Editors - 'The Racing Rats'
You have to admit, as far as lyrics for choruses go, "if a plane were to fall from the sky, how big a hole would it leave in the surface of the Earth?" is unusual. That's more of a multiple-choice GCSE physics question than a lyric, and yet it's curiously fitting that doomy old Editors should set such a question. I mean they're hardly going to write a song which asks something cheery like "if he was egged on by his mates, how many Wheat Crunchies could Jamie Oliver fit into his mouth without gagging?", are they?
You only have to look over the rest of the lyric sheet for this stirring, dramatic little number to spot how they do what they do, too. The trick is to talk about fairly mundane, everyday things, as if they are collisions of dark forces, and you, the singer, are poised on the brink of imminent mental collapse.
So, where Arctic Monkeys might sing about going to work, Editors sing about keeping up with "the racing rats" (in the rat race, you see, it's poetical, innit). And where Kate Nash might sing about a pretty sunset, Editors sing about reaching up to God while "the sun says its goodbyes". The difference is pretty clear. This is real life acted out as if it were a heroic myth. Which, given that this is a song about a failing relationship, seems to fit the angst of the moment quite neatly.
Naturally, your tolerance to this kind of thing probably depends on whether you're the kind of person who likes to call a spade a Soil-Defiling Earth-Dagger or not. But there are things here which even the myth-phobic might find pleasing. A twisty guitar refrain, proper punk-funk drumming (lots of that about, these days), and Tom's Nick Cave/Ian Curtis baritone wail, to name but three.
I could live with bit more variety in the verse melody myself, but then, you can't fight against The Will Of The Gods in these matters, they'll only turn your hindquarters into a goat's bum, or something.
PS: WOW! I got through an entire Editors review without mentioning Interpol or Joy Division! Is this what maturity feels like?
Download: Out now
CD Released: November 26th
(Fraser McAlpine)
Comments
Well you DID say "Ian Curtis". Apart from that, I am trying to decide how did Editors evolve (in MY eyes) from a really fantastic band into a copycat band with curiously shit lyrics. (I liked "Smokers outside hospital doors" quite a bit, but I would have loved it if I didn't speak any English...) From what you are writing here, "Racing Rats" isn't much of an improvement :P