James Arden checks out the garage rockers latest album.
The Christian rock band from Brighton bring religion to the masses.
Recipe for modern R'n'B album: liberal helpings of guest rappers and an overdose of sexual euphemisms.
Northern accents and Arctic Monkeys-esque lyrics have become the staple requirements for any credible indie band, and The Courteeners definitely fulfil these requisites. The album cover for Falcon is reminiscent of Kings of Leon artwork. The unimaginative guitar work is all very Oasis. The band have indisputably established their own distinctive sound within a limited genre, but sadly this isn't developed at all from the first album. Essentially, they sound like Editors on E numbers: energetic, but moody.
The album opens fairly well; ‘Take Over the World’ is pretty in a rough-diamond sort of way, and ‘Cross My Heart & Hope To Fly’ has a very catchy vocal riff. It's still nothing that hasn't been done before though, and the whole album has the feel of rejected debut-album tracks. The lyrics mostly just sound annoyingly whiny: ‘The lights are low, and life's not fair’. Rhymes seem forced and are often the result of awkward syntax: ‘I'll let you know tomorrow/Change your plea to guilty, and another day we'll borrow’.
I feel obliged to defend Falcon in some way, since it's not exactly bad. It's very listenable, it's well produced, and the lyrics are, at least, honest. Sadly it struggles to rise above average though. The attempts at 80s-style synth rhythms are a little painful, and the dramatic orchestral strings in the last track fall short of packing a final punch. It's difficult to find something memorable about this album.
Having said all this, Morrissey is a fan, and I think Morrissey's a plank, so maybe this album just isn't my taste. He even did a cover of a track from their first album. Or was it this album? Or was it someone else? I forget. Who am I writing about?
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