Painful Thing
Rob Dickinson, 42, of Great Yarmouth, UK, kicked off his musical career in dark, moody territory (as did most British musicians in the shoegazing era). But since Catherine Wheel’s Happy Days (1995), he’s been out of the dark business. There are good reasons for this: Adam and Eve (1997) is his best-reviewed album ever, partly because it was such a radical departure from Happy Days. And Fresh Wine for the Horses (2005), his solo album, brought back the album sales Rob enjoyed in the early 90s, despite its positive (and occasionally schmaltzy) tone. Hell, he even released a version of “Hush Little Baby.”
“Where We Are,” the new single by Canadian band Neverending White Lights, is about as moody as Rob has been in the past dozen years. In fact, if you listen to a few seconds of the song and look at NWL’s MySpace page, you might get the feeling that Rob is looking to dabble in mid-90s territory. Now, I like moody Rob (note the Happy Days promo photo on the right… one of my faves) so this should be good news.
Alas, it’s not. Closer examination reveals that NWE, while claiming to be a broadly-influenced electro-pop/indie band, could more accurately be described as “emo.” If you’re unfamiliar with this particular rock scene, emo is notable for somehow managing to avoid doing almost anything that feels genuine, new or risky. Even the “emotional” aspect is faulty: “I thought you loved me, but I guess not” is about as dark as emo gets.
Listen to “Where We Are” and NWE’s other tracks a few times, and eventually it all starts to fall apart. Where exactly are all of those influences they claim? Underneath the canned beats and double-tracked vocals? NWE’s ouevre, like that of most emo bands, is just catchy enough to reel people in. After a few listens, it just dies.
C’mon, Rob, you can do moody better than this.