So here it is. After all the hearsay, shrewd self-promotion and media manipulation, Johnny Borrell (a.k.a. the most egotistical frontman since Liam Gallagher) and co. release their sophomore self titled album.
“I feel like a genius more than most people, that’s for sure,” the ever modest Borrell recently told the NME. If arrogance plus self belief equalled talent, then Razorlight would be at the top of the rock class.
But as demonstrated on their 2004 debut Up All Night, they are merely indie rock’s finest grave robbers, foraging through the skeletal remains of late ‘70s post punk and ‘80s new wave for melodic jewels to claim their own. It’s dirty work but a man’s got to eat, right?
They say:
The Observer: “It isn’t easy to graduate from teenage bedrooms to coffee table status without compromising on credibility, but the quartet have managed it somehow.”
Mojo: “Lyrically hamstrung… Borrell’s beat rapping is occasionally irksome.”
The Telegraph: “It’s so anthemic, it will assuredly conquer stadia the world over. Borrell’s self hyping, finally, will have some justification.”
We say:
Like a cub chomping on its first kill, Razorlight’s appearance at Hyde Park last year as part of Live 8 clearly gave them a taste for bigger things, prompting them to eschew the indie urgency of their debut album for a more sophisticated, stadium friendly sound.
They still wear their influences on their sleeve, of course – this time the widescreen ambition of U2 circa The Joshua Tree (‘America’), the white reggae posturing of The Police (‘Back to the Start’), and the recurring staccato rhythm of Talking Heads (‘In the Morning’). The result is engaging and highly melodic, but also wholly derivative.
Lyrically, Borrell is as clumsy as ever, struggling to accommodate the ravenous mass audience yearning inside, such as on the bleached Motown stomp of ‘Hold On’ and the go nowhere folk pop of ‘Kirby’s House’ (“Well in the morning when you know it’s gonna be alright/Hush-a-bye, it’s gonna be alright”).
Nevertheless, the nostalgia drenched melodicism of these songs will ensure they go down a storm with Chris Evans and his drivetime cronies at Radio 2.
Like this? Try these:
Elvis Costello – The Very Best of Elvis Costello
The Police – Outlandos d’Amour
Talking Heads – More Songs about Buildings and Food
RELEASED
17th July 2006
LABEL
Vertigo
POSTED...
Sun 16 Jul 2006 at 9:26am
