Okay for starters.
If someone sat down to write a big indie hit by committee or cherry picking the popular themes of the day, they would very likely come up with ‘Arts & Crafts’ by the Red Light Company. It’s maybe harsh to say but its hard to listen to this song without reeling off the list of influences that have played their part in its creation. The Arcade Fire, the Editors and even the old school U2 style guitar (which a large majority of indie bands have stolen in recent years even though they’re all too cool for school to probably admit it) make up the this track and you are left to ponder how much of the Red Light Company is actually in the track.
As a single, this is no bad thing; it will immediately catch the attention of the casual listener and will have people thinking that they have known the song for years. That’s the sort of cross-over potential that is hard to buy so there is no doubt that the Red Light Company are going to get a boost in the short term. The song is catchy, its anthemic and it can be listened to repeatedly without it getting too dull. All of these are great elements and it is hard to criticise it too much as a single.
However, it does very little to inspire much confidence or interest in the band as a whole, sure the one off track sounds good but an album or gig of pastiches and rip-offs would be too much. There are plenty of tribute bands nowadays to render this sort of act redundant so time will tell how much the saccharine sweet and oh so polished sound of the band is worth listening to. Perhaps its cynicism rearing its ugly head but there are too many bands like this at the moment showing the musical style but none of the heart and soul that makes genuine bands so interesting and endearing.
With ‘Arts & Crafts, the Red Light Company have bought themselves some time and made a good case for hearing their next single but they’ve done very little to convince they are going to leave any form of legacy behind them.