When you name your album after something your bearded driver says when seeing you, then you know something’s up. It’s also a poignant title in that The Concretes, since their previous album, have had a few troubles of their own. First their instruments were stolen from the Bowery Ballroom in New York, next lead singer Victoria collapsed from exhaustion which cancelled their tour. Then, when the group then returned to the UK, Victoria decided to quit the band permanently. So, you could say, this album has had a difficult gestation. Drummer Lisa Milberg has taken over the singing duties with this follow-up and the band have regrouped. It’s just a shame it’s not quite the same second time around.

All the ingredients are here; their usual, slightly twee arrangements spun around the lilting Swedish vocals that give the whole album a light and fluffy feel, but it just doesn’t quite add up. The bursting energy that seemed to ebb from their previous records isn’t here. I can name you the highlights easily. A Whales Heart sounds like a cross between the Arcade Fire and the Decemberists, a quirky anthem that features big drums and horns that duel with guitars that gently duck and weave through the song. The 60’s “Wall Of Sound” pop of Oh Boy starts with a stutter, but breaks out into a dance-floor filling gem with it’s bombastic drums and fuzzy guitars that entwine with something akin to an orchestra that sounds as if it’s hidden in the next room. Are You Prepared begins like something from Fleetwood Mac’s Tango In The Night album before it twists into something that would have easily fitted on The Pipette’s album “Are you prepared to break up with me” sung over a doo-wop chorus that’s filled with polka dots.

Unfortunately the rest of the album fails to come anywhere near to those songs. The music is pedestrian and boring, it feels workman-like. It’s not helped by the fact that Milberg’s voice isn’t that great. It not that it’s really bad either, it’s just lacklustre. The slowness and sparseness of the other songs just lulls you to sleep. I continually find myself skipping songs like the dull Oh No and the Gallic Didion. It would be a shame if this was the end of The Concretes, but if they can just develop their more poptastic and bombastic side, then this album would certainly be causing trouble and in a good way.
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Links
The Concretes [official site] [myspace]