Turin Brakes: Dark on Fire
Turin Brakes' Dark on Fire is out on Monday 17th
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Friday, 14, Sep 2007 01:34
Source, out September 17th
In a nutshell...
Dull, pompous, overblown and unnecessary.
What's it all about?
Generally bleak in tone, as you might expect from an album featuring black-on-black type on the cover, Dark On Fire is firmly set in the mournful miserablist mould, with the odd unexpected chord change upward into the ether to mark it out as trademark Turin Brakes.
There are 12 tracks on offer here, most of them musically predictable and lyrically pretentious - with (very) rare moments of harmonic interest occurring in moments such as the vaguely Doors-like synths and late-60s-style hook-line on 'Ghosts'.
At times the album looks towards the band's roots in contemporary-folk, as title track Dark on Fire hints at the soft melodic beauty of Nick Drake in its cellos and acoustically strummed opening - a promise sadly left unfulfilled as the song sinks into an overblown chorus that never quite manages to convince.
Who's it by
For a brief moment in 2001, Turin Brakes were almost cool with the release of their Mercury Music Prize-nominated debut, The Optimist LP. This debuted to critical acclaim in the dark post-Brit Pop days before the Strokes, the Libertines and the Arctic Monkeys arrived to reshape the musical soundscape for the better.
And since those heady days at the height of the thankfully short-lived New Acoustic Movement, Turin Brakes seem to have slipped slowly and relentlessly into quiet irrelevance, with this, their fourth studio album, doing little to reverse the trend.
Ether Song, released in 2003, did introduce a welcome strand of epic scale into the band's music and this broader sweep of ambition is still present in patches on Dark on Fire. Unhappily however, the whole thing threatens all too often to collapse into sad and pointless plodding dullness. Much like Turin Brakes' career.
As an example…
Moments of pretension: "I'm hopeful there's a reason / why the world turns round / through silent sound" - Dark on Fire
Moments of utter rubbish: "So take all that you know / and stuff it in a hole" Dark on Fire (again)
And dross about little babies: "Those tiny little hands / hold up my world" - Something in my Eye
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
If Turin Brakes were ever going to make it big they'd have done it a long time ago, at the height of the critical expectation surrounding the band back in 2001. That moment came in a different world - 9/11 changed music as well as everything else - and Dark on Fire seems set for the bottom of the CD pile even among the handful of Turin Brakes fans that might still be out there. Poor fools.
What the others say
"Tensile beauty" - Nile-on
"Drippy inoffensive rubbish" - The Guardian describes 2005 single 'Over and Over'
So is it any good?
Disappointingly, this is awful. From a band that promised so much, it seems unfair that things have come to this. Back in 2006, guitarist Gale Paridjanian had a baby - and on the basis of his band's latest painful offering, Turin Brakes might all do well to spend a little more time with their families and leave the business of making music to people better suited to it.
When singer Olly Knights croons on new single Stalker "I act like a friend / I feel like a brand new start / but I will break in / and then I will break your heart", absolutely nobody will fear him. The darkness may be present in the lyrics, but the vocals are tired, the guitars anaemic and the whole thing fails to conjure up the sense of driving menace it strives for.
Dark on Fire does have moments of interest, although they're few and far between. Turin Brakes aim for the incandescent here, hoping to make songs as threatening as if they are tragic - burning and full of hopelessly beatific passion. Occasionally, elsewhere, they manage it. Just not here.
3/10
Alex Coke-Woods
Your comments:
"This is the worst review of an album I have ever come upon. I'm no music specialist, but you berate this band for making music that is "different" than that of conventional English indie rock. These guys dare to write songs that actually have meaning and don't sound "mainstream", and as artists, I respect them more because of it - it's what makes them individual.
"You categorise the Strokes, the Arctic Monkeys, and the Libertines as the new sound of music, but they all sound the same and are not that interesting. What you're basically saying is that Turin Brakes stand out because they don't sound like those bands. Well that's what is going to make this album go to the top. Next time you review an album, take off your loosely fitted tie, school uniform shirt, and excessively tight jeans, and give the album a "real" listen." – Kevin Biznoj
"I think that this album is pure genius. It shows how far they have come. Most bands today sound the same on album after album. However Turin Brakes' albums show something unique: a journey from a raw guitar sound toward a more produced (but not in a bad way) sound that utilizes a whole band.
In addition how many bands/acts today can say that they have produced (to an extent) and written an entire album in their own recording studio? Not many! It has that unmistakable brakes sound that I love.
However I feel that it is this that could, to some, make the album a bit samey. But to a diehard fan, more of the same (albeit with a richer sound) is great. They are pure talent – nine out of ten if you need a score!" – Richard Castro
"Please don't tell me that this is your full-time job, does anyone actually check the music you are listening to and reviewing, or are you just free to write whatever drivel you make up on the day having forgotten to listen to and just reading the lyrics sleeve." – Andrew Dolan
"I read the review as it mentioned my artist: Nick Drake. Everything about the review has made me want to go and buy the album. I look forward to it." - Cally Cally
"The Strokes? Really? The Strokes? You're trying to prove how hip and post-Turin-Brakes you are by referencing The Strokes? Do you rely on five-year-old American music trends to determine what's good? Hell, this album doesn't sound like Pearl Jam or Soundgarden, either. Hence, it's pure rubbish. "Racing against sunbeams / Losing against their dreams" --The Strokes. P.S. You're a complete idiot." - Jaimie Gusman
"This review is rather harsh. I've read quite a few reviews about this album and the current single and none of them match this description - harsh harsh harsh. I think both boys have done well and have come back with some well needed balls of steel." – Duke Box
"Has the reviewer even heard the album! Totally misunderstands the band and the album. Go back to the Strokes you numbty!" - 'Jack the Lad'
"The reviewer is way off here. Summing up the problem is his lack of knowledge of the stalker thing. As someone who has dealt with the aftermath of these cases, the tone is just right, as a view from the stalker's side. Very perceptive of Olly. I would urge the reviewer to listen a bit more and a bit harder, and then see these tracks sung live. This album is ace. I saw them last night and they were fantastic. Put on a great show." - Rob Fin
"The worst review ever. It's people like this reviewer that create the fickle market that is ever increasing. Great album. Good bands making the music for the right reasons should be commended." - Nick Crofts
"I loved the Brakes boys. I mean really loved them. Heard them for the first time on the original 500-run Door EP (which I wish they'd re-release, as the recordings on here surpass the re-records they made for the Optimist). Then I saw them live at Latitude Festival and had to leave during their new material. Then I saw them last night (December 12th) and they confirmed it. They make dad rock!" - Gareth White