Desperate Journalist’s debut
record is the first great music release I’ve heard in 2015. Working from a Britpop era template wherein
guitars are played rather than programmed, battered instead of delicately
flicked at, and each song rises to moments of high drama as carefully prepared
as to be the focus of the song rather than a brief interruption from the usual
verse-chorus dynamic.
Jo Bevan’s voice finds a middle
point between the removed but shouting style of The Organ’s Katie Sketch and
emotional but shouting style of Echobelly’s Sonya Madan. She is a commanding presence as a singer.
The Editors’ 2005 debut
record is the closest thing to a recent record comparative to this but I think
Desperate Journalist has an even better grasp of melody ( and I like The
Editors). Post- Shoegaze as part of a
greater pop rock landscape where guitar storms are balanced against a driving rhythm
section and understandable vocals.
Every song is good here but
my two favorites are the rocking single Control and the emotional high point Distance
in which the volume of the guitars is turned down slightly before the usual
exploding dramatic middle.
The Smiths are the true
spiritual father of this type of music but it’s been filtered through enough
different scenes since their time that it’s not so apparent. However, lyrics like “He who hesitates is
lost but I’ll keep my fingers crossed” should leave no doubt who the influence
is.
There should be more records
like this one – Wherein older sounds, a tradition, are added to and made better
hopefully leaving it to other bands to pick up and run with in the future.
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