Editors: The Back Room
by Jennifer Behrens
Pity the hipster on a budget, trying to keep up with every Next Big Thing that crosses the Atlantic. The UK hype factory continues to crank out It-band after It-band of modern post-punk, at a pace that doesn’t leave much cash at the end of the month for smoking jackets and ironic t-shirts. Now here comes the stateside debut of Editors, a Birmingham quartet which owes as much debt of influence to Interpol as it does to Joy Division. You loved Silent Alarm and Arctic Monkeys as much as the next guy, but your wallet thinks this 1980s art-rock renaissance is getting out of hand. Should you: (a) divert part of your latte fund; (b) hit up your cooler friends who got the import last summer; or (c) just play Turn on the Bright Lights another 500 times and congratulate yourself for buying American? Since Artvoice does not condone the unauthorized copying of recorded music (ahem), the correct answer is (a). The Back Room is sharp and stylish, with an ominous tone that should make Ian McCulloch weep like a brand-new daddy. Tracks like “Munich,” “Blood” and “Bullets” surge with an intensity that sustains even when the tempo slows down, as on the lush “Open Your Arms.” The Back Room is neither perfect nor necessary, but—with apologies to your wallet—it is pretty damn good.
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