Flowers
Do What You Want To, It's What You Should Do
Release Date: Sep 9, 2014
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock, Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Dream Pop, Experimental Rock
Record label: Kanine Records
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Album Review: Do What You Want To, It's What You Should Do by Flowers
Very Good, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 4
C86 has had something of a revival in recent years, thanks in part to indie and tweepop events like Derbyshire festival Indietracks and London club night How Does It Feel To Be Loved? and, of course, record labels like Fortuna POP! which has become something of a hallmark when it comes to picking out the best the scene has to offer. But in the main the bands riding the ’80s bandwagon have veered towards the sounds of those on the fringes of the genre; The Wedding Present and McCarthy – but not Flowers. Flowers are very, very C86.
Based on rating 6/10
Flowers’ Rachel Kennedy has one of those whispery, soft, “ethereal” voices that floats above the music – the kind you might associate with atmospheric shoegaze bands from the ‘90s. In those bands, the music might crash more loudly or overwhelm the vocals, something much different than what’s going on here, on Flowers’ debut album Do What You Want To, It’s What You Should Do, where her voice is featured at the front. The music this London trio makes is atmospheric, but more like a lush, noisy-in-a-pillowy-way version of melodic, minimalist indie-pop; in ‘80s UK style, with perhaps a touch of the ‘90s and even ‘00s US and UK followers of that style.
Based on rating 6/10
London indie pop trio Flowers formed in the time-honored tradition of bored roommates making music in their living room, inspired equally by the canon of melancholic fuzz pop that came before them and a lack of anything much else to do. If you're listening for them, these insular, housebound beginnings can be heard in Flowers' bright but uneven debut Do What You Want To, It's What You Should Do. The album smacks of newfound possibility, and sounds very much created in a bubble, despite production from veteran producer Bernard Butler.
Opinion: Very Good
Perhaps the most famous rumination on youth, Oscar Wilde bemoaned that “youth is wasted on the young”. Now I get his argument for his wishing to combine the vitality of the young with the experience and wisdom of the old. But, there are plenty of things best left for youth to be done while young. Case in point, the sewing of wild oats – the times I can actually remember lubricated with booze from head to toe with my friends were wonderful.
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