William Blakes – Wayne Coyne

The Taranna Was Hot Series: Part 11/25

I bought this for $2.99 from the discount bin at Sonic Boom. Why? For the sheer WTF of it all. Any album that has Wayne Coyne’s face on the cover has got to be interesting.

Turns out, The William Blakes are a Danish pop rock band. According to Wiki, this debut album was recorded during less than one week of 2008, in their house. For all that, the sound quality is quite excellent. Wayne Coyne was not involved at all, this is just the WB’s homage to the man. They even cleverly added Coyne’s face to Blake’s body for the cover art.

And how does it sound? Decidedly 80s. There’s that sound – you know the one. Lots of synths and drum machines and harmony vocals. But there’s so much more too, it’s very creative and it draws you in to its pop rock swing and sway. It’s bouncy and fun, full of varying instruments and (for those so inclined) I imagine it’s very danceable too. The lyrics have something to say, which is more than many can boast. I liked the tracks where the acoustic guitars showed up the best.

And there were trumpets! I always cheer for the trumpets.

It’s all over the map, rivetingly so, actually. Not unlike the Flming Lips… Will I play this again? Sure. It’s just weird enough to be engaging, and I quite liked their songs. A neat curio for the collection, I’m glad I took the chance on bringing this one home.