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Recipe: How to kill the Joy Division revival
Ingredients:
(1) Overly dramatic Ian Curtis impersonator
(1) Guitar reverb, use same settings on every song
(9) Songs filled with maudlin lyrics that don’t create any sense of despair
Mix and pour into major label corporate mold. Dress in black and let sit, taking caution to avoid any movement that might agitate.
Let me preface this with a disclaimer: I loved the first two Editors records. Further, I love the Joy Division/Jesus and Mary Chain revival. Music has always been cyclical and reviving my favorite genre of the 80’s sounds like a great idea to me.
With their new record, the Editors have traveled a path that will cause the critics to exult that this genre has outlived its’ purpose. Interpol pull off the all-black, gloomy thing by creating great melodies and appearing to genuinely believe in what they’re playing. But by eschewing substance for style, this record sounds like Ian Curtis fronting Depeche Mode. Synths add gloominess without adding melody or texture to the mix. Lyrically, they’ve become a parody of themselves. Singer Tom Smith’s singing and lyrics are as generic as his name. When you start repeating lyric several times within a song, I assume you think you’ve come up with something special. “I give a little to you. I give a little to him. I give a little to her.” isn’t special, sir. “Living out our second-hand clichés” is an accurate description of what you’re doing and I probably wouldn’t have put it on the tee for me to smack around.
The music of Joy Division, Bauhaus, etc was emotional and has meant something to several generations as evidenced by the 19-year old kid you still see wearing his “Love Will Tear Us Apart” t-shirt. The new Editors album is an insincere effort to capitalize on a genre. Instead it will appear on the tombstone, signifying its’ death.
MP3: Editors - In This Light and On This Evening
-Todd Cochran
Todd Cochran is a special contributor. Read more of his fine work over at his site The Dumbing of America.
6 comments:
If your only frame of reference for reviewing the album is within the "OMG EDITORS SOUND LIKE JOY DIVISION LULZ" meme then the review is ridiculous. How about reviewing it based on its own merits, and not against Joy Division?
Hmm, did you read the entire review? Actually I mentioned that I loved the first 2 Editors records and compared it unfavorably (ie, reviewing it based on their previous work). Second, I reference the lack of melodic composition and shallow lyrics (ie; reviewing it on it's own merit).
No offense taken. I was grumpy after listening to the record too.
Your wrong toddc - too much emotional atTACHMENT TO THE GREAT jOY DIVISION - THIS IS MORE EARLY NEW ORDER THAN jOY dIVISION...
jUST ENJOY THE TUNES AND DONT GET CAUGHT UP IN FUTILE COMPARISONS
every single Editors song is epic!
5 fav bands =
arctic monkeys, we are scientists, bridges & powerlines, the elected & Editors.
What a moron..."No melodies"!? How many times did you listen to the album?! Listen to "The Boxer" dimwit!! I love when just because a band doesn't sing about false hope and sunny themes they are instantly the new "Joy Division" etc...get a grip! The Editors make music on their own terms and do not produce music for angst ridden emo-teens! What did you want them to release..another albumthat just sounds the same as their previous album? They pushed themselves to record music that was different than what they were doing before! A beautiful record! Period! Listen to it more than once...the melodies are there...and as for the lyrics...stellar!
i with you on this, todd. point is, the album is just boring/meh. not that i think it's awful, it's just that i'll never think to ever play this again. honestly, never cared much for the editors anyways. spot on review
anonymous: are you a disgruntled band member??? how about you sack up and leave yr name on the board. i just ate a bowl of malt-o-meal (sans extras) that stimulated me more than this.
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