The Last Broadcast - Doves
We’ve had this conversation recently that if you don’t like a genre, then you tend to think that most offerings in that genre sound the same, and it’s definitely that way for me and the UK indie music scene. In attempting to forge their own sound, it seems to me that too many of these bands forget all the lessons provided by countless great acts over the decades – they restrict their sound to basic guitar, drums and bass, don’t bother with any instrumental virtuosity, they’ll throw in some daft noises and stick a guy at the front who mumbles into the microphone.
For at least some of the songs, Doves are guilty of some of the above, but thankfully Jez Williams is more of a singer than a mumbler.
“Words” ticks along at a nice pace, the piano (keyboards?) tinkling along with the melody combining with the vocals to providing a stirring anthemic quality.
"There Goes the Fear" is all a bit dull indie, but the acoustic guitar introduced in “M62 Song” makes the band sound a little different and the subtle haunting sound effects work in this case.
"Where We're Calling From", a short and well-executed atmospheric piece leads us into “N.Y.” which, like one of the tracks on last week’s offering, stands out because of the changes of tone and pace as the song progresses.
I was frustrated by “Satellites” – it comes alive in the last 90 seconds or so with the appearance of a proper old-school organ and a nice vocal arrangement, but getting to that point was such a bland experience that it didn’t feel worth the effort! Conversely, the title track sounds like it’s going to be different but after an interesting intro, it’s back to indie 101.
I also enjoyed "Friday's Dust" for the orchestral parts and acoustics, and "Caught by the River", which is probably the best song here.
On those songs that I like, it sounds like Doves are trying to be themselves, standing out from the crowd. But quite a few of the rest have that pedestrian feeling. Whilst I’m generally happy to listen to anything by a band playing their instruments, this album doesn’t give me enough moments: places where a piece of guitar or other instrument makes me sit up and take notice. It’s the old “hooks” comment that we frequently return to on this thread. There are a lot of attempts to create atmosphere on this album – sometimes it lands, like in “M62 Song”, but a lot of the time it plays out as indistinct instruments lost in a mushy mix e.g. “Pounding”, where it sounds like Coldplay have come on as a late substitution.
Like a lot of albums, The Last Broadcast shines when the band throw something a little different into the mix, such as an acoustic guitar or orchestral instruments, or when there’s a change of tone or pace in the song. But at least half the songs plough that generic indie furrow that doesn’t do anything for me.
My reaction to this album is very similar to the Powderfinger album last week – except that the high points on that album were higher than those on offer here. So, it’s a respectable 6/10 from me.