The Latest Fashion
Attack! Attack! have come along well since their self-titled debut, having supported the likes of Funeral For A Friend, Fightstar and Kids In Glass Houses, honing their craft. They’ve got a reputation for their exciting brand of pop-punk, which excels in the live environment. The Latest Fashion has been out a while, but I got listening to it again last night and decided it needed a review on here. Their debut was a good record that had a few highlights, resulting in it being a bit inconsistent. With The Latest Fashion, that can’t be a complaint anymore. This is precise, great pop-rock, although that can also be a bit of a problem. It’s great, but they’re beginning to sound a bit like the bands they’ve been touring with, and the Welsh bands they will always be compared to. ‘No Excuses’ is similar to Lostprophets’ song ‘The New Transmission’, and struggles to find itself an identity. It’s still a great, heavier side to Attack! Attack!, but it’s not identifiable as “them”, which is the one criticism that can be given to The Latest Fashion. It’s all very good, excellently produced and consistently exciting…just not always identifiable. It’s nice, then, when we get tracks like ‘Blood On My Hands’, which starts off at a slower tempo. It’s a bit Kids In Glass Houses-esque, but still builds up well to a catchy fist-pumping chorus. This is actually one of the best songs Attack! Attack! have recorded, and seems to breath new life into the album. Neil Starr’s vocals have a hint of Patrick Stump about them, but enough personality to carry the album. The heavy, raw ‘Seen Me Lately’ is aggressive, channelling Funeral For A Friend with cleaner vocals. It’s a great track that will be perfect in a live environment. The next two or three tracks follow a darker, heavier style, although it’s a bit catchier when we get to ‘Nemesis’. Really, by this point we can ignore the fact that the band has influences in their own scene. They’ve combined it all to create a fantastic, exciting sound. The Latest Fashion ends, almost predictably, with rock ballad ‘No Tomorrow’. The final track is safe, by-the numbers power-pop, but it works. It’s actually a pretty decent attempt as a pop-punk ballad, showing that there’s more to Attack! Attack! than straight-up rock tracks. It’s not the strongest track on the album, but it rounds it off well enough to make The Latest Fashion exciting. We can only hope Attack! Attack! continue to make albums like this in the future, because if they do, they’ll be huge. Female First - Alistair McGeorge
Tagged in Attack Attack