White Light Parade : House of Commons
White Light Parade ‘wanna to give music a kick up the arse’ apparently. Clearly they don’t get sent some of the records I do. I mean, 2009 has started pretty well hasn’t it? It’s a while since I remember so many diverse and genuinely exciting bands emerging almost at once and this time it’s not just a new genre - this is no ‘new rave’ explosion nor is it a Britpop competition; 2009 has been to date original and, above all, exceptional.
But the fact that I happen to disagree with White Light Parade’s musical tastes doesn’t mean we can’t find common ground somewhere and that I sought through their record, aptly titled ‘House of Commons’. As the title suggests, this is a band both proud of their heritage and at war with their nation via song, the sounds they play showcasing their political and social ideologies but not in a disdainful way – they’re glad they come from Leeds, no doubt about it.
This four-piece start that all-important debut album with ‘Burn It Down’, a raucous and up-beat tirade that bares all the hallmarks of British guitar-indie. This song is noticeable for sounding distinctly 2003, but as I’ve said before music is cyclical and there’s no reason why genres that have taken the back seat should not re-emerge. That is, of course, on the proviso that they contain the requisite quality and it’s here that my problem with ‘House of Commons’ begins. As I find myself so often saying this isn’t a particularly bad song and it’s not that bad a record – but it is plainly average and I challenge anyone to show it to be anything more. There are no wide ranging ideas, the lyrics contain no visions outside the quantifiable and the song only shifts gear in the most straight-forward of faster-slower-faster ways. The more I listen to it the less I like it and I’ve always found the really good albums are those that start good, maybe even average, but they just get better and better the more you listen to them.
‘Humdrum’ offers little more; the guitars even sound like the first song. It’s energetic, sure, and I’m sure White Light Parade are confident performers who believe in their sound – I just don’t, I’m afraid. The chorus is almost a pleasant surprise, certainly surpassing that which preceded it, but I’m not excited and this is the brand of music that, if nothing more, should excite the listener. If this came on at my local indie disco I’d be heading for a smoke – and I quit smoking a few months ago.
‘Wake Up’ and ‘Riot in the City’ are as predictable as their titles and I’m afraid I’ve little positive to say about ‘Wait for the Weekend’ or ‘Shotgun’ either, each merely another cog on this most monotonous of wheels I feel stuck spinning inside. It’s a good job they’re all relatively short in length else I may well have given up.
Of the rest of the album ‘Young Believers’ provides a little promise and the record ends on a decent note with the catchy, radio-friendly ‘Heroes and Villains’, but I’m afraid this listeners ear had long since been distracted. I feel like I should apologise for laying into it so much – White Light Parade are no worse than many middle-of-the-road British indie bands and can write a hook, they’ll also find fans across the nation if their live performances show the urgency their record does - but it’s forgettable, predictable and, frankly, at times it’s annoying.
Really bad music? Probably not, but when you hear what America has to offer these days, and indeed some of the wider thinking British-brigade, you can’t help but pray that something better is around the corner. I fear White Light Parade and I may never find that common ground after all.
4/10
Words: Benjamin Coley
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