Two Door Cinema Club return with rollercoaster record ‘Keep On Smiling’
Someone has been watching Stranger Things is the instant prognosis behind the amped-up musicology displayed on Two Door Cinema Club’s foray into new wave. Instantly cinematic and beefed up with a shot of adrenaline, there’s a car chase going on somewhere when you spin this record, and it makes for as much of a frenzied and frenetic affair as you’d imagine. There are stalls, bumps, and scrapes but the pace remains unrelenting.
There are still moments of camp chorus hooks on tracks like ‘Everybody’s Cool’ which sounds like Duran Duran have shouldered into the studio amid a Devo session. And slowly the album gets more pop-inclined thereafter. All the while the energy still resides in the realm of a jar of coffee from concentrate. Occasionally this sustained paroxysm gets a bit gaudy, like you’re trapped in a neon room, but if you’re a fan of the band and you need to add a pep to your step, then this may well turn out to be somewhat of a go to.
However, as an indie outfit who have sustained a solid fanbase for over a decade now, the more pertinent question when a new album lands is whether they’ll be acquiring added masses with their latest outing. And that’s a tricky one to answer. The album certainly sees them stretch out into a heavier new wave sound than we’ve ever seen from them before, but when push comes to shove, they often revert back to old ways making for a record which seems explorative and safe in the same breadth.
It’s a bit like a Pet Shop Boys album, but it’s definitely Two Door Cinema Club doing their version of it. This halfway house between indie and new wave is an interesting realm that conjures up a cornucopia of hooks, choruses and cutting little manic solos, but sometimes it’s all too much. Like an all-you-can-eat sweet shop, there’s that lingering threat of a sugar slump. On this occasion, you can judge a book by its cover and the vibrant technicolour but somewhat overwhelming cartoon splurge of a cover for Keep On Smiling tells you a lot.
However, the title is also a tagline you can judge the record by and the relentless positivity of the album will certainly have even the most cynical foe tapping their toes involuntarily. After 12 years in the business, they are polished and accomplished and that props this beat machine up with a reliable backbone.
In the end, you wind up thinking that things are a bit more like a roller-coaster than a car chase, the thrills and spills are more preordained than some of the manic flourishes suggest. If you’re a fairground fan then there’s enough here to thrust your hands in the air with Keep on Smiling joy, but if you’re a queasy curmudgeon then you may well be throwing up a bellyful of candy floss and searching for paracetamol.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out New Music Newsletter
All the latest New Music from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.