Myths Of The Near Future

Never heard of this. Predictions: - UK (name is a giveaway tbh) - indie rock - unremarkable - goes for an hour Ok, got the length wrong (by thanks of a 15min silent secret track that's unavailable on Spotify lol) but otherwise nailed it. Nameless mid-00s indie rock from the UK. Nothing critically bad, but consistently low-level boring. Had "indie with disco beats and mellotron" vibes in some songs. Another result of Dimery's obsession with showcasing the UK at any cost. 3/5.

We’re fragments of fiction!!! This was really up my alley. I hadn’t heard any of this and will revisit. I love that the songs all sound different and add to the overall listening experience. I want to say that it’s “proggy” but I don’t really know what that means. The musicians are talented. Thank you.

What a great album! This is the first time that I've heard of this band and I'm absolutely devastated it took me this long. Not only the music and vocal are great, but also the album makes references to some of my favourite books! I love the atmosphere of the record, putting some postmodernistic twist in their sound, appropriate to the books quoted on the tracks. I'm only after the first listening, so my emotions are really fresh, but for sure my next weeks will be spent trying to listen Klaxons to the ground. Great start of the week!

This is a crazy album in the best way. It’s nonstop energy.

Meh. More brit-pop techno-disco-electro shit. Nothing special and not on the level of anything anyone would say you must hear before you die. 2/5

This rocks 4 Welp 5

Reminds me of Bloc Party, but at a lower level.

This album is perfect for psyching myself up to go back to school and out myself back into student debt. I’ll be straight up. I loved it, and I thought it was magick. Each song brought a fascinating element to the table, and I absolutely LOVE when bands just shoot for the moon and throw everything at it. My fav on the album, Gravity’s Rainbow, makes me want to both dance for 100 hours straight while climbing Mt Everest. Oh but this review isn’t over yet. If these are the myths of the near future, I can’t wait to see what the myths of the distant future are. Now the review is over.

Oohh boy was I excited to see this pop up, what an absolute fucking cracker of a throwback to Year 8. There's also a certain apprehension present as it's been at least 15 or 16 years since I straightened my fringe and put this on. But yes mate it's lived up to the hype very well, break out the GHD. I remember never having heard anything like Golden Skans before, one of the first times I felt physically transported to another dimension by vehicle of song alone. I think it was the Henry's that bought me the CD for my birthday that year (they were also responsible for Avril Lavigne's SK8er Boy single, both of which are still proudly on display in the cd collection. My (very brief) year 8 girlfriend Addy Whiton needs a shout out here too. Before we dated she got wind of me liking the Klaxons (probably from the "Listening Now" section on MSN Messenger). A few days later she had a friend deliver me a mix cd of Klaxons, Looks, Arctic Monkeys, The Hives etc along with a bright pink Klaxons poster that she had written a little note on the back of. I remember her waving to me as her bus went past Mater Hill. Still have the mix cd but regrettably I binned the poster in a misguided fit of emotional cleansing after we broke up a few weeks later. Alright enough of that, now I'm at It's Not Over Yet (best track outside of Golden Skans and Gravitys Rainbow) and the album has most definitely held up far far better than I expected. It's actually to the point of it being better than I remember. Also interesting that I (kind of) understand the Pynchon reference now as well (at least the 25 pages I've managed to get through so far). Also had never got to the secret track on the end of Four Horsemen of 2012 before which was a nice treat to round out what has been my favourite album (and review) that's come up within at least the last couple of months.

Rating: 10/10

Enjoyed most of this. Will definitely re-visit in the near future.

It's a good album and the band probably would have been fun to see live. But is there really anything exceptional or groundbreaking about it? I've heard loads of bands doing very similar things and frankly, these guys seemed a little late the dance-punk party. I'd pick The Rapture's Echoes over this one personally. That doesn't mean it's a bad album. Not at all. I enjoyed it all the way through for what it is. I just don't know that it's interesting enough to be on this list.

This sounds like something produced by ChatGPT after I ask it to make an album combining the sounds of the 20 most popular post-2005 indie rock bands. And that’s a good thing.

2.4 - Noisy, headache-inducing electro-pop vomit reminiscent of Franz Ferdinand but without a single solid hook. In fact, I'd say every hook attempt fails miserably. To name just a few: the "come with me, we'll travel to infinity" line on "Gravity's Rainbow", the "light the bridges with the lantern..." line on "Forgotten Works", and the "do what you will" line on "Magick."

Being drawn to sci-fi postmodernist literature at the time this one came out, *Myths Of The Near Future* was bound to tick a lot of boxes for me. With a track named "Gravity's Rainbow", how could I *not* spot that debut album? It's a great and lively track by the way, whose lyrics are only vaguely indebted to Thomas Pynchon's magnum opus, thematically speaking. Yet the song would provide great opening titles if a director or a showrunner was bold enough to adapt this crazy mammoth of a novel for a TV series (or for a *dozen* theatrical films, lol). Apart from that track, many other dance-punk songs slap on this LP: "Two Receivers", "Golden Skans", "As Above So Below", "Magick", "It's Not Over Yet"... I was surprised to find out that the latter was actually a cover version of an older dance track after all these years (those liner notes on my own copy of the album are too messy, which probably explains why I couldn't read them properly). Listening to the original was a decidedly *weird* experience, ha ha. Sometimes dated and cheesy arrangements can hide great songs, I guess... Speaking of "dated arrangements", *Myths Of The Near Future* is admittedly very much of its time as well. Yet Klaxons' music was eccentric and original enough to set them apart from the other dance-rock / landfill indie bands of the late naughts. It all boils down to the melodic earworms the band keeps piling up through their elated pop vocals, along with their bizarre synth hooks, rumbling distorted basslines and drilling, noisy guitars. And there are all the literary references sprinkled throughout the album, too. Such literate eccentricity is a plus that makes this record far more relatable than other forays into that overall dance-punk genre. Too bad a lot of people are unable to feel that in the reviews here. To put it in a nutshell, *Myths Of The near Future* is one of the best releases of 2007 (a year where a lot of bland stuff was singled out by the music press, unfortunately). My overall grade for it is 4.5/5, but given how criminally low their score currently is, I'm gonna round that grade up to a perfect 5. Next, please. Number of albums left to review: 563 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 212 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 102 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 127

I had never heard of these guys. Enjoyed this album from start to finish.

I was expecting to hate this, but I did not.

My first listen I was unimpressed but this one grew on me. They have kind of an unusual sound but it comes together into some pretty decent songs that sort of mix punk with a bit of Gorillaz and maybe some avant-garde or something. Competent musicianship all around and creative songwriting. A low point is definitely Isle of Her, which I find to be kind of boring and a bit too heavy on the weird factor. The other dud is Four Horsemen which I find is just a bit too intense that it loses out on the intricate sound the other tracks have. Also it doesn't have a melody since they just sort of yell the lyrics, and the song misses that. These two low points are easily outweighed by the good work on the rest of the album however. My highlight is probably the intro to Atlantis to Interzone, where that vocalization noise in your left ear and the siren in your right ear sounda chaotic but quickly resolve into the beat of the song. Really nice stuff.

Almost offensively British. Sound of the 00s in its purest form. All over the place … and I just dig it. I had all but forgotten “Golden Skans”. What a tune!

Not bad. I knew a couple of tracks. I gotta feeling they’re underrated but hey.

Ok

Is this what was once called "landfill indie"? If so, it was well-named (and I say that as a mild fan of some *terrible* early 2000's bands - hi, Hard-Fi!) Occasional hints of a tune, buried under some appalling production. Rating below puts this on par with "Pet Sounds", appropriately enough

Klaxons were not shy in splashing some of Gen X’s favourite literary references into their titles - along with other weirdoes of the vintage, my tail wags at Burroughs and Ballard - and their pick ’n’ mix post-punk is similarly modish, with the thick, overly busy production of the period leaving no space to savour. Made out one song in the mix, then realised it was a cover. They were pipped to first place in the UK album charts by Norah Jones. I don’t know Simon, it’s no Pet Sounds.

Oh look, Of Montreal and MGMT have a less interesting cousin over in the UK. If you liked how weird this was, go checkout Of Montreal's Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer which released in the same year. That was Of Montreal's 8th album. No matter how much the Klaxon want to rewrite history on their band blurbs, they're a derivative act from a time just before the internet made it so obvious.

The most late 2000’s shit I’ve ever heard. This sounds like what would play after a transformers movie. Or perhaps during a video of somebody building a Lego Star Wars prequel set. Maybe in a PowerPoint made by a couple high school nerds who love Halo 3 and Modern Warfare on xbox 360. I wish I’d been that kinda guy in that period of time. Damn.

In my rating system, 1 means "shouldn't be on the list." This is an emphatic 1!! Get this off, asap!! 1001 slots for "albums you should listen to," I am realizing, is a precious resource that must be rationed. We can't afford to have this on there. Unite against this pick! Every choice they made musically is the opposite choice I wanted them to make. Musically, like George Kostanza in that one Seinfeld episode, who could have succeeded simply by doing the opposite. Somehow wacky but not in an endearing way at ALL. I really dislike every choice they made. I'm getting the sense that they are trying to write anthemic, show-stopping mid-2000's hit singles on every song. It's just that they fall flat on their face every song. Embarrassing to listen to honestly! Bummer about the album cover. A genuinely cool cover that caused me to give this a closer look than it deserved! 1/5

What a nice surprise that was. Some say that rock is dead, certainly it doesn't dominate, but bands like Klaxon take rock into this century with aplomb. It's noticeable that they take us on a journey from obvious rock to stuff which is a little more electronic, a bit more dance oriented. Yet I think the last few songs, which feature some killer bass work, actually rock harder while bringing on the funk.

This. This is what I came here for. To discover new, great music. "Myths of the Near Future" comes out swinging and never lets up. The energy is contagious, the songs are hooky, and the production is top-notch. It was an immediate repeat play for me. Just great. Can't believe I'd never heard of Klaxons before. They're certainly on my radar now.

Интересно, как раз моё.

idk what I expected but that wayy exceeded it that was such a fun album, definitely revisiting

Big fan of brit rock and this album did not disappoint.

Ook de nummers die geen singles waren hebben me kunnen bekoren. Heel toffe plaat

This was a great surprise! Hadn’t heard of them before so I was very happy about the quality of this album

The first three songs really catch your attention. I especially like the way they change up the styles and production – going all clubby-with-sirens-samples-guitars-and-screams on Atlantis to Interzone followed by the infectious pop of Golden Skans, which apparently has been many times covered and used in TV commercials, not surprisingly. The lesser-known tracks that follow are maybe not as hit-worthy but are still catchy, innovative and well-produced: they get the most out of three vocalists (Isle of Her and Forgotten Works are good examples). I put a lot of weight on The Mercury Prize, especially from that era. We could do worse than listening to MP winners and runners up for the rest of our lives. The fact that this beat out “Back in Black” is saying something. The LP apparently got mixed reviews from the critics, mostly due to the fact that they weren’t rave enough to be labelled New Rave. That’s okay by me.

It’s been at least 10 years since I’ve heard this one properly. I still occasionally hear Golden Skans on the radio, but Klaxxons I think are a largely forgotten band (seems they’ve been inactive since 2014). Before today, I don’t know if I would have thought to put this on a list of my top albums of the 2000s. Now I’m pretty sure I would have in the top 3 maybe.

Love it

Accompaniment of mental decay...

One of my favourite albums, favourite songs are 'Two Receivers,' 'Atlantis to Interzone,' 'Golden Skans,' 'As Above So Below,' 'It's Not Over Yet' and 'Magick'

A really great upbeat trippin’ good time

For some reason, I completely forgot about this album! I listened to it on repeat when it first came out and it perfectly encapsulates the style and vibe of that period.

a collage of every garish, beautiful melody someone could think of, glued together and put on the road. for my money, the closest possible thing a new rave record has come to the deranged eclecticism of Fantasy Black Channel. when i first heard it, i thought i wouldn't be thinking about the songs past first exposure. upon revisiting, it becomes apparent that every single song was just waiting to be rediscovered, each bassline or siren a loud, brash sound dispelling the ideas of it being any sort of relic. barring "isle of her" (which, like. cmon) i don't even think i could tell you what track is my favorite. it's gonna become (or has become, if you consider Brat Summer to have been an extension of bloghouse chic) cool to like this type of music again very soon. im more prepared than all of you.

Loved this. Perfect album to listen to on a road trip to Mars. Favourite song - Golden Skans (obviously)

Brilliant debut from the short lived Klaxons

Das ging rein in meine Ohren. Ich kannte die Gruppe und das Album bisher nicht. Wie konnte das geschehen? Tolles Album.

Really enjoyed this one. Great riffs, interesting lyrics. 5/5!

Sunny weather driving music. Not too hot on the late 2000’s indie explosion but this one is an exception.

Really digging this! Stand outs: Two Receivers, Golden Skans - seriously all solid songs.

This album was great. I listened to it twice and was vibing the whole time. It’s energetic, interesting and such a cool sound.

Gloriously barmy. I love every second of this nutty LP.

Wow this was a catchy load of fun! Really terrific!

Niceee

How have I not found this before?? Pure chaos and I love it

So cool, I loved this sound! Amazing to hear something so distinctive and enjoyable after nearly a thousand daily albums.

I'm a sucker for anything that's obviously influenced by and holds reverence for good speculative fiction. I was worried that the music itself wouldn't match those high expectations, but it absolutely did. I'll be checking out the rest of their catalog. Best track: Magick

Wow I really enjoyed this one, plus the album art is so cool

Great discovery!

Coined as a "science-fiction concept album about the future" and I'm here for it. I had a feeling that I'd heard these guys before and as soon as Golden Skans kicked in it all came rushing back. So first run through was getting familiar with the concept again and second listen was enjoying the energy. Faves: Golden Skans, Isle Of Her, Gravity's Rainbow, Forgotten Works, and It's Not Over Yet.

How could I have never heard of this band before. Because damn I've missed out. This album is a pure gem, I'm definitely going to listen to this album on a regular base. Love the sound of it. So far no specific favourites, because all of them sound great

Love the energy, very Arctic Monkeys-esque

There's a couple songs I've known from this album for a while but never checked out the whole thing. What a mistake that was. This album is so much fun, it's over in a flash and pretty much every song bombards you with catchy hooks or riffs. Listened to it 3 times during the day and I intend to listen to it some more. Perfectly represent a certain time for indie rock in the UK in the 2000s along with the first Arctic Monkeys record where rock music was fun and exciting.

Even though the last couple songs don’t live up to the rest of the album, the album as a whole kicks ass. It’s just one of the purest forms of 2000s alt rock short of the arctic monkeys I’ve heard in a while. The run of songs from golden skans to forgotten works is just excellent.

I do like this band and there are a couple of great tracks on this album but let's face it they are another in the long line of medium-good British bands that anger the American users who can't get over the fact our music is better ;-) For that reason it's a solid ***** from me Matthew..

Damn, I must have had these folks mixed up with someone else in my head, (The Zutons maybe? 🥴) because this was not what I was expecting! Pretty crazy I haven't listened to them before, as they seem to be extremely my thing - just looking at the song titles there's references to alchemy, Pynchon and Burroughs! "Magick" is clearly referencing Crowley from the lyrics, too. Went back for a third listen as soon as I finished the second. Cracking stuff! Fave tracks - "Atlantis to Interzone" love a good AWOOOGA to kick off a tune. "Gravity's Rainbow". though perhaps I'm influenced by my love of the book. Their cover of "It's not Over Yet" is fun too.

Good shit, man. Klaxons is one I certainly knew of but not particularly well. I remember Golden Skans and It's Not Over Yet being radio staples in 2007-2010; they were definitely a British indie staple amongst the likes of Arctic Monkeys, The Wombats, etc. Either way, this is an album that still slaps today. It has that element of distortion and danceability that keeps my attention throughout. Even the big one of this album, Golden Skans, is a total bop again now, even if it got a ridiculous amount of airtime back when it was released. Also, massive nostalgia for those Yamaha PSR "DJ" samples - Surely that keyboard voice was the bane of any music teacher in the 90's and 00's. I'd not really heard Atlantis to Interzone before but it slaps. Didn't realise how hard this album could get. Additionally, is it bad that it was only fairly recently that I found out It's Not Over Yet is a cover? Favourite: Golden Skans

Non-stop energy! Super cool listen. Screw it… 5 stars.

Cet album sonne complètement 2007. Maintenant que le temps est passé, on se rend compte qu’en effet, il y a eu cette période d’électro pop rock, ou indie dance-punk faite par des geeks, qui au final sonnaient un peu tous pareils et qui se bousculaient les uns derrières les autres sur les scènes de Rock en Seine. Et c’était pas mal. L’enchainement en ouverture “Two Receivers”, “Atlantis to Interzone”, “Golden Skans”et excellent, “It’s not over yet” un peu plus loin... “Isle of her” est plus relou.

Pretty high energy alternative rock with some interesting spacey sounds. It sometimes was a bit abrasive and repetitive, but overall not bad

Nu Rave - combining elements of the past with elements of the future to create something not as good as either of its composite parts. Clem Fandango worships this album, whereas I give it 4/5

The first song hooked me, and then was jamming along, and then it seemed to kind of let up at the end, but all in all good listen

Was good intersting mix of sounds

Not at all "new rave", quite punky on some songs and very much an alternative British rock ("indie") album with strong dance rhythms. Good. Thoroughly enjoy Golden Skans and Not Alone.

Rock. Salvo la tomadura de pelo del último tema, interesante.

Great album with a unique sound. Definitely saving this one for later

Oh maaaaan. This is a right 00s indie banger. Seeing this came out 17 years ago does make me feel quite old. None the lesson I think it holds up pretty damn well, it' still a fresh sound, very recognisable, so it doesn't fall into landfill indie at all. I looked up what the Klaxons looked like in 2007 and surely they must have been sponsored by Topman, bright coloured cardigans and buttoned up polo shirts.

I’d like to love this but I’m not quite there. A couple of great singles but non of the other album tracks really grabbed me. Of that time but just not as catchy as MGMT- interesting to read that this album came out first though.

It took less than a year for the world to forget that this band ever existed, so I have no idea how they made the list. That said, it was fun.

I was sure I would hate this, but I didn't. It was actually really interesting. I dug the overall vibe - pleasantly surprised.

“New rave” is a joke that has gone too far and likely become annoying to the band. The only rave sound here is the air siren on Atlantis To Interzone. The other ravy aspect is that Paul Oakenfold co-wrote the cover It’s Not Over Yet, which doesn’t sound like rave music. The album is engaging throughout. The lowest point happens to be the last song, Four Horsemen of 2012. Thankfully it is short.

3.5 really

Pretty good. I'd heard like one of these before. Not amazing. Amanda liked the first song but not really the rest.

Found this one by way of a Justice live show that sampled the blaring horns from 'Atlantis,' and bumped it a good deal through undergrad. I think this album works pretty well by taking the standard Brit rock template (a big dramatic chorus, narrative building in the verses) and dressing it in abrasive, out-there textures/instrumentation. Not every crashing guitar or electronic element works and some tracks do drag a bit, but there's no denying the absolute forward momentum this LP has as it careens through 36 minutes of maximalist fun.

3,5 ster. Ik maak er 4 van omdat ik de laatste tijd veel crap heb gehoord in deze lijst.

This album is really cool sounding, it feels like nothing else I've ever heard. Sure, that does equate to a lot of it just coming off as harsh noise and not something I'd listen to casually all the time, but this does feel like a natural evolution of much of the music that was being made out of the UK in the 90s and early 00s. It's like some really heavy metal, but lightened up with some alternative dust and synths to make it more appealing, and it works. Could see myself liking this more on a future listen, so I'll get ahead of the curb and give this a solid score now.

Interesting

Leuk album! Eindelijk weer eens een plaat waar ik wat energie van krijg.

Very good

This was kind of a weird album. I really liked it but it didn’t really have any songs that were like, “THATS THE HIT!” I really enjoyed it and will add to the listening pile for sure.

Volgens wiki klinkt het als een kruising tussen Bloc Party en Franz Ferdinand. En dat somt het eigenlijk best goed op. Het klinkt als een typisch Brits 00s festivalbandje. Golden Skans is een bescheiden hitje geweest, dat ook op K!NK nog met enige regelmaat gedraaid wordt. Als je al dit soort festivalbandjes op een rij zet, dan hebben de 00s toch nog best wel een karakteristiek geluid voortgebracht. Ik heb me er kostelijk mee vermaakt destijds, maar nu luister ik het nauwelijks meer (net als eerder bij het album van Franz Ferdinand). Dus of het de tand des tijds zal doorstaan, valt nog maar te bezien. Voor nu 3,5 ster en dat ronden we weer een keer af naar boven.

Some good songs on here. Very danceable.

Met wat elektronische hulp ontstaan aanstekelijke ritmes, soms versterkt dat staccato zang. Wat bijgeluiden her en der, die wat geforceerd lijken, maar toch passen. Dat geldt wellicht ook voor de zang. Het geheel maakt dat ik de band de af en toe klinkende punk-uitspattingen vergeef.

I liked this a lot, it actually felt like something new sound-wise, integrating a lot of modern non_rock elements without their feeling pasted on.

I'm into this.

Kept

Van sorgir del no res, i van contribuir a fer del 2007 un any musical força rellevant. El seu disc de debut gairebé semblava un 'grans éxits': 'Atlantis to Interzone', 'Golden Skans', 'It's Not Over Yet', 'As Above, So Below'... no hi havia segon de descans. Era una bona época pel génere, i va semblar per un instant que ells havien vingut per regnar-hi. Malauradament, la metxa se'ls hi va esgotar ben ràpidament i aquest primer àlbum és el seu testament rellevant. Però encara brilla amb llum ben forta

The fleeting moment in time that was the 'new rave' era might not go down as the most glorious or important movement in music history, but I'm sure there are worse scenes to soundtrack one's high school/uni years. This album is fun, chaotic, carefree and surreal - much like those times themselves, eh? When I hear the intro to Atlantis to Interzone today I can almost smell that heady mix of glowstick chemicals, sweat and cheap beer. 3.5 / 4

very cool overall!! kind of arcade fire-esque

Ah the nostalgic sound of British rock bands in the 00s. There's nothing quite like it, and I simply do not care that the majority of the output from that era does sounds a bit dated - it's all just way too enjoyable. Special shout out to the monstrous bass of Jamie Reynolds.

I have really mixed feelings about this album. On one side I really enjoyed a lot of the tracks and thought that the album had mostly good ideas. My issue with this album is there were multiple songs that had moments that I personally felt like were boring. For instance, the start of "Forgotten Works" was so boring I almost took a break on this album but finally after like a minute or 2 the track picked up and ended up being solid. That happened for a couple of other tracks. I think the boring parts in general were the parts that were not dance-punk or rave-y. I liked tracks like "Golden Skans", "Totem On The Timeline" and "Magick" because they focused heavily on those two genres and did them really well. I think overall the second half of this album was a little weaker than the first half but it was not a massive fall off (the first half was like a 9 and the second was a 7.5-8). That pretty much sums up my issues with the album. Now onto the positives, some of the tracks on this album feature absolutely addicting grooves like the aforementioned "Golden Skans" and "Magick". The dance-punk tracks were punchy and featured really ear-wormy instrumentation. I generally don't think the singing was anything super outstanding when compared to others in their genre and the instrumentation in spite of being somewhat derivative, both were performed well enough that it made this album an enjoyable listen and did not take away from the album that much. Personally not my favorite album in the genre but nowhere near bad. This is definitely the type of album that you can just throw one whenever and there are a few tracks that have entered my rotation. 8-8.5/10.

Kan bijna niet geloven dat dit alweer 16 jaar oud is. Ik deelde de passie voor dit plaatje met wijlen Xander! Tof om weer te horen.

Cet album aurait pu être un véritable baise-gueule s'il n'avait pas été gâché par ces infatigables bruits de klaxons et autres menaces échangées entre automobilistes.