Review Summary: "Your heart has something I, Don't have..."
Having grown up with Roddy and the rest of the contingent that make up scottish rockers Idlewild, each and every release is greeted by that familiar feeling of expectation and the unreachable platform set by myself that ‘it can’t possibly be better than the last one’. Time and time again this pre-conception is blasted out of the water and I marvel in the wake of the ingenuity that has seen them stay fresh and not stagnate like many bands reaching their 30’s tend to. With time however this expectation has been replaced by nerves; where I find myself almost pleading with the band to continue making solid efforts.
Time however being the bane of most things, living up to reputation, doesn’t fail to turn something that was once so loved and appreciated into something distinctly average and as a result dissapointing. They say that nothing gold can stay, and although a very long way from being considered a bad release, ‘Post Electric Blues’ pails in comparison to the previous releases that so often exuded energy and provoked the listener to bounce around or whatever it is you do in your spare time to show your affection for an album.
Or at least that's what I used to think.
Eventually; it clicked albeit painfully to me, that the band whom I grew up idolising had grown up too, and in the same way I no longer climb trees and burn ants, Idlewild would no longer bounce around playing the angry rock which has so helped shape and mould both my musical tastes and perspectives and indeed myself as a person. So how to review this? As the dissapointed teen? Or do I stop dragging my feet and finally swallow that bitter pill?
The pill it is.
Within moments the transition that had previously been slow and gradual comes cascading down in what can only be described as an avalanche of change. The folk-pop moments that reared their heads occasionally on previous albums are this time given centre stage and well and truly steal the limelight. The impressive “Readers & Writes” provides all that is good about Idlewild when in full poppy swing. Complete with necessary jovial riff and catchy chorus, it evokes a toe tap and smile that certain songs just can.
Further solid efforts come in the form of the guitar driven “Post-Electric” and the airy, ambient “Take Me Back In Time”, which features snare work with a striking similarity to that of an old fashioned march into battle. Where the band take a huge stride forward and add a song genuinely up there with the best they’re ever written comes midway through the album, with the simply beautiful “Take Me Back To The Islands”. Amongst a generally upbeat album, a song arrives with a tinge of reproach coupled with a slightly melancholic feel provided by a lone violin. The rest of the band take a back seat here and rightly so, as the evidently personal crooning from Roddy is enough to place this effort among their list of greats.
The resonant synth present in “Dreams Of Nothing” coaxes memories of earlier great sing-a-longs with its swirling, bounding rhythm that leaps in and out of prominence coupled with a welcomely familiar driving guitar riff that all but ensures old fans will be bouncing along to this reliving the ‘good ol’ days’ in concerts and bedrooms alike. Another such similar song that is reminiscent of Idlewild’s past arrives in “All Over The Town”, with the two aforementioned songs clearly focused on spoonfeeding the die-hard enough to keep him content.
However, even my vehement love for Idlewild is not boundless, and the salient reason this album is prevented from perhaps ranking up there with ‘100 Broken Windows’, is the unmistakable feeling that something is missing on certain songs on the album. Tracks such as “City Hall”, “Circles In Stars” and “To Be Forgotten”, although by no means bad songs, are left wanting and only succeed in helping the album to amble along, without being forgettable enough to be labelled filler.
Although at first my thoughts and intentions lay only in castigating the Idlewild that I know and love, the option to bitterly question why they have changed is now unthinkable. Although it is true that nothing gold can stay; it can evolve, and instead of stagnating and looking like ridiculous middle aged men trying desperately to cling onto their last shreds of youth ala Green Day, the once angry Scottish punks have instead embraced time, and matured; the result – ‘Post Electric Blues’.
Recommended Tracks: Readers & Writers
Dreams Of Nothing
Take Me Back To The Islands
No Wiser
