As of late America has been fortunate enough to enjoy a mini-resurgence in quality British pop. Several excellent British bands have garnered at least limited recognition stateside, and they have fast become critical darlings. Among the best known of these bands are Coldplay, Travis, Doves and Badly Drawn Boy.
It seems that among critics it has become fashionable to reference Radiohead in attempting to describe or categorize this type of music. Rolling Stone called Coldplay "the next Radiohead" and wrote "Musically, Travis could pass for Radiohead minus the science fiction." (Full disclosure: I myself once, in print, compared Coldplay's music to "The Bends"-era Radiohead.) Almost no matter what the musical style, someone has somehow found a way to compare each of these new smart-rock acts to Radiohead -- simply because both are British.
That said, Idlewild are not like Radiohead.
On their second album, "100 Broken Windows" (Capitol/Odeon/Food Records), this Scottish rock quartet seems to draw more inspiration from mid-nineties Britpoppers like Oasis and Blur than from the otherworldly sounds of Radiohead's last two albums. The songs are musically diverse and the lyrics inventive, but the hooks are straightforward. This is no "Kid A" or even "OK Computer."
And there is another influence present here -- punk. Even on the most radio-friendly tracks, like the hook-happy single "Roseability," Idlewild set themselves apart from the current crop of British art-pop by adding distortion, dirty guitar sounds and the occasional angrily growled vocal. Some songs, like "Rusty" and "Idea Track," which manages to blend punk stylings with a cello exeunt, are reminiscent of some of Blur's more aggressive, experimental work. In the case of both bands, the sound is one of a band who have been listening not only to the Velvet Underground but also to the Sex Pistols, not only to Elliott Smith but also to Rage Against the Machine.
One place where Idlewild take the same path as their Britpop brethren is the irony pervading the content of their songs. Like Coldplay and Travis, Idlewild write lyrics that, while often complex and metaphorical, have a straightforward sincerity that many current American bands lack. The excellent closing track, "The Bronze Medal," for example, is a sincere second-person ballad. One of the few moments of heavy irony on the album comes in the chorus of "Actually It's Darkness," when lead singer Roddy Woomble asks, "Why can't you be more cynical?"
"Roseability" and "Little Discourage," the first two singles, are great pop songs -- not just because they are instantly catchy and familiar, but also because they're smart and subversive. How many Top 40 songs can you name whose choruses reference Gertrude Stein or make statements like "All I need is a little discourage"?
Idlewild's first album, "Hope Is Important," was a critical success but gained little public recognition in the United States. A year after the British release of "100 Broken Windows," Capitol Records, the band's American label, is putting its muscle behind the album, releasing it on an enhanced CD that includes videos for "Roseability" and "Little Discourage" and launching a heavy college/indie-oriented promotional blitz.
Capitol should get their money's worth out of these lads. "100 Broken Windows" has something to offer to not only to fans of independent music, but also to the mainstream American rock fan who may hear the album and discover that pop can be loud and still be smart.
