Keane - Strangeland


I should probably warn you straight away that every bone in my body urges me to react to Keane's music with shrieks, involuntary spasms and spitting. Sure, they had a couple of cute songs in Bedshaped, Somewhere Only We Know and Bad Dream but ever since 2009 the band have taken on this mantle of becoming a Killers tribute band, aiming for the safe-as-houses synthrock niche about as lazily and clumsily as a drunk uncle making a beeline for the bridesmaids at a wedding. Spiralling was okay. But the rest, especially that EP they did with the single with K'Naan, have just made me wretch and plot more creative suicides.

I know it's quite typical for alternative music outlets to tear the band to pieces, especially in light of this record being their fifth #1 album, but I can't effectively label myself as an enduring hater: I own Hopes and Fears on CD and enjoyed Under the Iron Sea even more, but I don't know - maybe there is an element of immaturity and uncool about them that's formed such a strong barrier. But I can say with some conviction that their newer material is terrible. Here's why.

The album does start brightly - frontman Tom Chaplin does his best Brandon Flowers impression and a bright, fun piano tune dominates, and the whole celebration-of-youth shtick is very much relevant right now with Tulisa, fun. and the Naked and Famous having hit songs with the word in their title. It's a pretty nice song, all around. Single 'Silent by the Night', and I'm not sure if this is just because I saw George Osbourne nodding along to it on some BBC politics show they somehow got to perform on, is just cringeworthy from start to finish. Lyrics like "got the radio on, got the wheels in motion"  and an inanely upbeat aesthetic make it one of the cheesiest listening experiences I've ever endured, and the whole sound is such a blatant rip-off of the Killers' Day & Age efforts. 'Disconnected' too contains Chaplin at his most irksome, singing about stones in his shoes and walking in circles, with alarmingly clear diction and an elevator-music backing.

'Watch How You Go' is all sadface and opens with the ominous "the more we rush about the less we do", which immediately inspires Randy Newman thoughts and that's never a good thing. However, 'Sovereign Light Cafe' is yet another of those indisputably uplifting and endearing tracks that it'd be quite cruel of me to lay into, and it's quite listenable which is more than I can say for the rest. 'On the Road' has a relatively strong melody and an energetic pace that's again not bad. 'The Starting Line', however, from the very first melodramatic piano chord, is stooped in ridiculous metaphors ("streetlights that are daggers to your eyes") and self-serving "meaningfulness" that's just forced. The slightly more original pianos about 'Black Rain' are more interesting to listen to but again drenched in soppy sentiment and tired 'angelic' background cliches.

'Neon River' (as though using a song title two consonants different to one on Day & Age will save their originality) pulls off the risky moves of rhyming night with fight, way with day and here with disappear. 'Day Will Come' sounds like Robyn's Dancing On My Own put through a U2 filter and left out in the sun for too long. 'In Your Own Time' makes me want to kill myself and 'Sea Fog' is actually quite nice.


Well at least we can go 2 years without more of this shit now.

Rating: 1.5/10
Highlights: You Are Young, Sovereign Light Cafe, Sea Fog
Avoid: Silenced by the Night, Disconnected, The Starting Line, Neon River, In Your Own Time

Artwork Watch: Is that really the strangest Strangeland they could imagine? I've seen weirder sights in Weston-Super-Mare.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues, a review

Image
In 2008 the Fleet Foxes launched onto the music scene with their eponymous debut, landing themselves #1 positions in end-of-year reviews from the likes of Pitchfork, The Times and Mojo. Their unique brand of baroque-fused folk struck a chord with many, and the time has now come for them to follow that success up. In May they will release 'Helplessness Blues', the title track for which they recently released as a free download. The opening track 'Montezuma' is a slow repeat of their signature sound - the version I have unfortunately riddled with a few technical glitches - a minimalist and pensive reflection on life and impending death. In dirth or in excess /Both the slave and the empress/ Will return to the dirt I guess/ Naked as when they came. There's a slight rockabilly tune to 'Bedouin Dress', a slight threat to Robin's claim that the record will be "less poppy, less upbeat and more groove-based". The groove is certainly here, a Garfunkelia
Read more

Neon Trees - Picture Show

Image
The only other time I've seen another person acknowledge the existence of Neon Trees was when a pair of Americans came to stay with my next-door neighbours. Over here they've made almost no impression at all, but Stateside the band have tapped into an unusual fanbase. Their vocal twangs might scream Tyson Ritter (All-American Rejects) but their sound is a whole lot less pop-punk. In fact, pop might be a more succinct label. Their 2010 debut album Habits might've failed to wow critics but with the aid of monstrously-catchy hit (#13) single Animal they established a pretty solid fanbase. Sure enough it was just a collection of catchy pop songs, but they are Mormons. Expecting soul from them is too much, right? Predictably, their opener 'Moving in the Dark' heads straight for the stockpile sounds - a church organ and a 1985 synth give them their foot-tapping kickstart. Innocently spouting lyrics like "Live fast, it's a feeling not an art"
Read more

Marina and the Diamonds - Electra Heart

Image
"Dr Luke is kind of at the helm of American pop music and, in the beginning, I felt really excluded from that world. I was like, “Everything sounds the same; I don’t ever want to do that.” Then Katy Perry’s people asked if I wanted to support her in America. I bought her album and I was like, “This is actually really good.” Then I bought Ke$ha’s and obviously I had Britney’s LPs already. Slowly, I changed my perspective. If you’re in a club, you don’t necessarily want to be listening to super-meaningful music, but it doesn’t take the value away from it." The idea of personas and characters in pop music predates Marina Diamandis' birth. Today, though, there are increasing signs that the ability to reinvent one's image in the most commercial sense is a cheap excuse to sell out and aim for chart stardom. Diamandis, achieving somewhat lukewarm praise for her debut record The Family Jewels despite being a collection of excellent new wave pop songs, has thus
Read more