When I first stumbled across Reuben in late 2001 with their single 'Scared Of The
Police' I rejoiced. The guitars were great, drums phenomenal vocals spot on and
there was something about the bass line and extra vocals provided by Jon that just
added brilliantly to the Reuben Molotov cocktail. From then they continued to impress
me until 'Freddy Kreuger' (note: incorrect spelling of 'Kruger'...tut!). Not that the single
was bad, it was just a fairly big step down in my opinion. I couldn't help but feel a little
bit concerned about this new style the trio had taken.
To help me sleep at night I downloaded (don't tell!) some demos for the then
forthcoming album and, yes, they impressed and some of the old singles had been recorded and were sounding pretty ace. Songs like 'Tonight My Wife Is Your Wife' and 'Fall Of The Bastille' made me think that I had nothing to worry about. After all, Reuben are a fantastic band and have 3 very talented band members. What could possibly go wrong with their debut album? Well... we'll get to that.
Throughout the album Reuben switch from their old style of addictive songs ('Let's Stop Hanging Out', 'Stuck In My Throat etc.)' with their new not-as-impressive songs ('No One Wins The War', 'Horrorshow', 'Oh The Shame, Freddy Kreuger ...) add to the fact that Guy's snare sounds like a cardboard box. I cringed, I cried. One of the bands that I had been genuinely been excited about had messed up their debut. This album should've been excellent. Not 'alright'.
The singles they re-recorded have less power to them, the scream on the intro for 'Stuck In My Throat' somehow works as a Trojan horse and instead weakens the surprise of the heaviness of the song. Oh... I don't want to be saying this but it's true. Reuben is a very talented schoolboy capable of going to university and getting a high wage job but instead is working at McDonalds. 'Let's Stop Hanging Out' sounds weaker and slower too and should have been one of the stronger songs on the album. But it ain't. Aside from the new style vs. old style battle that takes place in the album and in places, not the best production of the album, Reuben have some fecking brilliant tracks here, 'Fall Of The Bastille' is perfect. 'Eating Only Apples' sounds like it could be played at a strip club - you can smell the lust in the air with this one. 'Missing Fingers' is one of the better songs too.
So yeah, conclusions. I think this.... no. I know this album could've been better. It feels a bit premature - despite the months and years Reuben have had to wait to 'do the debut'. It is a let down but not majorly, like I said before, Reuben are a brilliant band but I just felt that a few of the 16 songs gave the album a few more sour notes than they deserve.
Craig Sharp. |
| Coding: Darren Burrows