Young British lads have the new record I said I was waiting on, and by golly, it's a keeper. Not an immediate decision to do so by any stretch but one that initially found me confused on spin one, somewhat frustrated on loop two, grinning throughout the third rotation. Certainly dissimilar from its more danceable predecessor, this album is desperately seeking to be different from the norm. The band's front man likes to travel by himself, essentially couch-surfing with families in Japan, Turkey, The Netherlands and India before having the rest of the band join him. Since their moniker is taken from a chain of Indian restaurants, they must love the country and a month there last year led directly to this single...
There are so many interesting elements within this album that it made me comment, "this is so smart it almost trips itself up." Don't expect a bunch of "fa la la la's," " na na na na's" or "wooo woooo's" to sing along with......nope, this is a challenging listen but one with ultimate rewards. I was reminded of one of my favorite English alternative bands of the late 90's, Mansun, a short-lived, but brilliant group who struggled with themselves and their direction. A more current RIYL would be The Maccabees. Many of the comparisons made by reviewers about this album were to Peter Gabriel.
This album has ventured halfway up the Billboard Top 200 and went #1 in the UK upon release in February. I passed on seeing them when they were here about twenty months ago playing a small club downtown. After hearing this record and now seeing the video above, I've been kicking myself all day. They are coming over the pond for Lollapalooza and to play a few other major cities with the most southern date, and final one on the current schedule, listed for Atlanta in October.
Oh...please, please, please add Florida again to this tour. I won't make the same mistake again...
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