The Earlies - The Enemy Chorus (Secretly Canadian)
2/5
By: Keri Kennedy
This second LP from Texan/Mancunian quartet The Earlies sadly does nothing to lift the mood during this long, miserable and all but over January. The majority of 'The Enemy Chorus' 11 epic songs - or rather, alt / prog soundscapes (songs is a little conventional) - creep along with a menacing undercurrent, from the haunting opener, 'No Love In Your Heart', to the heavy 'Bad As Bad Does'. It's all punctuated with ELO-esque choruses and attempts at quirkiness (a la 'Burn The Liars') that The Beta Band achieved with ease, but alas here it feels over produced, what with all these multiple vocal overlays...
In honesty, I can't quite work The Earlies out. Some stripped down songs, such as 'Broken Chain', are perfect alternative folk; thoughtful music for the chin-stroking community. On the flipside, tracks like 'Breaking Point', a multi-layered bhangra-beat instrumental, illustrate a totally different Earlies sound altogether and close the LP on a high. But when they try to combine the two, it doesn't quite work. Though these tracks pack more of a punch, they're oddly Genesis-like; 'Enemy Chorus' and 'When The Wind Blows' are both constructed over a synthetic Phil Collins-style beat, and Brandon Carr's vocal is pure Peter Gabriel.
As such, 'The Enemy Chorus' never really takes off, and disappointingly fails to excite. For the most part, it just works as ambient background music. Yet, if The Beta Band got your party started, The Earlies would guide you perfectly through the comedown, and rock you gently to sleep.
Artists in this article: The Earlies
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