Communique
Poison Arrows
Lookout! Records
First, I’d like to say that Poison Arrows has one of my favorite covers of the year: a simple blood-red flower of some sort, upon a black background, with a red border. Very simple, yet gorgeous.
The music on the disc shows just how far Lookout! Records has come since their days of releasing nothing but sing-song punk rock. Communique is a keyboard-driven pop outfit, similar in many ways to The Cars, Celebrity and, at times, The Smiths.
Given the current amount of retro ’80s kitsch flowing in the seas of indie and punk rock, the emergence of Communique isn’t surprising. They’re getting a lot of attention outside of the indie rock community, thanks to very strong song structures, singable hooks and chimey guitars and keyboards. Their music is warm and welcoming, yet the tone of the songs is also somewhat dark and lonely, much in the same way that The Smiths’ music sounded triumphant but was actually quite sad in content. The vocalist for Communique has an awesome voice, one that is truly meant for the big time. This band has got the makings to become the next Weezer, and if they don’t explode with Poison Arrows, I will be surprised. This is a really cool album!
Lookout Records!: http://www.lookoutrecords.com
