I don’t know who emptied the barrel with retro-wave, but the hype is far from over. Meanwhile a real subgenre is starting to take shape, which is further proven by the young English formation Editors. The group was founded in 2003, they signed a contract with the small label Kitchenware at the end of 2004 and recently they released their debut ‘The Back Room’.
You can’t call their sound very original: the album is soaked with the dramatic, desolate postpunk sound of the early eighties. Singer/guitarist Tom Smith, guitarist Chris Urbanowicz, bassist Russell Leetch and drummer Ed Lay have obviously listened very well to Joy Division and Echo & the Bunnymen. Unlike for instance Franz Ferdinand and The Killers, the majority of the 11 tracks sound surprisingly authentic.
Especially during uptempo tracks like ‘Munich’, ‘Blood’ en ‘Lights’ (delightful new wave-guitar loops drowned in reverb!), I imagine myself in a true batcave and feel the urge to fetch my pointed shoes from the attic. The slower songs on the other hand sound quite whiny and remind of U2 in their lesser moments. Now and then I even hear a similarity to Michael Stipe with a cold. And now I’m complaining: the Editors also have clearly been inspired by Interpol.
‘The Back Room’ does not convince for the full three quarters of an hour, but the songs that do, do so full of devotion. By the way, fast buyers of the album receive a bonus-cd with six B-sides.
