British India - Black And White Radio (Single)
» British India ‘Thieves’ National Tour and New Album! - June 16, 2008
» Homebake - Domain, The, NSW - December 6, 2008
» British India - Amplifier Bar, WA - December 4, 2008
» British India - Colonial Rule - December 6, 2006
» The totally far out British India - October 20, 2005
» British India - Governor Hindmarsh, SA - August 4, 2008
» British India - Corner Hotel, The, Vic - July 19, 2008
When I first loaded this single onto my computer it automatically came up as "A Mi Me Gustan Los Hombres" by Veo Muertos and I assumed I've been given the wrong CD. But as soon as I hit play, the thrashing first bars of this Melbourne outfit strike me like lightning and I know I've got some Black And White Radio...
The problem is, I can't get The Valentinos out of my head. The catchy drum and guitar lick at the beginning of British India's first single sounds scarily similar to "Man With A Gun". Not that this has negative connotations. It's just that the offbeat lyrics, alternative approach to vocals and staccato style of melody is so popular with the indie crowd these days; it becomes hard to tell each band from one another.
Disappointingly, there is only one song on this single release. Two minutes and thirty six seconds of hard, crazy rock and roll on repeat while you try and anaylse it can get a little boring after awhile. It is quite typical of what you’d expect from the indie rock fanfare going on at the moment.
"You're best friends with ugly people, so you stand out in a crowd" and "The kids all tune in to black and white radio" are what this release is all about. Oh sorry. I forgot the main chorus: "Go-go-go-go. Go-go-go-go". It's catchy, it's fun, it's indie-danceable but is it good? I think this can only be decided when listening to 'Black And White Radio' wedged between some of British India's other tunes. If this is the epitome of this outfit's fresh self-titled release though, then I'm not entirely hooked.
It's raw though, with fresh and clean production by Harry Vanda (AC/DC & The Wrights), and I'd have high hopes for 'Black And White Radio' in a live arena. Declan Melia (lead vocals/guitar), along with having a cool name, has a unique and interesting voice which could get you addicted if you weren't careful. I'd like to hear him actually "sing" a bit more, rather than the mega-phone type-shouting he dissolves into at the close of the track.
The lyrics also are fairly basic, which is indicative of this type of music, but I would like to see British India build on their strength and tightness as an outfit and put some clever messages out there.
The rhythmic guitar bridge rounds this single out nicely towards the end and breaks up the monotony of the chorus.
'Black And White Radio' has elements of Aussie bands such as Faker and Ground Components. It’s even a little reminiscent of some modern British rock bands, with an all-over very Gerling-like sound.
Listen to it once and love it, check out British India’s other tracks but don’t put 'Black And White Radio' on repeat. Because after awhile it begins to sound like fuzzy static…
