Review Summary: British India show their fourth album is their best yet. The album does not break any new ground, but rather sees the band driving harder than ever before to express themselves in the most genuine way possible.
British India began their musical journey in 2007, and at the time were a much hyped, angsty rock and roll band here in their native Australia. Flash forward to 2013 and they are still an angsty Australian rock and roll band. What adds a depth to this angst is that the members of the band are no longer young boys. They are now young men. By your mid twenties things are supposed to be coming together; and on parts of this album you get the feeling that this weight of expectation is causing the band to crumble.
Their last album, Avalanche (2010), was well received and a commercial success. The problem for the lads was that their label went broke and they didn't see a dime for all their hard work. This put enormous stress on the band and saw a small hiatus. This dark period for British India is best reflected in "I Can Make You Love Me," lead single off "Controller." To say this tune is depressing is an understatement. You can just feel the pain of Declan (lead singer) as he wails throughout these mainly bleak and somewhat evil tracks. `
But do not fear. There are a few oases on the LP to quench your sorrowful thirst. "Twice Inna lifetime" and "We Don't Need Anyone" are more inspirational and invigorating. These bright sparks give you the energy to dive back into the depths of the darker tracks, such as "Swimming in Winter." They also rock quite hard consistently through this thing, lots of military style snare rolls, howling vocals, catchy guitars riffs and guitar solos.
A common criticism of the band is that their sound is too straight up rock, and lacks originality. For anyone sympathetic to this assertion; please see the band live. If you can't see them live; scull ("scull": to drink exceedingly quickly) some beers, strip ("strip": to undress exceedingly quickly) to your jocks ("jocks": underwear) crank ("crank": turn up the volume) "Blinded" and look me square in the eyes and tell me you felt nothing. If so, clearly you have no heart or have never broken someones heart or have never suffered heart break yourself. For gods sake, live a little man. As Lou would say "take a walk on the wild side."
Not to miss the point, this is quite a rock album that is that beautiful mix of anger, heartache and manic energy. The band has really good chemistry and overall this is a great, balanced record.
