The indie blogroll of bands from the noughties is particularly full of now folklore legends, bands like The Fratellis who are now defunct but can continually be heard on every indie dance floor across the land, The View who have endlessly teetered on the edge of separation and now totally new band Razorlight of whom the lead singer self-imploded and sacked the backline.
But a indie band to survive the noughties is leading the renascence, 2 top 10 albums under their belts, numerous festival appearances and a whole list of critical acclaim is left in their wake. The Enemy.
Back in 2007 they released storming first album ‘We’ll Live And Die In These Towns’, it was a bovine, valiant and confident debut written on the bog standard level of the average male/female who wanted more, a call to arms. The album went straight in at number 1 in the UK charts alongside tracks ‘Away From Here’(#8) and ‘Had Enough’(#4) standing up in the top10. This lead to the band receiving awards from NME, Q Magazine and XFM that same year.
After the storm died down The Enemy took to the studio to write second album ‘Music For The People’, which charted at number 2 in the UK album charts. An album heavily influenced and sounding like every big indie band of the decades past. Think The Clash, Pulp, Blur, Queen…And you get the picture. It seemed like The Enemy had been plucked up and were heading to the indie scrap yard, casualties of ‘the second album curse’.
Around 4 years of silence followed, Tom Clarke planning world domination once more VIA ’boring’ Coventry with band mates in toe. It was then out of nothing an announcement was made by Clarke that the release of ‘Streets In The Sky’ was to hit shelves in the spring of 2012.
What to expect from ‘Streets In The Sky’ after such a disappointing second return is quickly diminished, opening track and album teaser ‘Gimme The Sign’ is brash and full of promise. The lairy vocals of first album Clarke, guitar firmly in hand and more than certainly meaning business. No time to think between tracks ‘Bigger Cages (Longer Chains)’ boasts a Subways like guitar lead, lyrically once again Clarke is levelled going from what felt plaint in ’Music For The People’ to something so much more indurate for ‘Streets In The Sky’.
Sing-a-long third track ‘Saturday’ is built for football stands and Saturday afternoons, a song made to play on iPods across the world to then imbed in the brain and drive you until you repeat. Only 4 tracks in ‘1-2-3-4’ teases and prods in a modern life in rubbish type manner, pointing the finger at the 9 to 5. Seamlessly asking ‘Why settle for second best?’. ‘Like A Dancer’ settles the heart rate but not the beat becoming the ‘Technodanceaphobic’ of the album.
‘Come Into My World’ furnishes the gap between start and finish of the 12 track release followed by album anthem ‘This Is Real’, another stand on the soapbox for The Enemy. Narrate the feeling of waking up on Sunday morning after painting a town all the colours you can think of, ploughing through the working week with every conscious thought aiming towards the clock out on Friday evening, ‘This Is Real’ is that track.
Sentimental feelings emerge through ‘2 Kids’, a acoustic laden 4 minutes depicting the story of best friends through school and work, how they will never grow up but know the times had will never return. ‘Turn It On’ growls in the aftermath of ‘2 Kids’, taking the adult approach to first album hit ‘Away From Here’ listen really hard and you can hear the same bass riff. A clear two fingers to everything ‘It’s A Race’ is crossed between punk and pop with added catchy chorus.
Penultimate track ‘Get Up And Dance’ has a feel about the 90s to it, Birmingham’s very own Ocean Colour Scene can be proud of the guitar work beside a Queen type drum beat. Think ‘Under Pressure’ meeting ‘Hundred Mile High City’. Ending track ‘Make A Man’ takes us back to track number 1, with the pace of ‘Gimme The Sign’ the sing-a-long chorus of ‘Saturday’ and catchy lyrics of ‘Like A Dancer’.
The Enemy have returned to what we once knew, and personally I cannot be more thankful. Social commentary, sentimental feeling and a fuck load of attitude. ’Streets In The Sky’ is one album I think will happily repeat itself a fair few times from start to finish.
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