from the almighty amg
The South London post-grunge foursome Athlete is comprised of childhood friends Carey Willets (bass), Joel Pott (guitar), Steve Roberts (drums), and Tim Wanstall (drums). Athlete formed in early 2000 after several Oasis-tailored incarnations and arrived at an experimental indie rock kind of style. Athlete spent the next year writing and recording, and their self-titled EP appeared on Regal Recordings in 2002. BBC Radio 1's Jo Whiley praised Athlete's first single, "Westside," as the Record of the Week. Several months later, "You Got Style" went Top 40 and opening dates with the likes of Mansun, the Polyphonic Spree, Electric Soft Parade, and Simian followed into the next year. Such critical success also led the band to sign with Parlophone. Athlete entered the studio with producer Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Beth Orton) in late 2002 to record their studio full-length. Vehicles & Animals marked the band's debut in mid-2003.
album review
Apparently damned in its home country for being just a little too much out of time ? the band is not really Brit-pop per se but has a certain amiableness about it that suggests a certain love of things from the heyday ? Athlete is perfectly, almost aggressively pleasant. "You Got the Style" might have been specifically about race riots in early 21st century Britain, but Athlete is not out to surprise, to disrupt, or to otherwise cause problems, while the band is also not "twee" as such, or emo or the like. If anything, they're doing something enjoyably relaxed enough that won't make you hate yourself, as the likes of Toploader did all too easily. Vehicles & Animals contains early singles plus more recent efforts and generally makes for a great listen on a lazy and warm afternoon ? not party music, but quietly hooky good times. Every so often something will spark up that makes a bit more sense of the Super Furry Animals and Pavement comparisons that the group has received ? the shift to electronic percussion and deep bass at the end of "One Million," the flecks of lazy semi-slacker singing from lead figure Joel Pott throughout. There's enough keyboard bubbling and arrangements throughout that suggest the group might actually benefit from going to that full-time, and while hardly reinventing them, the beat songs like "Out of Nowhere" are given a pleasant post-Beck tinge. The band's at its best when it just concentrates on doing what it likes ? "Shake Those Windows" is a winning example, where a low-key enough song suddenly shifts into a really summery chorus thanks to a grand semi-country guitar line and builds into a sweetly triumphant full-band conclusion. Even the sudden burst of a feedback-laden blast part way through "New Project" doesn't seem like a disruption of the general flow of Vehicles & Animals, and that's to its good. ? Ned Raggett
