Money and Celebrity - The Subways Album Review

The Subways

Album Review

By the time The Subways released their 2005 debut studio album, 'Young for Eternity', the Welwyn Garden City trio had already performed at Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds. Their raw and youthful energy on the likes of Rock & Roll Queen, Oh Yeah, 1AM and No Goodbyes earned them a loyal cult following - alongside appearances on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, Late Show With David Letterman and within Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla and The O.C. 2008's 'All Or Nothing' arrived after the amicable break up of lead singer Billy Lunn and bassist Charlotte Cooper, but in a way the romantic heartache played out nicely on the record.

Their touring adventure around the States also saw them return with a Californian smoothness to their sound as well as a last stance attitude following the diagnosis of nodules on Lunn's vocal cords - hence the album's title. To date the tracks 'Alright', 'Shake! Shake!', 'Turnaround' and 'Lostboy' continue to appear on my iPod, which is why I'm surprised the band haven't hit the commercial heights they so aptly deserve.

With 'Money and Celebrity', The Subways' latest offering revolves around our fame-obsessed and materialistic society. Each of the tracks are under 4 minutes in length - thundering with short epic sweetness. 'It's A Party' is a solid opener, but 'We Don't Need Money To Have A Good Time' is more so infectiously fresh and emphasizes life for many people across the country at the moment. The track 'Celebrity' (which has a nice kick reminiscent of Bloc Party's Banquet) is a dig at the tabloid culture surrounding the likes of TOWIE and Big Brother stars who are looking for their 15 minutes of fame. The hook is catchy and ironically could easily have soundtracked an episode of The Hills. For those that like their love songs with a bite 'I Wanna Dance With You' should appease, whilst 'Like I Love You' and 'Leave My Side' throws in some angst for balance.

As with 'All or Nothing', this third studio album is crammed with power-rock anthems and memorable choruses ready to be belted back by an enthusiastic festival audience. Third time lucky, The Subways should find their own Money and Celebrity improve with this release.

Jenness Mitchell