Review
ABOVE THEM – ARE WE A DANGER TO OURSELVES
Released 27th February 2012 (Specialist Subject)
Words: Charlie Wallis
The latest offering from Above Them; “Are We a Danger to Ourselves” starts off full of promise with opening track “New Year” kicking the album firmly into life. There are flavors influences ranging from Foo Fighters to Biffy Clyro and Twin Atlantic and the enthusiasm is keenly noticeable. As the album plays out a few things are apparent, the album is well mixed and these lads can definitely play, however that’s where positives starts to fade somewhat. The problem with a lot of this album is that none of the tracks really stand out above the rest. Now this is not in itself an issue if you have an album of corkers, however ‘Above Them’ do not. After a couple of run-throughs it starts to become difficult to tell the songs apart and the song writing techniques begin to feel a little repetitive.
Now this isn’t to say the album is bad, there are instances where brilliance shines through, particularly around the half way mark with the moody “Giving Up on Sorrow” and the energetic “Self Destruction”. What’s unfortunate is that these flecks of brilliance sit atop an album of mainly filler tracks that don’t seem to capture the energy that this band’s really about. When the pace quickens there’s something really special hiding underneath and this is clear in tracks like “Two (Many) Nights in Paris” but the momentum just isn’t maintained consistently.
To conclude, there’s nothing wrong with this album, indeed as a showcase of potential it works quite well, but if nothing is done to lift the songwriting to a level above your everyday rock band they really may well end up being a danger to themselves.
