Athlete

Much maligned by critics and connoisseurs alike, Athlete have always
been subject to a certain degree of snobbery when it comes to their
music. Since the start of their career in 1999, despite a Mercury Music
Prize nomination and an Ivor Novello Award in 2006 or perhaps because
of these things the Deptford quartet have struggled to turn their
commercial success into critical acclaim. Instead, after the release of
first album, Vehicles & Animals, they found themselves lumped in with
the numerous purveyors of British mediocrity Turin Brakes,
Starsailor, Keane et al and have struggled to break free ever since.

Its easy to see how that happened. The catchy, hook-filled Youve Got
the Style aside, the three other songs from that first album included
on this retrospective El Salvador, Beautiful and Westside do little
more than confirm Athletes place amongst the slurry of dreary
indie-pop that the UK seems so fond of producing. These songs are not
awful, but do sit quite happily alongside those other bland,
middle-of-the-road bands.

Yet, when the band released second album, Tourist, there was a slight
shift. They embraced their mainstream, commercially viable status and
used it to somehow craft an album that, actually, was a remarkable
improvement on their debut. Wires and Tourist, for example, are both
fragile lullabies that glow with a previously unheard soulful
tenderness. The anthemic torch-bearing of Half Light and Twenty Four
Hours might have been aimed for the top of the charts (where this album
debuted on its week of release), but theres nothing wrong with that if
its done, as it is here, with passion and a sense of integrity.

From their next two albums, the shimmering, spectral, almost
Radiohead-esqe lament of The Outsiders stands out on this collection,
while Black Swan Songs gently-plodding balladry is genuinely
affecting. On the flipside, though, the disco bounce of Superhuman
Touch and the Nintendo musicality of new song Back Track fall flat.

Still, this compilation is evidence that Athlete probably deserve more
credit than they often get, that their repertoire is more than just a
few diamonds in the rough. Theyre certainly not a groundbreaking band,
but, as even the second disc of B sides and oddsnsods demonstrates,
their ability to write an uplifting, life-affirming tune is a skill
that should not be undermined or overlooked.

Limited edition including a bonus CD of what I think are b-sides. Track
15 of CD1 is previously unreleased. Enjoy!