Standard Edition

BBC Review
There was a vogue last year for second albums that were markedly different to the artists in question's debuts. Jack Penate, The Maccabees and The Horrors all changed direction, and mostly for the better. The latter in particular earned praise for their about-turn, from mediocre goth-rock to a tantalising blend of krautrock and post-My Bloody Valentine drone.

Bombay Bicycle Club--BBC to their friends--have arguably effected the most radical volte-face of all. Their first album, 2009's I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose, was promising indie noise-pop, also bearing a pleasing MBV influence. Right at the end of the album, though, there was a relatively pared-down piece of poignant acoustica called "The Giantess" that, little did we know, pointed the way towards their second release.

Flaws, co-produced by guitarist/backing vocalist Jamie MacColl's dad Neil (brother of Kirsty, son of folkie Ewan) and mainman Jack Steadman (lead vocals, guitar, xylophone, banjo), is almost entirely acoustic, whether it's the original material or the covers--there's a version of John Martyn's "Fairytale Lullaby", while Swansea features lyrics from the Joanna Newsom track of the same name. Deeper investigation of BBC's catalogue will reveal that their single B sides were often acoustic, but still, hearing a whole album of folk, blues and country-inflected ballads (apparently inspired by Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music) from the NME's Best New Band of 2010 still feels quite odd.

Even the faster numbers are steeped in traditional music. On opener "Rinse Me Down" and second track "Many Ways", the rhythms are gently skittering, like rustic drum'n'bass played by early 20th century farm hands. Steadman's vocal stands out--its tremulous quality may be a hangover from, as the story goes, embarrassment at being overheard singing as a kid, but it heightens the sense of an authentically troubled spirit exorcising his demons in the quietly devastating manner of a Nick Drake. On "My God" his voice is disconcertingly double-tracked, as though haunted by his ghostly twin. "Dust on the Ground" is perhaps most striking, not least because it is a folk rendition of a track from that debut album that proves how abrupt this change of direction was, not to mention how adaptable Steadman's melodies are. --Paul Lester

Product Description
2010 release, a stunningly beautiful acoustic album by Bombay Bicycle Club. Having finished recording their debut LP I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose in February 2009, the band went straight back into the studio days after they submitted the master for I Had The Blues, and started the initial recordings for this album. Recorded in between touring over the past year and a half, a few early tracks were laid down at The Church and produced by Neill MacColl (guitarist Jamie's dad), but the rest was recorded in singer Jack Steadman's bedroom and produced by Jack himself. Flaws is characterized by a delicate, heart-swelling beauty and lightness of touch throughout. This more stripped down, acoustic sound - though markedly different from the majority of their debut - isn't new for the band, as almost every single they've released since their earliest days has been accompanied by an acoustic b-side.

1. Rinse Me Down
2. Many Ways
3. Dust On The Ground
4. Ivy & Gold
5. Leaving Blues
6. Fairytale Lullaby
7. Word By Word
8. Jewel
9. My God
10. Flaws
11. Swansea

Amazon USA:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003M3UJKS/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003M3UJKS/?tag=imwan-21

---

Deluxe Edition

BBC Review
There was a vogue last year for second albums that were markedly different to the artists in question's debuts. Jack Penate, The Maccabees and The Horrors all changed direction, and mostly for the better. The latter in particular earned praise for their about-turn, from mediocre goth-rock to a tantalising blend of krautrock and post-My Bloody Valentine drone.

Bombay Bicycle Club--BBC to their friends--have arguably effected the most radical volte-face of all. Their first album, 2009's I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose, was promising indie noise-pop, also bearing a pleasing MBV influence. Right at the end of the album, though, there was a relatively pared-down piece of poignant acoustica called "The Giantess" that, little did we know, pointed the way towards their second release.

Flaws, co-produced by guitarist/backing vocalist Jamie MacColl's dad Neil (brother of Kirsty, son of folkie Ewan) and mainman Jack Steadman (lead vocals, guitar, xylophone, banjo), is almost entirely acoustic, whether it's the original material or the covers--there's a version of John Martyn's "Fairytale Lullaby", while Swansea features lyrics from the Joanna Newsom track of the same name. Deeper investigation of BBC's catalogue will reveal that their single B sides were often acoustic, but still, hearing a whole album of folk, blues and country-inflected ballads (apparently inspired by Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music) from the NME's Best New Band of 2010 still feels quite odd.

Even the faster numbers are steeped in traditional music. On opener "Rinse Me Down" and second track "Many Ways", the rhythms are gently skittering, like rustic drum'n'bass played by early 20th century farm hands. Steadman's vocal stands out--its tremulous quality may be a hangover from, as the story goes, embarrassment at being overheard singing as a kid, but it heightens the sense of an authentically troubled spirit exorcising his demons in the quietly devastating manner of a Nick Drake. On "My God" his voice is disconcertingly double-tracked, as though haunted by his ghostly twin. "Dust on the Ground" is perhaps most striking, not least because it is a folk rendition of a track from that debut album that proves how abrupt this change of direction was, not to mention how adaptable Steadman's melodies are. --Paul Lester

Product Description
Deluxe two disc (CD + NTSC/Region 0 DVD) edition includes bonus DVD containing music videos to all album tracks. 2010 release, a stunningly beautiful acoustic album by Bombay Bicycle Club. Having finished recording their debut LP I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose in February 2009, the band went straight back into the studio days after they submitted the master for I Had The Blues, and started the initial recordings for this album. Recorded in between touring over the past year and a half, a few early tracks were laid down at The Church and produced by Neill MacColl (guitarist Jamie's dad), but the rest was recorded in singer, Jack Steadman's bedroom and produced by Jack himself. Flaws is characterized by a delicate, heart-swelling beauty and lightness of touch throughout. This more stripped down, acoustic sound - though markedly different from the majority of their debut - isn't new for the band, as almost every single they've released since their earliest days has been accompanied by an acoustic b-side.

1. Rinse Me Down
2. Many Ways
3. Dust On The Ground
4. Ivy & Gold
5. Leaving Blues
6. Fairytale Lullaby
7. Word By Word
8. Jewel
9. My God
10. Flaws
11. Swansea

Amazon USA:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003PPD8MO/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003PPD8MO/?tag=imwan-21

Bombay Bicycle Club 'surprised' by acoustic album's success
Band say they never envisaged 'Flaws' being so successful

August 2, 2010
http://www.nme.com/news/bombay-bicycle-club/52324



Bombay Bicycle Club admit they're surprised at how successful their recent acoustic album 'Flaws' has been.

The band, speaking in a video interview with NME, which you can watch below, said that the initial idea was to simply release a low-key album on the cheap. The album went Top Ten in the UK charts earlier this summer.

"It was never meant to be a big deal, [it was meant to be] a self-centred thing to release it for our own pleasure," frontman Jack Steadman said.

He added: "A lot of the time I was just recording it for fun and didn't think it [bedroom music sessions] would go on any albums. I think the record label humoured us and thought it was kind of funny that we wanted to release it. I think we're all surprised by how well it's done."

Watch the video interview in full by clicking below.

http://www.nme.com/video?bcpid=87571471 ... 2194982001