The debut album from Subkicks has its hits and misses.
After the demise of previous outfit Exist back in 2007, four West Midland lads have decided to rip it up and start again under the new guise of Subkicks. The debut album ‘Three, Fives And Sevens’ is a sporadic collection of hits and misses capturing the essence of that strange Omni genre we know as indie rock. This bizarre cultural phenomenon has been cropping up in debut LPs and live venues for the past decade, an unsettling and increasingly familiar musical blanket thrown over anything that resembles the sounds of a guitar, bass and drums strummed or hit at the same time. With sweeping guitar riffs, regional accented vocals and even the inclusion of a sitar at some point, ‘Three, Fives And Sevens’, released 15th June is a collection of twelve competent tracks yet, it never quite seems to hit the mark it is aiming for.
First track ‘Forminas Star’ begins well with a rumble of background noise which breaks into a fast paced guitar riff, a steady up tempo drumbeat and vocals from Matt Bellamy(no not that one-the Subkicks front man just happens to have an identical name to the Muse tenor). It is a good start off point for the album and is indeed one of the better tracks. There are similarities to stadium regulars Kasabian in the final moments, as the song builds to a crescendo and a satisfying finishing point.
Second track ‘Fatman’, previously released as a single with additional video, was meant to be the introduction to the band but it seems like a less than thoughtful song choice to hang as a marker for the album as a whole. It sounds repetitive and far too simplistic compared to the others, and while it will encourage some listeners to throw themselves around the dance floor, others will soon grow tired of its generic sound and contrived attempts to ‘rock the audience out’.
Continuingly, tracks like ‘Searchlights’ and ‘Eucalyptus’ add nothing to the album overall. They seem to drag and take too long to reach any kind of point or conclusion. As the two slower tracks on ‘Three, Fives And Sevens’ these are the more dreamy, ballad-type numbers, complete with an assortment of emotive lyrics and repetitive guitar riffs and the build up of drums. There is nothing in either which reaches out in a truly emotional way, and neither provide any interesting or changing components which would merit their combined length of over ten minutes.
There are some hits in this collection however, which do a good job of whitewashing away some of its previous discrepancies. ‘Rewind Me’ is another slow one-but this time it works well, simply because every component merges together. For the first time, there is some real emotion here, despite the fact that it all sounds a little cheesy. ‘Do You Feel Love’ adds an element of interest simply because it has a dance beat, which at least makes for a change to the overall feeling of much of the album. ‘Sirens’ provides a strong rhythm from drummer Chris Robinson and a simple yet well worked bass line from James Allen. It is chirpy and uplifting, and would get almost ever head bobbing as long as alcohol was involved.
A debut for any band is always a tentative process to go through, but Subkicks have been here before. ‘Three, Fives And Sevens’ does provide some good points. The majority of the songs are enjoyable to listen to but overall the album is lacking simply because there isn’t enough originality.