Album Review: My Cheap Little Dictaphone - The Troubled Tale of a Genius

My Cheap Little Dictaphone - The Tragic Tale of a Genius

Concept albums are always a bit of a risk, I think. Although, I suppose in many cases you'd have to know it was a concept album, wouldn't you? In the case of The Tragic Tale of a Genius, I don't think you'd ever know of this fact, unless (as I did) you read it elsewhere.

The concept (and the 'genius' in this case) is Brian Wilson and his descent into mental illness. Whilst this sounds like a bit of a depressing subject for an entire album, it is actually a surprisingly great piece of work. The Belgian four piece sound alternately like the Arcade Fire and Coldplay, indeed vocalist Redboy sounds particularly like Chris Martin when he gets slightly falsetto on on No Self Esteem and Face to Face.

Ignore the precociousness of a concept record (Wikipedia calls The Tragic Tale of a Genius 'proche d'un opera rock') and, instead, you ahve the fourth album from an indie-rock band who offer much more than their daft name suggests.

If you like MGMT, the Arcade Fire (or, indeed - any sort of downbeat guitar indie) The Tragic Tale of a Genius is definitely an album you should try.