Album Reviews |

Cajun Dance Party



The Colourful Life 7 ( 2008 )
The Colourful Life / The Race / Time Falls / The Next Untouchable / No Joanna / Amylase / The Firework / Buttercups / The Hill, The View & The Lights

Much has been said about the fact the band-members were just sixteen years old when releasing their debut single, 'The Next Untouchable'. Much has been made of the fact Bernard Butler ( Suede, Duffy, etc ) produces this set. Sure, the vocals sound a little like The Kooks and the lyrics are a set of apparently meaningless sound-bites, yet there remains much to enjoy about this band and this debut LP. Well, like what? Well, it's short at under forty minutes and it's undemanding fare that raises itself above background listening via the constantly interesting guitar lines and those much maligned sound-bites too, actually. Some lyrics sound better than others, but we don't mind too much. Dismissing a band due to a few dodgy lyrics when the majority are absolutely fine, as many reviewers have done, seems just a little churlish to me. Perhaps it's The Kooks comparison, perhaps it's due to the fact The Thrills fell flat on their faces after their debut and everyone expects Cajun Dance Party to do the same. Perhaps it's just the fact that the tastemakers at NME are too old and these guys too young to hang out at the same jaunts? Who knows, yet stranger things have happened.

Now, not everyone likes Bernard Butler and his techniques. I have to say, i'm usually a fan and it was his ideas and sounds and orchestrations that endeared the Duffy album to me. I'm less keen on his work here even if the engineering wasn't actually his fault. Whether it was a choice to make things a little fuzzy and sludgy in an attempt to inject some rough edges, I don't know. All I know is a song such as 'The Race', complete with a guitar line that Hank Marvin would be proud of deserves better actual fidelity than it has. This is a guitar line that needs echo aroud it, needs to be recorded in a bathroom with mikes hanging from the ceiling. There's also the suspicion that Cajun Dance Party lack a decent, melodic bass player. Oh, the drummer is fine but if we want these guys to progress, they can't rely on their guitarist alone. The other guys need to improve, basically. Still, 'The Race' is thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish, even in spite of the flaws.

'The Next Untouchable' and 'Colourful Life' are both fine, catchy songs. The ballad 'No Joanna' seems a little schizophrenic, a ballad taken at breathneck speed, somewhat confusingly and also devoid of genuine emotion. Then, the album kind of tails off, merely repeating itself. Well, 'Amylase' is also a single and sounds like it. Can you imagine these guys writing a 'Meat Is Murder' next though or writing an album that sounds like latter day Supergrass, average indie-fare? Where will they go with their imaginations or will the record industry convince them to repeat the same mistakes as all the other generic indie-guitar bands?

Add A Comment?