The Humour are quite open about their desire to create “feel-good music”, but their eponymous début EP is surprisingly rock’n'roll; it’s feel-good all right, but the cartoony artwork and their roster of support slots with the pop-punk glitterati had me expecting another Anglophone Sum 41 clone. It’s a relief to be proven wrong sometimes.
To be honest, I’d probably file The Humour EP under cock-rock, if only on the basis of the sound and song structure; these three tracks have the shameless exuberance and direct hooks that made the spandex bands so successful in their era. Thankfully there’s a notable absence of the crude innuendo and self-congratulatory excess that killed the genre off. The Humour have the sound nailed, but their youth shines through and replaces jaded rock decadence with live-for-the-dancefloor energy.
Opening track “Momentary Moment” has phased foo-fightin’ chords and semi-stoner lead hooks that invite drunken air-guitar; The Humour know a good groove when they hear one, and they don’t drown it in unnecessary extras. Over the top are James Taylor’s vocals, and here’s the real ace in the hole - he’s not trying to sound like a Californian!
The Humour’s sound is British all over, as it happens; a bluesy take on the hard rock format that cares little for tough-guy posturing. “Mr Rockefeller” is pure hooks, rock pop without that saccharine aftertaste – arse-shaking music, just like they say they want to make. It’s not particularly original or inventive, but there’s a lot to be said for taking a simple thing and doing it well, and that’s what’s happening here.
The Humour EP closes with “Your Robot Dance Is In Time”, which is a trifle disappointing by comparison, attempting as it does to weld last season’s nu-rave ironic-eighties-retro lyrical content to a sound that doesn’t really deserve to be treated that cheaply. It’s all in the name of fun, of course – right down to the cheesy electro pip-pop beats of the middle-eight and the references to MC Hammer’s dance skills – but it feels like an uneasy marriage to me. With a sound as proven and timeless as The Humour produce, bringing it “up to date” actually robs it of some of its impact.
But hey, they’re young, and if The Humour want to write daft pop lyrics then good luck to them. I don’t know that I’d go out of my way to buy an album of material like this, but I’d far rather hear “Momentary Moment” on the daytime radio playlist than the usual over-sincere angst. So slip on your dancing shoes for The Humour – but leave out the body-popping, OK?
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Posted in Music reviews |
Tags: hard rock, pop, The Humour
