Do I like their sound? Not particularly. Do you care? Probably not. Does it matter? No, because this is a review, not a ‘what I like’ column.
How best to describe Bright Young Things? How about ‘an electronic amalgamation of My Chemical Romance, Short Stack and Muse. Add a dash of Passion Pit, a few synth lines borrowed straight from 1985’ and bam! You’ve got The Great Lonesome EP. Do I like their sound? Not particularly. Do you care? Probably not. Does it matter? No, because this is a review, not a ‘what I like’ column.
It’s not that Bright Young Things do what they do horribly – their blend of synth-infused, clichéd love songs with catchy choruses and a monotonously stable, mid-tempo pace could certainly become accessible to a large audience – but it isn’t particularly gripping. Don’t misunderstand the sentiment here, I have no beef with pop songs – or pop songs focused around love or lack thereof – however I find myself slightly confused with the purpose of The Great Lonesome EP.
It’s not that it’s horrible to listen to; on the contrary, as mentioned it’s quite pleasant, what with self-reflective lyrics, catchy choruses and metaphorical angst (track one, Corruption: “ancient drifters on the sand / Seduced by fate’s undying hand”). If the purpose of this EP is to give listeners a taste of an album that will come later down the track, one which will be designed to crack a commercial audience, then it may well serve that purpose. However, it’s hard to see anyone excited or intrigued by this sort of music, other than on a purely superficial level. There’s simply too many generalised, clichéd comments about love and relationships… and, simply, too much contemplative bullshit.
One thing The Great Lonesome does possess is the potential to fill dancefloors – those electronic beats, singalong choruses and catchy melodies are unrelenting. Easy Come Easy Go is a simple, sing along dance pop tune – “she’s looking for a guy to love/ he’s looking for a girl to call” – that sort of thing. Good Times is by far the best song on the EP, with it being the most fulfilled and assured testament to Bright Young Things’ sound- a simple, synth driven electronic tune with a chorus that may well bring many good times to people who will “dance until the morning comes”.
However, Nevada is less feel-good and takes itself a lot more seriously, and suffers for it. Red Ribbon is the closest thing to a ballad on the EP, although again, the ‘relationship anguish’ is hard to take seriously.
On the whole, The Great Lonesome EP is not the best combination of electronic dance pop tunes on the market, although that’s not to say the band won’t be successful. To paraphrase Nick Hornby in High Fidelity; it can’t be bullshit to state a preference. If people like this sort of thing, I’m not going to shoot them down. I, however, will continue to pretentiously assume that I am musically superior* because I prefer the Dirty Three.
DOM MOORE
* I am not musically superior
