Earworm

Published on 15/09/2024.

It is a tricky enough feat to write a fantastic début album, but I believe the task of following up on early success can be trickier. You have to traverse the two treacherous tightropes of pleasing early fans whilst covering new musical territory and creating commercially successful songs whilst maintaining musical integrity.

Having found out that several of the bands I have loved for a decade or more released new studio albums this year, I felt compelled to see where they are today. Have they kept up their consistency? Was I about to hear more musical genius? Are they still cooking on gas or have they gone off the boil?

Let us check out the albums I will be exploring today and jump into my thoughts.

Artist	Album	Release Date
Green Day	Saviors	19th January 2024
Kaiser Chiefs	Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album	1st March 2024
DragonForce	Warp Speed Warriors	15th March 2024
The Libertines	All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade	5th April 2024
Falling in Reverse	Popular Monster	16th August 2024

Saviors – Green Day

Kicking off my list is Green Day’s Saviors. This is the 14^th outing from the American pop-punk rockers, and I think it marks a new high for the band. I honestly do not think Green Day have done much worthy of note since 2012’s ¡Uno!, and even then, their handful of hits have more tickled the ear drums with faux-punk energy than beaten them into anti-establishment submission like in the ’90s and early 2000s.

I think this is why Saviors works. Yes, it may seem to lack some of the ambition of American Idiot and the engagement of 21^st Century Breakdown, but the album does at least recapture some of the raw feeling of Dookie and Warning that inspired a wave of skinny-jean teenagers to hammer out power chords in their bedroom. I dare say that you can even hear a sprinkling of Minority off the latter album in Saviors‘ opening track, The American Dream Is Killing Me – albeit I think you can also hear a touch too much of Pink’s So What in One Eyed Bastard. (I will let you decide that one.)

All in all, it seems Green Day are back to having great days. I hope that Saviors is not just a flash in the pan and that we will see more music of this quality from Billy Joe and the gang in the future.

Wonder: 7.5/10

Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album – Kaiser Chiefs

I must confess that of all of the band’s on my list for this article, Kaiser Chiefs were my least favourite when I was growing up – not in a bad way. I liked a lot of their songs and gave them a good listen, but I just did not have the same interest in them as I did for the others. I would even go as far to say that I do not remember much of them past 2007’s Yours Truly, Angry Mob.

I am pleased to say, however, that I think it was a good shout for me to check out Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album. There is an interesting, almost American indie-style sound to the album: somehow lo-fi, somehow well polished at the same time. It is certainly different to the albums with which I am more familiar – even with a little bit of a disco flavour on songs like How 2 Dance and The Job Centre Shuffle – but this is no complaint. I think it is an interesting step for Kaiser Chiefs, and it has made me hungry to check out some of the albums I have missed on the way.

If you are looking for another I Predict a Riot or Ruby, I think you will find that the ship has sailed, but for anybody looking for something new with a bit of a Kasabian-cum-Tame-Impala flavour, this may just be for you.

Wonder: 6.5/10

Warp Speed Warriors – DragonForce

DragonForce are certainly another throw-back band for me. I think there will be few of us that do not remember rocking Through the Fire and the Flames on Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Since then, however, I admit I know plainly little about the band’s music.

I would say that Warp Speed Warriors is about what you would expect from DragonForce: crazy video game-inspired noise, fast solos, and lot of operatic wailing. It is OK, but apart from perhaps Burning Heart, there is not much on the album that lives up to the likes of Operation Ground and Pound or Heroes of Our Time. Given the number of changes to the line-up over the years, however, this does not really come as any surprise.

If you like power metal or specifically DragonForce, this will be a good listen for you. Otherwise, I would not bother.

Woe: 5.5/10

All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade – The Libertines

I am a huge fan of The Libertines, to the point that I wrote my master’s dissertation on Mr Peter Doherty. I think it is therefore fair to say that I probably had unreasonably high expectations for the release of All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade – expectations, sadly, which were not met.

The opening guitar salvo of Run, Run, Run asks whether we are about to hear another piece of The Libertines’ brilliance. That nostalgic question is soon miserably answered by the poorly recorded vocals of Carl Barât, singing what sounds presumably like Dirty Pretty Things’ throw-away lyrics. We then hit the peak of the album on the second number, Mustangs, which sounds so far removed from the band’s typical style but at least offers something of their playfulness and musicality. The problem is that we are then back to a forgetful set of nine tracks.

There are a few slower songs on the not-quite 40-minute listen – I suppose for a bit of a change – but the lyrical well from which the likes of You’re My Waterloo emerged seems to have run dry.

All in all, I am sad to say that All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade seemed a bit of a played-out mess for me. Even the world war nostalgia of the title seems like an uninspired hash of 2015’s Anthems for Doomed Youth – an album which delivered so much more. Here is to hoping The Libs can turn things around in the future.

Woe: 4/10

Popular Monster – Falling in Reverse

A divisive band, to be sure, but I have always liked a bit of Falling in Reverse. Their 2017 fourth album, Coming Home seemed a bit of a turn away from their nonchalant, pop, post-hardcore sound, and seven years later, Ronnie Radke and co. seem to have pivoted again with Popular Monster.

I would say this album is a bit of a mixed bag. There are moments where the band seem to shine – including All My Life, for which there is a beautiful mash-up of country, rock, and hardcore sounds, and Zombified, which is a straightforward rocker. Then there are songs like the title track that are stuffed with trap beats and stadium rock-esque rap lyrics that sound like the deformed love children of Hollywood Undead and new-school Bring Me the Horizon. This is all fine if you can get over the verses of the lesser tracks and focus on the good bits, but it leaves Popular Monster a little wanting as an album if you fancy a complete listen. Nonetheless, I think the good outweighs the bad.

Wonder: 6.5/10

Written by Lewis Brown.