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Review: Jack Foley
EDITORS have been pretty much bang on target with their music
ever since the release of their debut single, Bullets,
towards the close of 2004.
Such is the growing reputation of this Birmingham(-ish) based
band that Bullets is now reaching £30 on Ebay (for
vinyl).
But just a quick blast of the killer guitar riffs and the wistful
opening lyrics of that track ('if something has to change,
then it always does' leading to 'you don't need this disease')
should tell you all you need to know about the band.
They deliver their music with genuine passion and urgency, delivering
killer hook after killer hook and easily rivalling the best of
the nu-wave indie rock bands from both the UK and America.
Bullets contains hints of Modest Mouse, StellaStarr*,
Interpol and The Bravery yet still manages to sound fresh, exciting
and hip.
Munich, its follow-up, propelled the band to deserved
top 20 status, arriving amid another tidal wave of cascading guitar
riffs and power vocals from Tom Smith.
When he sings 'I'm so glad I've found this', you'll want to bellow
out the same sentiment.
Blood, the current single, is another power-anthem
that pumps out plenty of indie dancefloor beats, space-aged synths
and a catchy chorus that's sure to become embraced by the band's
mounting army of support.
Yet refreshingly, the band can reign in the urgency and at several
points deliver some genuinely atmospheric slow-builders that hint
at a fully rounded sound, while exploring the universal themes
of love, loss and redemption.
Fall is an epic slow-builder that smacks with a melancholic
beauty, while final track, Distance, contains a stark
beauty that is both uplifting and other-worldly, courtesy of its
distinct drum loops.
Throughout the album, however, Smith's vocals resonate with an
intensity that hits home hard, while Chris Urbanowicz's guitar-work
is exemplary, delivering riff after riff that inspire and excite.
It's notable that opening track, Lights, should contain
the lyric 'if fortune favours the brave, I've got a million things
to say' - for The Back Room gets its messages across
in the most emphatic way possible.
It is a cracking debut album that should guarantee some pretty
big headlines for the Editors boys.
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