Emotionalpunk.com
Media Review
Music Quality: 8.5
Production: 6.0
Originality: 7.0
Tracklisting
2. Savage Youth
3. The Queen's Head
4. Ethical Head
5. We Don't Want You Around
6. The Window
7. Could It Be?
8. Weak Spots
9. New Language
10. Hold-Up!
11. Less I Know
12. Not Having It
13. Chemistry
14. Young Again
When you listen to The Adored, you hear a lot of things. First, and foremost, you hear the strangling guitar lines of early punk. Second, you hear an undertone of California surf-rock that evokes the sense that a party is just around the corner. Finally, you hear the wily rhythms and beats of British-pop and British dance pop. Although it can’t quite equal the excellence or the tenacity of a true dance-punk act, for instance Bloc Party, The Adored far from fail their quest.
From the first seconds of “A New Language”, it’s obvious The Adored want to be a punk act. This is evident from the swirl and vigor of the opening chords, matched by the immediacy and snarl of the vocals. The first song, “Tell Me Tell Me” sets the stage for what is to come later on in the album. It combines the rhythm and speed of punk, not to mention it’s all about not being dead (which seems to be one of the prevalent war cries of modern punk rock) and mixes it with the catchiness of British dance pop all laid down on a surf rock canvas. The lyrics are light and breezy, never reaching beyond a simple description of belligerent youth seemingly disgusted by the dead scene, who want to put the party back into it. The sound at first listen is very catchy, bouncy, and above all fun, evoking the image of a more legit Cartel.
The next few tracks aren’t very memorable. They drop the catchiness and danceable nature of the first track in favor of trying to rip off The Clash. The songs aren’t bad, but they just seem like they aren’t really what The Adored are all about. The lyrics are dry and forgettable, just like the music. They try to integrate different sounds like a little more distortion to the guitars and even a horn at one point, but it doesn’t flow well enough to give the tracks any depth.
The album doesn’t pick back up until the title track, “New Language.” It shows the band at its best. It takes all of the more adventurous sounds that the band had been trying to incorporate on the middle portion of the album and finally finds a way to integrate them. The drums begin to sound more indie and the guitar becomes wavy and almost spacey. The album then climaxes on the next track “Hold-Up!” It begins with a loud, feedback heavy guitar rampage and then with the sound of a broken bottle it jumps right into a narrative about a group of people partying in Cali. The lyrics are the most cohesive and memorable as any on the album. The chorus is a catchy “Oh-Whoa-Oh” sequence that really evokes the vibe that the band is going for. By the middle of the song, The Adored have the guitars raging, as well as some keyboards, and the entire band truly invested in the music. The song shows The Adored at their best. It shows off their ability to write catchy, hooky dance-pop and fuse it with punk and surf rock to create a sound that is a hell of a lot of fun to listen to.
The album ends with songs that are more in the vein of “Hold-Up!”, finally boiling down to the surf-rock jams “Not Having It”, “Chemistry”, and “Young Again.” The last six songs make you forget all about the stagnant middle portion of the album and leave you feeling satisfied. While the music isn’t fully developed yet, The Adored have a formula that could take them places.