‘False Alarm’ album review: Two Door Cinema Club bring catchy new sound
With each album, Irish indie band Two Door Cinema Club have managed to change their style
With each album, Irish indie band Two Door Cinema Club have managed to change their style. Having gone from indie-pop to funk to dance-punk on their first three records, the trio have opted for a retro-synth sound on their fourth album False Alarm, while still keeping their memorable choruses.
Two Door have picked their singles wisely, with the colourful and flamboyant opener Once leading smoothly into Talk. This track has a real 80s dance-funk groove, with frontman Alex Trimble delivering in an almost robot-like tone, “Top-shelf guy/Supermarket price/Don’t think much of me”.
The other bangers are saved for the end of the record: Dirty Air has a carefree chorus hook over a synth-pop surge; while Satellite begins with a simple keyboard melody, before breaking into a sunny, chirpy chorus. It’s on this track that the band sound most comfortable.
The other songs on the record are decent, but nowhere near as memorable (with the exception of So Many People, which is the group’s most intense song to date). Nice To See You is a blatant attempt at mimicking David Bowie’s hit Let’s Dance, but is vocally much weaker by comparison. Meanwhile Already Gone has a slow, soul goove, but again, with weaker-than-usual vocals.
Still, after almost 10 years, it’s amazing how infectious some of Two Door’s tunes can still be.