It’s hard to write reviews sometimes. I mean, to be honest, I find it amusing when people post whiny comments on things saying stuff like “Man, you just don’t get this album” or “Wah, don’t be nasty about my favourite band you horrible person”, but occasionally I listen to things a few months after release date and regret being quite so harsh. Equally, the opposite applies on the odd occasion, but with 'Colonel Blood' there is not the same level of hesitation that harshness usually brings. Instead this record strikes me, indubitably, as a dramatic step backwards.
Let me set the scene. Fighting with Wire produced an excellent debut album back in 2008. 'Man vs. Monster may have been, unnecessarily, compared with the Foo Fighters in every other review but it was everything that Dave Grohl and company were not at that point. It had great songs, great riffs and, more importantly, it was a genuinely fun record. 'Colonel Blood' could not be much further from that. It is always a slight worry when a band takes four years to make a second album but my faith in FWW frontman Cahir O’Doherty (largely derived from his years in Jetplane Landing admittedly) was such that I expected this record to be a welcome return.
It’s not as if recent single 'Waiting on a Way to Believe' was a warning sign, despite having a song title reminiscent of modern day U2. It is a solid slice of the band’s trademark stop-start snotty alt-rock bile. The main riff is memorable and the chorus, if not spectacular, is pretty memorable. It may not be the best way to open this album up, but it does not set alarm bells ringing. In fact, almost nothing on this album is genuinely bad, it is just rather insipid. 'I Won’t Let You Down' makes little impression aside from being worryingly whiny, 'Graduate' has a decent chorus but the rest of the song sounds completely uninspired. Worse, 'Plug Me In' and 'The Great Escape' are actually somewhat annoying rather than enjoyable. Closer 'Run for Cover', meanwhile, is almost upsettingly limp throughout the majority of its five and a half minute run time.
I genuinely cannot understand what went wrong here. Fighting with Wire should have come through here. They should have made a great, no nonsense alt-rock album. Instead this is a record that sounds to these ears like a fairly pointless exercise for band and fans alike. It really feels like more time was needed in the songwriting stages, as half of this record is totally bland (pun intended), and in a year that has seen a huge amount of brilliant records, 'Colonel Blood' sinks without a trace. What a shame.
'Colonel Blood' is out on Monday 24th September. Fighting With Wire are supporting everyone’s favourite shrill voiced comic book aficionados Coheed & Cambria on tour in November.
Wed November 7th 2012 - KOKO, London
Thu November 8th 2012 - KOKO, London
Fri November 9th 2012 - ABC, Glasgow
Sun November 11th 2012 - O2 Academy Birmingham
Mon November 12th 2012 - HMV Ritz, Manchester
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Let me set the scene. Fighting with Wire produced an excellent debut album back in 2008. 'Man vs. Monster may have been, unnecessarily, compared with the Foo Fighters in every other review but it was everything that Dave Grohl and company were not at that point. It had great songs, great riffs and, more importantly, it was a genuinely fun record. 'Colonel Blood' could not be much further from that. It is always a slight worry when a band takes four years to make a second album but my faith in FWW frontman Cahir O’Doherty (largely derived from his years in Jetplane Landing admittedly) was such that I expected this record to be a welcome return.
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