Some album titles seem almost doomed before anyone’s heard a note. Popular Music certainly seems like a bold choice for any band. Good luck LIFE.
Without hearing it, it would be easy to think the title is some loaded, ironic FU from a band so far beyond ‘the scene’ (and often the fans of such bands), that they don’t need to care. It’s an attitude often adopted by bands displaying a massive case of form over function. Turns out LIFE didn’t get the update about irony, or the one about being humble.
Instead, they’ve taken the Ronseal approach to music, saying exactly what it is on the label. Not since The Hives announced who everyone’s new favourite band was has an album title felt so apt.
Popular Music is, or at least should be, just that. Every song here is a potential single. From their more pop moments to their more experimental, LIFE have created something amazing: great music. There’s no pretence, pretension or parody of this or that; instead, they simply launch into songs that demand to be loved.
Many bands have done belligerent, British punk, however many forgot you still need a damn good tune to hang it all on. LIFE haven’t fallen into this trap; each tune is a singular explosion of unbridled enthusiasm and hooks. Each feels like a favourite, the problem is another contender for the best track follows immediately. It’s as exciting as it sounds.
In Your Hands explodes into life, and then the album just hurtles past. Sugar God and Go Go Go are great fun, Rare Boots is Little Man Tate meets Menswear, with more balls, or Rank Deluxe with slightly less fury (only slightly mind), BaBaBa just hurts, but (in the words of the Cougar) it Hurts So Good.
But it’s not all breakneck. Earthworm’offers a dash of The Fall, and that’s never a bad thing, while Beautifully Skint is so unadulterated and raw you can feel it crawling under your skin throughout and long after. The title-track is just intensity, bottled and shaken aggressively. It’s an incredible release of energy and excitement.
Each song is a short, bloody, violent burst of brilliance. Popular Music is the very essence of function over form when it comes to punk rock. Everything hangs off the brilliance of the music, from the excitement to the don’t-give-a-f*** attitude. And that’s what makes it such a great album: because everything is as good as it should be.
Popular Music is no hollow threat or empty promise, it’s a simple and brutal statement. And LIFE have delivered on this promise in a powerful way.