[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1358418384' post='1938663']
Rich, EE were formed at the same time as Alt J but their releases pre-date Alt J by 4 years. They achieved notoriety before alt J, they were getting industry and broadcaster plaudits long before Alt J. They sound nothing like Alt J.
What does 'trying too hard' sound like? And why is being fussy about the music one makes a negative thing?
[/quote]
Both formed in 2007. EE have been picking up plaudits and nominations for various awards over the past few years, but still not quite broken through etc etc. If I were an A&R bod at their record company I would have been looking at the success of Alt-J, seeing this as a prime time to really push EE and trying to tap into it. They may sound different, however, they're occupying a similar space musically and I'd definitely be trying to hook some of Alt-J's audience. They're both 'Indie Pop/Rock' bands.
For my taste, fussy, because each element seems to be trying to battle for attention and distracting from the whole, i.e the song itself. And yes all music is contrived. As soon as you have an idea and start to develop it it becomes contrived. However, I agree with discreet, this [b]feels[/b] like they have purposely gone out of their way to create something 'credible'.
I don't hate their material, it just doesn't do anything for me either.
I'm off to sharpen my knives and clean my shotgun whilst listening to some experimental jazz