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Album Details
- Artist: Two Door Cinema Club
- Album: Tourist History
- Label: Glassnote Records
- Year of Release: 2010
- ME Rating:
- Reviewed by: digitalbath on 2011-04-06
RecommendTwo Door Cinema Club has once again revitalized my faith in pop music surpassing mindless drivel. Their 2010 debut, Tourist History is a great pop album that truly shows where pop music can go in this new generation of music. A lot of bands have been taking advantage of orchestral accompaniment these days and Two Door Cinema Club is no exception to the rule. Followed by brass accompaniment, Modest Mouse-esque guitar work, compelling drum work, and of course that electronic touch for that added ambience and midi that every decent pop group needs.
As I first delved into Tourist History, I found myself having a lot of trouble getting past the first song simply because of it’s intoxicatingly catchy licks. As I got further through the album, I soon realized that every song could be a single on this album. Lyrics aren’t typically the first thing to jump out at me but I found myself singing along with a lot of Tourist History’s hooks upon the first listen. The percussive aspect of Tourist History reminds me of Spoon, and Anthony Green. There also seems to be strong influence from bands such as Phoenix, Bloc Party, and Hellogoodbye. The harmonies found throughout the album are truly of note as well. It’s always great to see pop singers able to put their vocals cords to appropriate use.
Tourist History is a 12 track album with 12 distinguishable hits. I could listen to this album over and over and expect listeners of all genres to find themselves bobbing their heads to the beat and singing along through all of the hooks.
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on 2011-12-15 CharlesMartel Said:
As someone who once did some drumming in his time, although not with any great proficiency I will admit, one thing which really annoys me is the drum machine. For a start, it is pretty obvious when one is being used and Two Door Cinema Club make use of the damn thing all the time. In my view, reliance on drum machines creates a laziness that is hard to shift in other aspects of music as well and I am afraid that, if an exemplar were needed, " Tourist History" would be one album I would point to.
The whole album is lazy. It relies too much on a single idea and flogs that for all it is worth. At no point does any hint of innovation come into it. Keep at it, the same thing, and eventually you will crush the will to dispute the point out of anyone who is still listening by the end. The point of "Tourist History" is to be inoffensive to the extent that I find its very inoffensiveness offensive. Even though the album is only a shade over thirty minutes long, it is a hell of a long half an hour. I find it a trial to get through it and this does not bode well for repeat listens.
There is such a lack of diversity between the tracks that it is staggering. Basic, uninventive dance music forms the basis and in order to ensure that it remains constant, there goes that bloody drum machine. After that, well take some reasonably catchy but largely forgettable tunes and have the words sung by someone whose voice is pretty underwhelming, by which I mean both pretty, too pretty in fact, and underwhelming. And that, in a nutshell is " Tourist History" . This gets airplay on Britain's pitifully few alternative radio stations and I can see why, but in reality, there is little here to hold your attention.
It is quite clear that the band are one of those outfits whose career has been largely moulded by some music industry Svengali in the hope that the band will be the next Keane or Franz Ferdinand. Indeed, the music does remind me, strangely, of Franz Ferdinand. But in truth I cannot see the band gaining any real acclaim over this. It is too generic, too bland, too much of a performance and not enough substance, this is not an album I shall be coming back to in a hurry.
Rating: 3/10
