well, it’s definitely not coldplay

seems like the band keane has always been treated as a me-too coldplay clone. and even though it’s not true, their similar sound and song construction in the past could definitely serve to give the casual listener that impression.

so, after having listened to coldplay’s interesting (but short) viva la vida for the past couple of months now, I was waiting to find out what keane’s response would be when their album was released this week.

the result… not so good.

just when you thought we were finally done with the terrible 80’s synthesizers, keane goes and makes an album with exactly that. and no, you can’t even call it a response to all the other bands doing their I-love-the-80’s-impressions, because they’re at least doing it somewhat tongue-in-cheek, or melding synthesizers carefully with modern instruments. instead, keane brings out every ridiculous 80’s effect they can think of; from screeching noises and industrial clanking percussion to – yes, the rhythmic multi-clap. oh god, the multi-clap.

the abundance of treble-ly tinging noises makes the songs feel unbalanced and frankly, irritating. pretty much sums up the 80’s right there. not to mention the bridge in “spiralling” sounds like keane was writing the song while listening to talking heads’ “once in a lifetime”:

did you want to be famous / did you want to be the president / did you want to start a war

the worst part is, most of the songs are reasonably well-written. it’s just the production that sucks, which is really disappointing. makes me wonder what they would’ve sounded like stripped-down without all the crappy embellishment.

anyway, keane is obviously way behind the times, because the new “in” thing is to hit up the 60’s/70’s for inspiration, as evidenced by she & him and the fleet foxes. the 80’s are done.