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New Order Waiting for the Sirens' Call Release Date: 03/29/05 [Europe] 04/12/05 [North America] Score: 8.0 out of 10.0 |
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It’s hard to believe these boys started 25 years ago, after the death of Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis, but New Order has survived the years and is back again in 2005 with their first release since 2001’s Get Ready. As with much of their post-80’s releases, the band makes use of the guitar and organic instruments more so than the electronic rhythms that made them change the face of dance music in the 1980s.
While their best days may be past them, the band that invented the dance form known as “New Wave” can still churn out good to great pop hits. Peter Hook’s warm bass still has that greatness feeling to it. Not many bands feature the bass as the prime choice of melody; New Order does, and Hook’s talent is more than enough to fill in. That’s not a bash on Bernard Summer’s guitar skills either. Although, he doesn’t use his talent to the extremes as he once did in early New Order and Joy Division work, the guitar he handles is still a solid tool that New Order seems to have focused more on this time around than any previous, which is quite evident on the opening three tracks, “Who’s Joe?”, “Hey Now, What You Doing?”, and the title-track, “Waiting for the Sirens’ Call.” This could be the result of longtime keyboardist Gillian Gilbert’s departure. She was replaced by Phil Cunningham, who had toured and recorded with the band since 2001.
Guitars and organic sounds aside, Cunningham and drummer Stephen Morris still know how to create killer beats. The popular single, “Krafty,” has a wicked introduction which combines Morris’s techno beats with Hook’s bass work that’s reminiscent of a Movement-era New Order. “I Told You So” features bubbly textures beneath a spacey-droplet synths, and Morris’s jungle-sounding drumming. Summer’s vocals are comparable to his Republic time period, where there were greater hints of emotion than his darker 80s era, which brought out emotionless anthems like “Blue Monday.”
The one thing that set aside New Order from many other bands was their remarkable ability to create dance floor friendly songs. Very seldom do they miss a beat when it comes to this field. From their older works ‘til the present day, the New Order has had a knack for putting the right balance of pop inflicted melodies with a killer dance beat that will get the body moving and shaking with ease. The middle of Waiting for the Sirens’ Call features a nice collection of standout dance floor hits, topped by the funky “Morning Night and Day,” and the melody rich “Dracula’s Castle.”
While New Order may not sound as innovative as their earlier work, it’s hard not to like them. They’ve always made that tricky task of genre bending the electronic world with the rock world seem relatively simple, and this latest album is no different. Happy sounding tunes, fun beats, and great melodic bass; Waiting for the Sirens’ Call is a solid return for New Order.
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-Anthony Nguyen
March 25, 2005
