False Alarm - Two Door Cinema Club: Review
is an Irish indie rock group who struck gold with their debut album Tourist History in 2010 combining bouncy performances with instantly catchy songwriting to create one of the big breakout successes of the year. Since then the band has released two more albums to much less acclaim and commercial success. False Alarm is the bands fourth record and hopes to see them recover some of the form they achieved on their debut.
Review By Lavender:
Anybody who doesn't like Tourist History is hilariously kidding themselves out of one of the best indie pop albums of this decade and one that executes so consistently it almost seems objective in its wonderfulness. Smash hits like What You Know and Undercover Martyn are blissful and bouncy examples of the bands potential but unfortunately on the two albums proceeding it they couldn't find their way. Beacon was uninspired when it released but its follow-up 2016's Gameshow was straight up wallpaper pop in its lack of interesting elements. After four singles of varying quality I have to say that while False Alarm is far from a return to form, it may be the best record the group has released since their debut.
The record didn't get off to a very hot start when two of its four singles Once and Dirty Air were predictable dance pop tunes that may be decent listens but didn't set the creative bar too high. Thankfully this level of blandness only appears twice on the rest of the tracklist starting with Satisfaction Guaranteed a track that does not live up to its name. The instrumental is upbeat and dancy and I even enjoy the groove at the core of the song but there isn't really anything else here worth admiring or that makes the songs runtime worthwhile.
Once again there is thankfully only one really awful cut on here, So Many People. The track is flat out ugly in its instrumental and makes no real attempt to do anything new or even really engaging. It stands out with bad songwriting and a sour sonic palette that makes it easy to hate.
Talk was a decent single that sounds better in the tracklist here. It's a by the numbers dance pop tune that really only serves as a vessel for a decently catchy hook but it remains one of the groups better singles. Nice To See You has a similar issue of being generic but shockingly featured one of the last people I would ever expect to appear on a Two Door Cinema Club, as Open Mike Eagle lends a rap verse to this track. Despite the instrumental not being the tightest Mike's verse is still pretty sharp and adds some much needed variety to an otherwise boring song, and makes me wish there were more notable features on this record.
Break is a short two minute song that holds it's own surprisingly well and doesn't overstay its welcome like too many of the other songs here. Think has some honestly cool vocals that I enjoy and is one of the few times that the band steps out of their comfort zone and I think they really succeed.
Despite having many up and down moments the album closes on quite a good pair of tracks. Satellite is by far my favorite single the band has released since their debut and its driving hook is so insanely catchy. The tune reminds me of what made the band's debut so engaging and I really wish they can take this as inspiration for future releases because it's the best track here. Already Gone is just a really good closing song, I'm really into the guitars on this track and they sound much better and more lively that most of the other instrumentation here. The track got better and better every time I heard it and helped make the finale of this record a very satisfying one.
False Alarm ultimately lived up to its title. It flashed potential with an excellent single and a handful of other solid tracks but in the end it is an improvement, but not a return to form for a band that has continued to fall short of their debut record. 5.5/10
