the first time I heard it, the way it dropped in at the beginning made it pretty inaccessable. -If I weren’t reviewing it I wouldn’t have given it a 2nd listen.
Some minor tweaking would go a long way on this track. A little adjustment to vocal effects, cutting off the 15 seconds(?!?) of feedback at the end and adding a couple of seconds of it to the beginning for a lead-in would probably do it.
ApacheFogg from Muskegon, Michigan on 14Nov2004
just comes out swingin
not quite sure why but dont like distortion on the voice matching the distortion of guitar I think the voice and guitar should be more differnt sounding might consider puting some reverbs on the guitar riffs between words our something to further seperate the guitar from words give it more range of sound so to speak good song lyricial … alright guitar nothing real out of the orderniary
I_have_goiter from Stillwater, Oklahoma on 14Nov2004
Dueling vocals
An interesting approach to the phenomenon that is retro. More of a combination between grunge and the 70s comback, i like it, i would like to hear something a little bit mor upbeat the next one.
whoisplanb_com from Virginia Beach, Virginia on 13Nov2004
OK
I like how the song starts out running, straight to the point…it’s a nice change from the long intro stuff that is prevalent today (including my own stuff). The basic melody during the verse is engaging, and while I realize the delay is a nice originality touch, it just seems to get in the way more than anything. Ignoring the delay, the vocals are well performed and I like the voice.
The heavy guitar plods along but gets lost in it’s own muddiness. It’s not a bad part, but with all the drums going on, and the delayed vocals, there is just not much space in there. So, the guitar provides a rhythm more than anything. I’d like to somehow hear the tone of it (would require getting rid of cymbals).
Chorus doesn’t do anything for me. I guess it is simple and catchy…but I need something more substantial to engage me.
I think there is a bridge at 1:30 or 1:40, but it doesn’t really do anything musically. I like the fact that you attempted to put one in this song to break it up a little, but seems like the part could be made into something more musically cohesive.
Drums are either computer driven, or live drums that have been quantized to exacting parameters. They sound good but inhuman, so I’d like to hear them with a live drummer.
fraghead from Longmont, Colorado on 13Nov2004
Steady Waiting
This song has a very anticipitory feel to it. It kept me expecting it to kick up a notch at any moment. It has that build up type of steady rythem that never develops into anything, but itself. Thats coll if thats what you were going for, but it was a bit dissappointing to me. Good production and musicianship, I just think the arrabgement was not as strong as it could be.
GuerrillaWrench from Boise, Idaho on 12Nov2004
I’m all used up..up…up…up..up.
Origional style. Performance is good – top marks to the drummer for working so hard on this one. I think the vocals are a little weak in delivery, that is, I think the emphasis here is effects vs letting the lyrics dictate the impact of the song. (It works at 2:06, though, when the music fades out with the “I’m all used up baby” line – there was more attitude there with the vocals) I think the idea for the song is cool/I liked it more the second time through. Production is pretty lo-fi. I think its a good demo for getting the vibe of what you’re about across to the listener.
TerraFirma from Calgary, Alberta, Canada on 11Nov2004
Joy Division
Like the way this song starts instantly real nice feel to it quiet dark in places almost like Joy Division.
spark74 from Dublin, Ireland on 11Nov2004
Gene meets Moby
Mix is very low. The song itself is very good, I particularly like the chorus. A different take – nice.
The voices are a little to muffled and could be brighter. The perfomance was full of controlled energy and worked v well. It does sound a little like one long intro at times. The drums were particularly impressive, really moved this tune along well… Nice one..
WizardSween from Wales, Cardiff, United Kingdom on 11Nov2004
making slashing motions in a westernly direct..
cool harmonized vocals in the beginning. all the instruments sound like their glitching…like a scratch on a cd. then it kicks into more straightfoward mode. this song has a really great mood. i like the excess reverb/echo on stuff. sort of shoegazey..but not really. i really like this song. the mood is really the best part of the song, as it completely enveloped me. only complaint might be that the vocals are pretty high up in the mix, and they could probably be brought down a little. otherwise…this is a nice song with a great mood. thumbs up.
nearertonever from West Lafayette, Indiana on 9Nov2004
JESUS-AND-MARY-OASIS-CHAIN
CHAOS REIGNS,THE DRUMS AT THE START WERE A BIT ANNOYING,HI-HAT PRETTY BRUTAL,THE SONG GETS BETTER HOWEVER,WITH THE FIRST CHORUS ADDING MELODY,ON THE PRODUCTION SIDE ITS A BIT MUDDY THOUGH THAT COULD WELL BE ON PURPOSE,I LIKE IT MORE AFTER A COUPLE OF LISTENS AND ITS AN ENERGETIC HONEST PERFORMANCE
MichaelLee from Martina Franca, Taranto, Italy on 8Nov2004
Garage Band
Do You Believe
unique vox
like the vocals and the lyrics, they’re both unique and have character. sort of brittish ish. the production seems quasi 80’s but without those dumb gates on the drums. i like the synths. they have nice melodies and contribute very well to the already unique vocals. they also blend very nicely with the guitar lines towards the very end of the song.
At 2:10 i feel the whole tune changes pace and gets flipped around into ‘rock’ for a second. the guitars become more active and the synths die out but shortly return which is nice. all in all i think this band has character and i’d like to hear more from them.
sashalsmith from Los Angeles, California on 10Nov2004
Altern-a-tive
Great performance of the song. The song is good there maybe some room for improvement but still a good track.’do you believe’ chorus is good simplistic an effective. The production is definently professional.
munkipunk from Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa on 10Nov2004
What the hell do I put here?
The playing is very sparse, I think that it works for a song in this genre. It would be easy to add too many frills, so the band got that right.
However, I thought that the drums were a bit over-powering, I would have preferred them a bit lower in the mix. At times that was true of the keyboards as well, it detracted (and distracted) from the vocals.
Not a bad tune, not exactly to my taste. Reminiscent (to me at least) of New Order and bands of that ilk.
teddy_twl from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on 10Nov2004
Reminds me a little of Tiamat, a band from Eu..
The performance feels solid and I’m enjoying the song. The arrangement is good and the song is pretty solid. I’d say that the song could benefit from revised synths.
Bridge around 2:15 caught my attention. The more I listen the more this reminds me of European bands that I really enjoy. (watch me find out that this artist is from Europe!) Overall enjoyable track.
specter_ghost from Gretna, Louisiana on 9Nov2004
Very nice track.
The overall performance was good, but there were a couple little parts that sounded like they didn’t match up or were off time. It’s not anything that would bring down the whole song, though.
I really liked the sound cause I’m just a sucker for this style of music. The vocal style was very unique for the genre. It reminded me of a less-intense Nick Cave. The song reminded me of more recent bands like Doves or The Stills.
It has that airy feel to it built on good instrumental mood setting. It didn’t get too complex or weird. The layering of sound worked well to hold the song through to the end. The production work on the guitar parts was good enough for me to notice.
If this was on a sample CD, I would definately try and track down more songs by this artist.
75Cents from Tallmadge, Ohio on 8Nov2004
I don’t believe… stop asking
Very nice guitar fade. Way crappy fake synth not appropiate to the song. Nay for electronic drums or drum machine… or very very poorly sounding drums. vocals occasionaly not in pitch. I need more guitar present to actually continue listening. I semi like the ending but the crunch sound in my left irratates the contrast.
bluecomb from Corvallis, Oregon on 8Nov2004
My review
I really like the verse. You have a Joe Jackson vibe goin on. The chorus is weak compared to the verse. Overall the song is quite good but I’d rework the chorus. The performance is solid.
JustAudio from London, Ontario, Canada on 4Nov2004
Like a plain, bland muffin…
I’m just not getting it guys. I’m not sure where this song is going.
I don’t think it’s “performed” poorly, per se, but I just don’t know about the song writing. It doesn’t really inspire an emotion in me. It doesn’t excite me, and does not truly hit the sadness emotions. I’m just indifferent to it.
Totally subjectively, I’m not sure I like what the vocalist is doing with his voice. Too much inflection perhaps (Also, I’d suggest getting rid of some of the vocal effect/reverb, esp. on “do you believe” refrain: let his true voice come out). Speaking of vocals, you can get anything more stock than “Do you believe in love?”
I like the rythym, drums/track. Good production though.
– lehnherr12 from Atlanta, Georgia on 4Nov2004
Believe
Real interesting tune;keeps your attention. Well played and in time with each other.Overall pretty cool!
pkndille from Warwick, Rhode Island on 3Nov2004
the hardest review i’ve had to do yet
i will focus on performance, song writing, and production. performancewise, you have suceeded for the most part. technically, you sound like a tight and well practiced band. the drums are proficient if a tad unexciting. the guitar and bass are confident. the vocals, however, falter. lyrically, there is some awkwardness here. some of the lines, particullarly the verses sound clumsy and forced. these are mostly a lyrical and phrasing problem. strive for liquidity. you tone is similar to evan dando, look to”shame about ray” for inspiration. the song writing evidenced here is overall competent, however, the hook falls short. lyrically it is a bit cliche. melodically, it simply isn’t catchy enough. i do, however, want to make it clear that i think you are onto something here. you definitely have the makings of a good song. don’t misconstrue my review as being overly negative. you are really close to achieving the brass ring. production wise, overall it is clear and a notch above the typical demo. the vocals are upfront, a neccesity of any pop song, and clear. the beginning of the track though is somewhat awkward. the panning is confusing and distracting. it seems empty and may turn off listeners from what would otherwise be an ejoyable song. remember,the first 30 seconds are the most important. one other note on production. the keyboard sounds are not happening. why would you sully anotherwise professional sounding song with chessily ironic casio tones. you are better than this.
thegentry from Hillsboro, Oregon on 29Oct2004
Nice Song
I thought the production and performance was pretty good. I would have liked to hear more effects in the main vocals in the verses especially…maybe even just slightly different mixing, more reverb or something…i dunno. Overall, I thought it was pretty well done.
– arghhh2004 from North Bay, Ontario, Canada on 29Oct2004
I believe!!
I like the originality. The fade in is cool. Great ideas. I LOVE the vocals and the tone. Nice ear candy with the guitar sounds. Production is very lively and refreshing. Nice key work. The song has a cool mood. I LOVE the sparce drum beat. The only constructive critasims is to have a more intense part of the song to catch a higher emotion level. AWSOME job guys!
SamuelSharkey from Red Deer, Alberta, Canada on 28Oct2004
ill give you a chance..
dudadudadudadudaduda dudadudaduda
she was wearing that red dress…
blablablaaaaahh blablahhhhhh
sorry just alittle generic for me.. more 2 note riffs please!
Hecubis301 from Central, Florida on 28Oct2004
Gothic love at its best
Filled with a creepy vibe throughout, this song has a subtle, dramatic quality that frames the lead vocalist’s deep, hypnotic voice perfectly. An inescapable sense of foreboding rides alongside quiet musings of love, which makes your heart ache while the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Lush, engaging, and addictive, this song is everything you want in Gothic-Alternative sound.
madsmiley78 from Brandon, Florida on 28Oct2004
nice sound
simple guitar riff that sounded good and grew louder,was a bit let down by the beat at first but it got better.Performance is good and production is spot on too,song itself pretty good but i found vocals are a little sort of one leveled and quite not boring just a little monotomous,not a bad track at all though
ashaxx from Stourbridge, Non Usa, United Kingdom on 28Oct2004
hard to place
the vocals were a bit muddy. I did like the overall leonard cohen feel… didn’t really care for the lyrics.
bunnysound from San Francisco, California on 27Oct2004
Sweeping sound, underwhelming chorus
I like the harmonies and the full, intoxicating sound. The melody in the chorus itself is a little monotonous to me, and the lyrics are on the trite side.
Great soundscapes you’ve created here though, lots of potential. It is performed well, and produced well (maybe the vocals could be mixed better?)
– lhawkins from Los Angeles, California on 27Oct2004
A bit gloomy
Interesting intro, sounds quite dark in a way. The singer sounds like Syd Barrett on his way to a radiohead gig. Nice chords/melody. A bit gloomy (good for a song like this).
TheMattBrown from London, England, United Kingdom on 27Oct2004
Go Go Gadget Headline
I like the bridge part most. And I dislike the chorus. This has a sound that reminds me of a cross between The Smoking Popes and The Magnetic Fields. If more was done with that bridge part and less with the chorus, I’d be all over this like lube on a porn star.
Flloyd from Boston, Massachusetts on 26Oct2004
80’s is not dead
again this is a good tune for the beauty bar on thursday nights.good rockin drinking music.somber,moody,melloncollie,s its own way)i love descenant sounds.sounds that appear to be trailing of into the amber sunset.this song is simple which all good music is.they are obviously not trying to break any records which is good.the song is good very listenable(is that a word?)the production sounded better than most of the shit i have listened to on this website.good shit guys.good luck
mrwong2442 from Brooklyn, New York on 26Oct2004
song
Good ideas here. Too much synth, I think, perhaps a better idea may be a lead guitar with lots of effects. I like the chorus, sounds more clear than the verse. NIce and meloncholy…I’m a fan of that.
cjmahoney from Boston, Massachusetts on 26Oct2004
katchy
like how the guitar comes in…the keyboards sound alright…little video-game-ish at times….the arrangements are alright…the drums cut through nicely and mix well with the song…like the changes…like the chorus..good performance…the production is pretty well down..the song overall is pretty kewl…hey..its a love song…good stuff guys
-John sykossun from Alliston, Ontario, Canada on 26Oct2004
do you believe
I really like the bouncing guitars coming into the synth pad setting up the verse here, The vocal tone is decent, but I’m not in love with this singer… Interesting drum tones coming in around 1:39… At the 2:11 mark, the backgrounds add in some nice warmth and the guitar playing becomes strong. Performance- strong in many areas, especially drums and bass
production- fairly well done… Song- It’s ok…try breaking things up a bit more.
Audioride from Brighton, Massachusetts on 26Oct2004
Keep up the good work
What a nice mood this song had. I think this has some real quality to it. Unusual production, but engaging. Keep up the good work.
foffster from B�, Telemark, Norway on 25Oct2004
Just not very inspiring
The drums were really buried in the mix. Production value low. The song itself left me feeling kind of uninterested. Vocals sounded like that guy from Duran Duran on zanex… He sounded like he was phoning in his lines- or at least like he was very bored.
jamies_ice from New Castle, Pennsylvania on 25Oct2004
(snore)
Somehow, the words of this song just don’t belong with the rythmn. I don’t know what it is. Quite interesting, but mostly just makes me want to sleep. Are you kids on Valium?
wheresmebox from Unspecified on 25Oct2004
Big Sound
My first reaction on hearing the mix was that the keyboard seems to be quite prominent and seems to be treading on the guitars a little. Not that the production is bad in any way – in fact, it’s very bright and clear and well produced and does seem to pick up halfway through.
All performances sound accomplished but with music being such a subjective thing, I have to say that I’m not too keen on the song overall. I’m just not a fan of the tune. Just my opinion there.
dinerhq from High Wycombe, London, United Kingdom on 25Oct2004
nice intro
vocalist could work on his approach i think that perhaps he could work on the lyrics of the chorus also there decent but its just been sung about so many times you know? over all i think that this song would sound very good live and the performance would probably be there but in just audio it doesnt grab me ? production ok its definately good enough to get the idea of the song through but if you got signed you would rerecord any way so dont sweat the production.
stockton from Fort Lewis, Washington on 25Oct2004
Good song…just needs a little more variatio..
The beginning of the song drew me in… sort of a Pink Floydish feel. The vocal melody was a bit too straight for me, not much of a hook, in my opinion. I like the bridge, a bit of a change up. The production is good, mixing is good. I definitely think a little variation in the vocal melody would make a huge difference.
onewhodreams from Laguna Niguel, California on 24Oct2004
like Nine Inch Nails struck by Cupid
Singer needs to try recording this when he isn’t half asleep; that way the words won’t run together.Song has the right texture for the style. The bridge was a nice contrast. Overall, a bit too mellow for me; if you want to do a slow song, you need to emphasize the lyrics. Clear lyrics in a ballad turn the song from a puddle into a stream; a stream that can flow right into the listener if you do it the right way.
darkmorning from Lancaster, New York on 24Oct2004
alice in chains meets the grand orchestra
she was wearing that red dress, huh? god the vox are horrible. is this robert smith’s new band? Yes, I believe in love. this belongs in pop section. I cannot go on listening to this crap. shut her down 1 of 5 b/c thats the lowest rating garageband allows. hey at least I’m honest.
maulingallmules from De Pere, Wisconsin on 24Oct2004
Garage Band
Do You Believe
unique vox
like the vocals and the lyrics, they’re both unique and have character. sort of brittish ish. the production seems quasi 80’s but without those dumb gates on the drums. i like the synths. they have nice melodies and contribute very well to the already unique vocals. they also blend very nicely with the guitar lines towards the very end of the song.
At 2:10 i feel the whole tune changes pace and gets flipped around into ‘rock’ for a second. the guitars become more active and the synths die out but shortly return which is nice. all in all i think this band has character and i’d like to hear more from them.
sashalsmith from Los Angeles, California on 10Nov2004
Altern-a-tive
Great performance of the song. The song is good there maybe some room for improvement but still a good track.’do you believe’ chorus is good simplistic an effective. The production is definently professional.
munkipunk from Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa on 10Nov2004
What the hell do I put here?
The playing is very sparse, I think that it works for a song in this genre. It would be easy to add too many frills, so the band got that right.
However, I thought that the drums were a bit over-powering, I would have preferred them a bit lower in the mix. At times that was true of the keyboards as well, it detracted (and distracted) from the vocals.
Not a bad tune, not exactly to my taste. Reminiscent (to me at least) of New Order and bands of that ilk.
teddy_twl from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on 10Nov2004
Reminds me a little of Tiamat, a band from Eu..
The performance feels solid and I’m enjoying the song. The arrangement is good and the song is pretty solid. I’d say that the song could benefit from revised synths.
Bridge around 2:15 caught my attention. The more I listen the more this reminds me of European bands that I really enjoy. (watch me find out that this artist is from Europe!) Overall enjoyable track.
specter_ghost from Gretna, Louisiana on 9Nov2004
Very nice track.
The overall performance was good, but there were a couple little parts that sounded like they didn’t match up or were off time. It’s not anything that would bring down the whole song, though.
I really liked the sound cause I’m just a sucker for this style of music. The vocal style was very unique for the genre. It reminded me of a less-intense Nick Cave. The song reminded me of more recent bands like Doves or The Stills.
It has that airy feel to it built on good instrumental mood setting. It didn’t get too complex or weird. The layering of sound worked well to hold the song through to the end. The production work on the guitar parts was good enough for me to notice.
If this was on a sample CD, I would definately try and track down more songs by this artist.
75Cents from Tallmadge, Ohio on 8Nov2004
I don’t believe… stop asking
Very nice guitar fade. Way crappy fake synth not appropiate to the song. Nay for electronic drums or drum machine… or very very poorly sounding drums. vocals occasionaly not in pitch. I need more guitar present to actually continue listening. I semi like the ending but the crunch sound in my left irratates the contrast.
bluecomb from Corvallis, Oregon on 8Nov2004
My review
I really like the verse. You have a Joe Jackson vibe goin on. The chorus is weak compared to the verse. Overall the song is quite good but I’d rework the chorus. The performance is solid.
JustAudio from London, Ontario, Canada on 4Nov2004
Like a plain, bland muffin…
I’m just not getting it guys. I’m not sure where this song is going.
I don’t think it’s “performed” poorly, per se, but I just don’t know about the song writing. It doesn’t really inspire an emotion in me. It doesn’t excite me, and does not truly hit the sadness emotions. I’m just indifferent to it.
Totally subjectively, I’m not sure I like what the vocalist is doing with his voice. Too much inflection perhaps (Also, I’d suggest getting rid of some of the vocal effect/reverb, esp. on “do you believe” refrain: let his true voice come out). Speaking of vocals, you can get anything more stock than “Do you believe in love?”
I like the rythym, drums/track. Good production though.
– lehnherr12 from Atlanta, Georgia on 4Nov2004
Believe
Real interesting tune;keeps your attention. Well played and in time with each other.Overall pretty cool!
pkndille from Warwick, Rhode Island on 3Nov2004
the hardest review i’ve had to do yet
i will focus on performance, song writing, and production. performancewise, you have suceeded for the most part. technically, you sound like a tight and well practiced band. the drums are proficient if a tad unexciting. the guitar and bass are confident. the vocals, however, falter. lyrically, there is some awkwardness here. some of the lines, particullarly the verses sound clumsy and forced. these are mostly a lyrical and phrasing problem. strive for liquidity. you tone is similar to evan dando, look to”shame about ray” for inspiration. the song writing evidenced here is overall competent, however, the hook falls short. lyrically it is a bit cliche. melodically, it simply isn’t catchy enough. i do, however, want to make it clear that i think you are onto something here. you definitely have the makings of a good song. don’t misconstrue my review as being overly negative. you are really close to achieving the brass ring. production wise, overall it is clear and a notch above the typical demo. the vocals are upfront, a neccesity of any pop song, and clear. the beginning of the track though is somewhat awkward. the panning is confusing and distracting. it seems empty and may turn off listeners from what would otherwise be an ejoyable song. remember,the first 30 seconds are the most important. one other note on production. the keyboard sounds are not happening. why would you sully anotherwise professional sounding song with chessily ironic casio tones. you are better than this.
thegentry from Hillsboro, Oregon on 29Oct2004
Nice Song
I thought the production and performance was pretty good. I would have liked to hear more effects in the main vocals in the verses especially…maybe even just slightly different mixing, more reverb or something…i dunno. Overall, I thought it was pretty well done.
– arghhh2004 from North Bay, Ontario, Canada on 29Oct2004
I believe!!
I like the originality. The fade in is cool. Great ideas. I LOVE the vocals and the tone. Nice ear candy with the guitar sounds. Production is very lively and refreshing. Nice key work. The song has a cool mood. I LOVE the sparce drum beat. The only constructive critasims is to have a more intense part of the song to catch a higher emotion level. AWSOME job guys!
SamuelSharkey from Red Deer, Alberta, Canada on 28Oct2004
ill give you a chance..
dudadudadudadudaduda dudadudaduda
she was wearing that red dress…
blablablaaaaahh blablahhhhhh
sorry just alittle generic for me.. more 2 note riffs please!
Hecubis301 from Central, Florida on 28Oct2004
Gothic love at its best
Filled with a creepy vibe throughout, this song has a subtle, dramatic quality that frames the lead vocalist’s deep, hypnotic voice perfectly. An inescapable sense of foreboding rides alongside quiet musings of love, which makes your heart ache while the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Lush, engaging, and addictive, this song is everything you want in Gothic-Alternative sound.
madsmiley78 from Brandon, Florida on 28Oct2004
nice sound
simple guitar riff that sounded good and grew louder,was a bit let down by the beat at first but it got better.Performance is good and production is spot on too,song itself pretty good but i found vocals are a little sort of one leveled and quite not boring just a little monotomous,not a bad track at all though
ashaxx from Stourbridge, Non Usa, United Kingdom on 28Oct2004
hard to place
the vocals were a bit muddy. I did like the overall leonard cohen feel… didn’t really care for the lyrics.
bunnysound from San Francisco, California on 27Oct2004
Sweeping sound, underwhelming chorus
I like the harmonies and the full, intoxicating sound. The melody in the chorus itself is a little monotonous to me, and the lyrics are on the trite side.
Great soundscapes you’ve created here though, lots of potential. It is performed well, and produced well (maybe the vocals could be mixed better?)
– lhawkins from Los Angeles, California on 27Oct2004
A bit gloomy
Interesting intro, sounds quite dark in a way. The singer sounds like Syd Barrett on his way to a radiohead gig. Nice chords/melody. A bit gloomy (good for a song like this).
TheMattBrown from London, England, United Kingdom on 27Oct2004
Go Go Gadget Headline
I like the bridge part most. And I dislike the chorus. This has a sound that reminds me of a cross between The Smoking Popes and The Magnetic Fields. If more was done with that bridge part and less with the chorus, I’d be all over this like lube on a porn star.
Flloyd from Boston, Massachusetts on 26Oct2004
80’s is not dead
again this is a good tune for the beauty bar on thursday nights.good rockin drinking music.somber,moody,melloncollie,s its own way)i love descenant sounds.sounds that appear to be trailing of into the amber sunset.this song is simple which all good music is.they are obviously not trying to break any records which is good.the song is good very listenable(is that a word?)the production sounded better than most of the shit i have listened to on this website.good shit guys.good luck
mrwong2442 from Brooklyn, New York on 26Oct2004
song
Good ideas here. Too much synth, I think, perhaps a better idea may be a lead guitar with lots of effects. I like the chorus, sounds more clear than the verse. NIce and meloncholy…I’m a fan of that.
cjmahoney from Boston, Massachusetts on 26Oct2004
katchy
like how the guitar comes in…the keyboards sound alright…little video-game-ish at times….the arrangements are alright…the drums cut through nicely and mix well with the song…like the changes…like the chorus..good performance…the production is pretty well down..the song overall is pretty kewl…hey..its a love song…good stuff guys
-John sykossun from Alliston, Ontario, Canada on 26Oct2004
do you believe
I really like the bouncing guitars coming into the synth pad setting up the verse here, The vocal tone is decent, but I’m not in love with this singer… Interesting drum tones coming in around 1:39… At the 2:11 mark, the backgrounds add in some nice warmth and the guitar playing becomes strong. Performance- strong in many areas, especially drums and bass
production- fairly well done… Song- It’s ok…try breaking things up a bit more.
Audioride from Brighton, Massachusetts on 26Oct2004
Keep up the good work
What a nice mood this song had. I think this has some real quality to it. Unusual production, but engaging. Keep up the good work.
foffster from B�, Telemark, Norway on 25Oct2004
Just not very inspiring
The drums were really buried in the mix. Production value low. The song itself left me feeling kind of uninterested. Vocals sounded like that guy from Duran Duran on zanex… He sounded like he was phoning in his lines- or at least like he was very bored.
jamies_ice from New Castle, Pennsylvania on 25Oct2004
(snore)
Somehow, the words of this song just don’t belong with the rythmn. I don’t know what it is. Quite interesting, but mostly just makes me want to sleep. Are you kids on Valium?
wheresmebox from Unspecified on 25Oct2004
Big Sound
My first reaction on hearing the mix was that the keyboard seems to be quite prominent and seems to be treading on the guitars a little. Not that the production is bad in any way – in fact, it’s very bright and clear and well produced and does seem to pick up halfway through.
All performances sound accomplished but with music being such a subjective thing, I have to say that I’m not too keen on the song overall. I’m just not a fan of the tune. Just my opinion there.
dinerhq from High Wycombe, London, United Kingdom on 25Oct2004
nice intro
vocalist could work on his approach i think that perhaps he could work on the lyrics of the chorus also there decent but its just been sung about so many times you know? over all i think that this song would sound very good live and the performance would probably be there but in just audio it doesnt grab me ? production ok its definately good enough to get the idea of the song through but if you got signed you would rerecord any way so dont sweat the production.
stockton from Fort Lewis, Washington on 25Oct2004
Good song…just needs a little more variatio..
The beginning of the song drew me in… sort of a Pink Floydish feel. The vocal melody was a bit too straight for me, not much of a hook, in my opinion. I like the bridge, a bit of a change up. The production is good, mixing is good. I definitely think a little variation in the vocal melody would make a huge difference.
onewhodreams from Laguna Niguel, California on 24Oct2004
like Nine Inch Nails struck by Cupid
Singer needs to try recording this when he isn’t half asleep; that way the words won’t run together.Song has the right texture for the style. The bridge was a nice contrast. Overall, a bit too mellow for me; if you want to do a slow song, you need to emphasize the lyrics. Clear lyrics in a ballad turn the song from a puddle into a stream; a stream that can flow right into the listener if you do it the right way.
darkmorning from Lancaster, New York on 24Oct2004
alice in chains meets the grand orchestra
she was wearing that red dress, huh? god the vox are horrible. is this robert smith’s new band? Yes, I believe in love. this belongs in pop section. I cannot go on listening to this crap. shut her down 1 of 5 b/c thats the lowest rating garageband allows. hey at least I’m honest.
maulingallmules from De Pere, Wisconsin on 24Oct2004
Garage Band
Tidal Wave
It’s alright
I like the melody. The vocals are great in the chorus, I don’t really like the beginning vocals. The drums were great.
AdoptMe from Crownsville, Maryland
Intresting
The guitar is pretty good at the beginning. The singer’s voice isn’t really my style, might be because it’s a bit loud too. Other wise its pretty good. Reminds me of the Doors for some reason.
malakikourt from Ninety Six, South Carolina
<h3pulp< h3=””>
This is very Pulp influenced. This one is loungy with dirty hooks. trip out.
peck from Hayward, California
BINGO!
Loved the lyrics! And that super low lead voice. Beautiful stuff! Everything about this song was just right.
Had to listen to it again. I’d love to see the band live!
– jnny808 from Cyberspace, Alberta, Canada
Interesting
Vocals are to high in the mix. It sounds a little like Sean Mullins. The recording is good.
rbell44 from Saint Paul, Minnesota
Very interesting
The singer’s voice…whoa, it made me feel like I was in a dream. Very intoxicating and unique. I’m not sure that I’m a big fan of this kind of music, but I do appreciate that the singer wrote some very interesting
The bridge section was kind of a letdown…I was expecting something more from it. I’m not sure what it should have been, but it just killed the momentum of the song. I would like to see your band live to see what kind of energy you have and how you connect with the audience.
– SamsaraMan from Evanston, Illinois
Please more sex refrences
Lyrics really bad. And thats a completely subjective category, but they completely ruined the song for me. The lyrics in the chorus arent so bad. But the verse, is mind boggling bad. Song sounds alright though. Bass is very very strong. Drums sound alright. Vocal delivery is a little weak. Especially at the begining. AHHHHH i just remembered the first line again “Love is an ocean, why dont you get wet”. That one hurts fellas.
Baron_Zemo from Vienna, Virginia
dark but catchy
Tthis is a pretty catchy song, but dark at the same time. all the parts are played well, and the vocals are nice. however, i much prefer the sung choruses to the verses, because during the verses the singer takes on a kind of Nick Cave baritone that is a bit irritating. my favorite part is the background organ (or synth organ), but i kind of wished that it was brought more to the front of the mix. this is a quality song though… nice work.
sansarc from Woodbury, New Jersey
Dreamy alt-rock
Sounds well-produced. I like the instrumentation, the vocals are alright, but they are a little too conversational to me. The voice might be better if it was sung higher, but that’s okay. It reminds me of Pink Floyd and Interpol. The vocal effects are slightly distracting, but not bad. The drums are very good, keeping the beat well and adding just the right amounts of rhythm. The guitars are pretty good. I like the feedback noises, very cool. Maybe there could be a bigger break-down in the middle or something? Or maybe a guitar solo? Or a riff jam? It sounds very good though.
Forever_Endever from Eau Claire
eerie
the vox are eerie and are like…the doors mixed with beatles melody, that’s kinda what i’m hearing atleast….nice lil breakdown in the middle with the vocalist..talking to…whoever he’s talking to
blankosmosis from Levittown, New York
Lose the Verse Melody
the instruments sound good. I’m not a big fan of the vocals in the verse. When the vocals are layered a bit it helps. I would rethink the melody on the verse and then you would be getting closer to having a good song in my book. I do give you props on the mix.
bartongill from Studio City, California
I think I’m Elvis
Lyrics and vocals need serious help, but the music isn’t too bad.
LithiumSuede from Medford, Oregon
right on…
WEDDINg PRESENT!!! decent song, original play and vocals…good job…
lesblack from Chicago, Illinois
crash test
the drums and vocals appear to be too high in the mix…the two are washing out the guitar, which is a strong point of the song…i like the instrumentation and the chorus, i just can’t get into the vocals on the verse…it’s good, otherwise
chickenking from Smithtown, New York
Interesting lyrics
Good production on this track. The vocals are good and clear. The lyrics are interesting. The guitar bass and drums all seem to work well together in this tune. I like the change up at the ending. Good work.
BigBadBoMan from Langley, British Columbia, Canada
jjj unearthed
transmission
rating: 5/5
Michael Cullen’s music is reminiscent of bands such as Joy Division, The Birthday Party and the Triffids to name a few. He manages to combine the best bits of each of these artists to come up with something distinctive of his own. This song has a fast energetic vibe with dark atmospheric undertones. The music alone creates vivid imagery while the cleverly crafted lyrics add the story in.
Tomatrax, SuperUser 04 Aug, 2007
all used up
rating: 5/5
A very dark and gloomy tune looking at despair and what could have been. Mr Cullen uses some interesting effects on his vocals to create a chilling echo sound. Overall this is a brilliant piece of work that consists of dense sounds and beautiful melodies.
Tomatrax, SuperUser 04 Aug, 2007
One is Still My Number
rating: 5/5
The music here is like post punk crossed with rhythm and blues, the end result is both unique and infectious. This is led my a solid vocal style that pushes out some bitter emotion. To top it off the lyrics in this piece are sharply delivered with some cleverly crafted metaphors. Overall this song is totally brilliant!
