U.K. band Editors have labeled their brand of music “dark disco”. It’s a fitting name, but even more telling is the title of the bonus track on their single Munich. It’s a hard-driving, head-shaking, passionate cover of Stereolab’s “French Disko”. You see, though the boys in the band call the British Isles home, they did not grow up in music epi-centers like London or Liverpool. Instead, they spent their musically formative years in such locations as Stroud, Nottingham, Ipswich and Solihull which has allowed them to follow their own muse instead of recycling the sound of some major music scene.
What Editors have come up with is a sound two steps removed from glossy U.K. staples like Doves. Rest assured though, they have plenty of the shiny, tinkling sound that is popular with everyone from Madonna to the band from Kansas who is probably setting up their myspace page at this very second. But what Editors have added to the mix is a European club beat with a splash or rock and roll. Shake don’t stir and “voila” a new and exciting will sound will soon be pounding out of a club near you.
The single “Munich” does show off singer Tom Smith’s brooding vocals and is overall, a solid atmospheric rock song, but the real gem here is “French Disko”. With its chants of “la resistance” and a hyper rhythm that practically begs for a dance floor with a disco ball, it could be the track that really gets the Editors party started. I’d even go so far as to say that they improved on the original.
The only thing stopping this pair from scoring a perfect 10 is the choice to lead with “Munich” instead of “French Disko”. After all, the first principle of rock and roll is make ‘em dance! |