Grand Unification

by

Fightstar

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Following on from their tentatively, but ultimately well-received EP, Fightstar finally give us a full scale look at what they're all about: namely big, meaty chords; big, meaty vocals (from Simpson at least); big meaty production and, frankly, lackluster lyrics.

The band's talents are shown to their fullest on 'Grand Unification Pt 1', 'Paint Your Target' and 'Mono', though the ending of the latter demonstrates the over-eagerness of producer Colin Richardson to tack that little extra something to the some of the tracks and detract from their quality.

'Sleep Well Tonight' and 'Build an Army' on the other hand are both potentially good tracks spoiled by a feeble and unimaginative verse. Both have their moments, but the songs as a whole are very weak.

Then there are the lyrics:

"I'm alone and self-anaemic

But sometimes you wake up

If I could hold this rope inside my hands

You'd understand they let us down"

(Waste a Moment)

What...?

The whole album is full of verses put together for the sake of the rhyme and practically every track is about someone sleeping/waking too much/little. After Palahniuk's Laughter, we shouldn't be surprised, but the lyrics often jarr.

However, like Palahniuk's Laughter, this album is about the sound as a whole. Charlie Simpson's voice is perfectly suited to the music (perhaps why he sounded so rubbish when trying to sing pop songs). He regularly (and thankfully) drowns out singing partner Al Westaway and produces a sound you wouldn't expect from someone of his tender years. And there's little restraint to the playing; the band merrily going all out to fill each track with as much noise as possible, without it all becoming a tiresome drone, so expect to be banging your head a lot.

Grand Unification is a good, but not great, debut album and Fightstar need to garner some experience - as well as some more focused production and legible lyrics - if they're to have any hope of releasing a superior follow-up.