ALBUM REVIEW: RED LIGHT COMPANY – FINE FASCINATION

ALBUM REVIEW: Red Light Company – Fine Fascination
words: Gareth O’Malley

There are a few things about Red Light Company which strike me as particularly interesting. One of these is how international the line-up is: Richard (guitar/vocals) was born in England, but grew up in Australia and New Zealand; Shawn (bass/vocals) was born in Japan, Osaka to be precise, and is from Wyoming in the U.S.; James (drums) is from Bridgend in Wales; Paul (guitar) is from Motherwell in Scotland; and finally, Chris (keyboards/vocals) is from Maidenhead. Another is how quickly things have come together for the band – they only formed in 2007, after all. Snapped up by Lavolta Records last year, the band’s first release was the ‘With Lights Out’ EP in May 2008. The title track features here, along with singles ‘Meccano’, ‘Scheme Eugene’, ‘Arts & Crafts’, and quite a few new tracks… well, depending on how long you’ve been a fan, that is.

More on that later. As for the album itself, it’s a relentless record, really. Opener ‘Words of Spectacular’ is a case in point. James’ drums drive the song (there’s some really impressive hi-hat work in the verses), and Richard’s impassioned vocals (“You said this was the end of the world! / Couldn’t help but not cry / Maybe I’m self-assured / I’ll still survive”), are particularly impressive here.

The current single, Arts & Crafts, meanwhile, starts with piano, before the drums herald an explosion of guitar and Editors-esque bass, building up to one of the album’s many anthemic choruses (“Your testimony shakes / And all you wanted breaks / All we ever read is you found somebody else”).

Red Light Company have been compared to the aforementioned Editors, Arcade Fire, and U2. They certainly match those bands when it comes to bombast, as nine of the ten tracks here are in-your-face up-tempo potential stadium fillers. The exception is a track that featured on the ‘With Lights Out EP’, ‘First We Land’. A keyboard-driven song, with whispered backing vocals in the choruses, it displays a different side of Red Light Company, a side that I’d certainly like to see more of in future.

The album’s standout track – and I really do mean standout – is the album’s eighth track, ‘Meccano’, which contains a riff I feel could have lifted from the Editors songbook, call-and-response vocals, and a great piano hook. The second pre-chorus of the song is a true sing-along moment – “Cry it out loud, the weekend is over / Push it out, there’s smiles to uncover” – real hairs-on-the-back-of-the-neck stuff.

This is a great pop record – and therein lies one of its flaws. It doesn’t try to be more than what it is, and while some would see this as a good thing, it isn’t something that sits well with me. Quite a few songs sound similar too – ‘Arts & Crafts’, ‘With Lights Out’ and ‘The Architect’ share a chord progression.

Finally, one of my biggest disappointments with this record is the lack of new songs. There is plenty of new material here for the fan who has only discovered them recently, say, through ‘Scheme Eugene’, but someone such as myself who has been a fan of the band for much longer will notice that four have been released as singles, one was included on the ‘With Lights Out’ EP, and two have been obtainable for some time, albeit in demo form (‘The Architect’, ‘When Everyone Is Everybody Else’), leaving just three brand new tracks. Red Light Company have not done a good job of keeping the fans happy, although quite a number of non-album tracks have been released already.

The songs are excellent, and so is the production. The band have clearly poured their heart and soul into this album. On the surface, there appear to be no problems. It’s only when you take a closer look do you realise that perhaps an extra month or two in the studio wouldn’t have done any harm – ten months from debut single to debut album is a remarkably quick turnaround, maybe even too quick.

The potential is there. Now it just needs to be harnessed.