Singles

New Rhodes - Everybody Loves a Scene

Michael Chilcott 26/11/2008

Rating: 2/5

It's hard to know what to say about Everybody Loves a Scene, the first single from Bristol quartet New Rhodes' forthcoming album of the same name. It's neither offensively bad nor is it radiantly brilliant, but this is where the song's main problem lies.

See, you can't fault the band's energy, and they do sometimes get somewhere close to the anthemic status which they clearly have in their sights and which everyone has a little soft spot for. But once you've got through the stadium bluster the tune is revealed to be pretty thin, clinical and seriously lacking in invention. There's bits of The Smiths, Bloc Party and a hundred other bands who do this sort of thing better. A couple of listens and you realise that nothing actually happens - the song just goes by, faceless and lacking in any colour whatsoever. You know, I'd rather they'd tried something different and failed - I'd rather they took a leap and fucked it up. But instead New Rhodes have opted for complete safety, and as a result this song merely provokes indifference, and a vapidity and emptiness of feeling all too prevalent in mainstream modern guitar music.

Seriously. I have listened to this tune a lot for the purpose of this review; sometimes I only realised that the track had faded into the background when my iTunes moved on to the next track. So the only reaction this record provokes is a dismissive shrug. Let's all move on now eh?

Release date: 17/11/08