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I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness, "According To Plan"
Ex members of Windsor for the Derby contribute to this pretty little single, the first from their debut album Fear Is On Our Side: the result is a number catchy enough to have me singing along even though I can't find the lyrics to the song anywhere.
Secretly Canadian
How a name that sounds so emo could get my attention and, furthermore, keep me pressing the repeat button on my CD player is a paradox in and of itself, a virtual rip in the space-time continuum that'll probably leave string theorists in a tizzy for years. On the other hand, once the disc is in my player and spinning, it's a little difficult not to get drawn into this quartet's music. It's not often I find joy in prototypical rock groups. Most of them imitate a style or a period of music so closely that the result is too nostalgic: why have a copycat when the real thing is still available? The ones that don't imitate someone or something often sound dull, reaching for that all important radio market without giving much thought to their music. So it has synthesizers and a drum machine in place of a guitar and percussionist, that's no excuse for ignoring the importance of good songwriting. It isn't edgy and wild because it mimics so much of the eighties. That's right, this has happened in the past.
So, the thing that makes (deep breath) I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness' According To Plan single so great has nothing to do with the fact that it might be described as marginally retro. Interpol got this treatment, but were taken so seriously that I had to puke after reading reviews of their albums, knowing that they just weren't worth the goddamned hype. In the interest of being honest, then, I've chosen to mock this band's name and emphasize the fact that the first song, the only track on the album from their debut, makes me want to dance. It makes me feel like I've just done enough ecstasy to kill a large bovine creature outright. It has all the makings of a tune that will make it to the radio, but none of the trappings that make such songs (especially with the way radio is most places) so drab and laughable. Oh look, another band has a hook I can predict ten seconds into the song! No, I Love You... really does love it's fans, no matter how "dark" they think they are with all those ringing synthesizers and chimey pianos.
"According To Plan" might belong in a club, should probably be remixed by all the usual DJs (and maybe by somebody that actually has talent), and rocks just hard enough to be captivating from the first play on. The chorus opens up like a pass does to a valley, the rhythm staying solid even when the band begins to unfurl its layers of guitar noise and pretty melodies. It's a great song that means absolutely nothing, will not change anybody's life, says nothing about the state of the union or the world of music we currently live in, but it probably will survive all these other pseudo art bands that claim to unveil the world to us.
The other songs are nice, too, both of them non-album tracks that round out this 13 minute ride. The tracks are a bit more sullen, a little more moody, and maybe where the band decided to emphasize their more nocturnal qualities. "Close To Here" is the work of a band that knows how to put on a show, using thumping bass and unusual drones with a rhythm and a vocal part that doesn't seem to fit right away. One half of the band is playing one song and the other half is too deaf to notice they're not really syncing up well. Eventually, however, the winding themes that emerge early in the song end up being part of the same whole and I'm left happy that the band didn't try to follow up their single with another dancey tune that would make both seem trivial. "Better Strangers" ends a little abruptly, but is nice while it lasts. It's a b-side, but it sounds like a thought out piece of work. It's a drone of humming amps and rolling bass lines that eventually fizzle out without so much as a warning.
As a single, this really stands out as a fine piece of work. An example of how a band can attract listeners, be catchy, and also exude enough personality to stand out from the rest of the makeup wearing, Depeche Mode loving, New Order wanna-be, Joy Division worshipping yuppies that plague the internet and garner more critical accolades than they could possibly be worth. Ignore the silly name and pick up the single, then maybe the album. It's not going to blow your mind into smithereens and make you want to form a band, it won't reveal to you the secret workings of the universe through the unalterable truths of art and musicianship, but it may make you want to go to their concerts and it's even more likely that these melodies will be part of your daily humming routine at work.
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