Pros: Golden Touch, Vice, Don't Go Back to Dalston
Cons: Lacks originality and direction, very derivative
The Bottom Line: While there are many better British rock/pop bands out there, Razorlight does manage at least a couple decent songs. Their debut on the other hand is inconsistent and unoriginal.
lambchops's Full Review: Up All Night by Razorlight
Despite what MTV would have you believe, there is something to be said for having a unique musical style. It is important to be able to identify a band based on both their sound and persona. Music videos, a medium that is tailor-made for unique identity, have ironically created a monster. Bands that sound like one thing are expected to look a certain way. Further, I find that many albums, bands, and songs are generic and homogenized.
In the UK, the media dictates who will and won’t be successful. One well-respected music magazine writer from London once explained to me that in his country anybody could buy themselves a hit via payola or the usual forceful media machine methods. He said that’s why singles are so important and why so much crappy music finds its way to major labels, music television, and radio. He went on to explain that it is nearly impossible for those same uber-popular bands to cross-over to American audiences using the same tactics.
Razorlight is one of many British bands who have yet to successfully make the giant leap. Their debut album Up All Night (2004) did manage to earn major label distribution stateside but so far as hits, radio play, and the like goes they were awarded no support. That said, I can think of few dozen worse ways to spend $10. The music is innocuous and at times genuinely entertaining. The one major flaw in their formula is that it lacks the creativity that would set the London-based back apart from the herd.
It took just two years for the band to form, be signed by Mercury Records, tour a little, record their album (at first with a little help from famed U2 producer Steve Lillywhite), and release their debut and a few hits in the UK. The lack of a massive fan base in their native land hasn’t worked out well for the four Camden blokes. Johnny Borrell (vocals, guitar), Björn Ågnen (guitar, vocals), Carl Delemo (bass), and Christian Smith-Pancorvo (who was later replaced by Andy Burrows on drums) still are very much unknown in the United States. Though, their appearance on the stage at Live 8 did boost their sales (at least temporarily) by some reported 335%. Despite all of that effort, you are probably still left scratching your head. Who is Razorlight?
Whether or not you should check them out is completely dependent on whether you like British pop-rock bands. There are dozens upon dozens of here-today-gone-tomorrow bands. Whether or not one becomes successful seems random. There are outstanding bands that are still mere footnotes in American pop culture while others immediately shoot to fame like recent notables Franz Ferdinand and The Darkness. It seems that Razorlight is neither consistently outstanding nor are they outrageous enough to really capture attention.
As for the music on Up All Night, it is certainly fine enough to warrant more than just a mention in passing. It’s not classic and it’s not unique but it is relatively entertaining which is often all the more I want out of my tunes. The album opens with a trio of strong songs. Leave Me Alone kicks things off with a modest little piano tune followed by an upbeat melody and pointed wah-wah guitars. It would have been a repetitive song had it not been for the forceful drums which really carry it. Both released as singles, Rock N Roll Lies and Vice are fast, innocuous little tracks. Neither is remarkably good or bad. This pretty much characterizes the whole effort. It sounds good enough but there is too little spark and too little originality to really catch my attention. I could just as easily be listening to any one of a dozen other bands. In particular, I’m stuck by Vice which smacks of James with a distinctly alt-rock spin.
From this point forward the album is very inconsistent. Up All Night is a tired, unremarkable song especially considering it is the title track. I mean, can’t the band name their album after something a little less blah? Which Way Is Out is a stark, simple little pop track. I do appreciate the band’s approach here but in the end the song just doesn’t go anywhere and when it does it is into dark, dangerous and utterly repulsive vaguely emo territory. In the words of a certain Valley Girl, gag me with a spoon.
I’m not impressed again until the lovely Don’t Go Back to Dalston which is both brash and delicate. The guitars are incredible and Borrell’s vocals are wildly exuberant. Similarly, I enjoy Golden Touch. The band pulls away the guitars and brings the vocals to the front of the mix. It works nicely, especially the chunk-chunking guitars and catchy melody. It is this song that speaks to me most. I like the simplicity and mid-tempo groove. It is completely different than the rest of the material with a bittersweet, beautiful melody punctuated by sparkling vocals. It’s the perfect song in comparison to the rest which are mostly woefully forgettable.
Stumble and Fall is the last song that is at all worth talking about. It is by no means perfect, but I like listening to it now and again. Unfortunately as Up All Night winds down there is nothing else to talk about. The songs that remain are unimpressive and lack any real identity which is of course a major complaint I have with Razorlight in general. Even worse is that you can easily point to songs and say that they sound like Pulp or The Cure or James or Television. The musical similarities are impossible to ignore.
I can’t really complain too much about Razorlight sounding like other bands. The real problem is that they take old ideas and rather than completely reworking them just play their own instruments and pretend like it is something new. Do not be fooled—you’ve definitely heard albums like this before. Funnier still is the epitaph on the back of the CD packaging—“To Be Played at Maximum Volume.” Hmph. Maybe with Golden Touch on repeat.
Rating: 2.5/5 stars (rounded up because I’m nice like that)
Track Listing:
01. Leave Me Alone
02. Rock N Roll Lies
03. Vice
04. Up All Night
05. Which Way Is Out
06. Rip It Up
07. Don’t Go Back to Dalston
08. Golden Touch
09. Stumble and Fall
10. In the City
11. To the Sea
12. Fall, Fall, Fall
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