If you are a regular reader of W&H you will know that our enthusiasm for ‘funk punk’ holds no bounds. With LCD Soundsystem and !!! getting rave live reviews already this year, Radio 4 topped both of them on a recent sweaty night at 93 Feet East. Bowled over by their fierce live show and still enthralled by their last album ‘Gotham!’, ‘Stealing of a Nation’ could not arrive soon enough. What with !!! already having released a head spinning monster of an album this year, it was all to play for for Radio 4.
So have they produced the goods? Well yes and no. In the review of the 93 Feet East show you may recall an assertion that the new material was no great departure from ‘Gotham!’. Blame it on the murky sound of the gig, blame it on their fierce live sound or just blame it on the lager and frenzied dancing but ‘Stealing of a Nation’ is a very different beast to ‘Gotham!’. The in your face post punk mayhem has been brushed to one side and been replaced by an electronic sound that harks back to the glory days of Madchester. Such is the overwhelming use of dance beats, electronic toys and indier than thou guitars that at times it sounds like an open love letter to England and it’s bands. The sounds of the Happy Mondays, New Order, The Smiths and (yawn) The Cure are all over this record, although it remains distinctly Radio 4, the sound is cleaner, more sophisticated and designed directly for the dance floor.
In this lies both it’s strength and it’s weakness. Anyone familiar with the remixes from ‘Gotham!’ (in particular the amazing DFA remix of ‘Dance to the Underground’) will know that such a union can be a glorious thing. At it’s best, as on opener and first single ‘Party Crashers’, their righteous lyrics, banging dance beats and a haunting piano line are destined to cause mayhem on a dance floor near you. Or lend your ears to ‘Nation’ and it’s dubby basslines, narcotic haze and ‘Do you love justice’ refrain that will make it’s insidious way into your head and take up residence.
Vocalist and bass player, Anthony Roman reckons “‘The Stealing of a Nation’ is a powerful statement which could be applied to the theft of the 2000 election, the invasion of Iraq and the current Administrations denial of core, positive American values” Which will only get a round of applause from this corner but begs the question is the way to put these, let’s face it, angry and valid points across insipid indie such as ‘Absolute Affirmation’ which sounds like a cross between the lighter end of New Orders back catalogue and latter day Manics? Not so much a poor song as a poor song by Radio 4’s standards. For every ‘State of Alert’ with it’s bongo frenzy, New Wave guitars and funky bass lines there’s a ‘(Give me all your) Love’, lightweight dance number that brought to mind Utah Saints rather alarmingly, waiting around the corner.
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See the problem is there is nothing new to be heard on ‘Stealing of a Nation’. Yes it is on the whole extremely well executed, yes Radio 4 do possess their own distinct sound but the components already exist in the record collection of anyone who has shown an interest in 90’s indie and dance music. ‘Gotham!’ may have similarly mined the Gang of Four, PIL and Wire sound but the fact remains the post punk sound never really took off in it’s own life time to the extent that indie dance music did through the 90’s. If this record had been released 10 years ago it would be an instant master piece. As it is it’s more than a little underwhelming.
To be fair, if they cut 3 songs out another star would be added to the top of this review. There are some great songs on this album. It’s partly that the expectation was high, partly that !!! have already released an album this year that covers the same ground better and partly due to the lack of editing what is a flabby, sloppy album. Shame, because Radio 4 are better than this.
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