No, no, noooo! What has happened to you Turin Brakes? You started out so well; a bunch of EPs fragile, beautiful, brilliant; an album full of fragile, beautiful brilliant songs. We could even sort of tolerate that bit where you turned into an acoustic version of Ash, with that song about summer and that second album with too much filler. But what’s in the name of fuck is this?
Well, I can only describe the rancid ‘Asleep With The Fireflies’ as ptew funky. Funk doesn’t work with rock, guys. Just look at the Red Hot Chili Peppers. ‘Road To Nowhere’ (plus, less purposefully, a number of others here) is a nasty cheap-ass rewrite of your own song ‘The Road’. For Christ’s sake, if you’re going to be shit now at least don’t drag your one good album down with you. And where are the bloody tunes? There’s not one song on here worth releasing as a single. Only two or three are even remotely listenable.
You’ve turned into those technical knob-jockeys who spend too much time learning how to play the A minor chord in 48 different ways and think glossy over-production and twiddly guitar toss is more important than actually entertaining people. And Jesus, Olly, you could at least sing like you mean it, even though you’re obviously way beyond that sort of honesty now you’ve cracked the Top 10. Well, congratulations lads, you’ve really made it now.
From space-folk wunderkind to turgid elevator schlock for musos in three albums. Now bog off and don’t come back til you’ve got something worthwhile to show us.
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3Tom Edwards's Score