If you struggle to sleep, Google the ‘Two Door Cinema Club – False Alarm album launch into space!’ video.
A record of how they sent their album into orbit because – obviously – its first single was Satellite, it features the Northern Irish trio answering questions from fans as they natter away on Skype. A week later, it had 152 views. And people wonder why the music industry nearly died.
False Alarm, though, deserves a better fate. For starters, commercial pressures – or bigger budgets – mean they’ve now almost erased their early indie sound in favour of a polished, grander style.
On the imposingly Panglossian opener Once, guitars are merely decorative instead of intrinsic, while Nice To See You’s rigid bass and shimmering keyboards provide an unexpected reminder of Curiosity Killed The Cat.
In fact, this fourth album, especially the glossy So Many People, sounds most like Zoot Woman given the benefit of post-Random Access Memories hindsight. But if it’s occasionally earthbound, Satisfaction Guaranteed is as good as its word, its Human League bubble and hustle as tight as its New Romantic trousers are loose, while Dirty Air would give Franz Ferdinand a breathless run for their money.
6/10
Wyndham Wallace
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