All Fires
Make an Entrance
The New Wave and post-punk revival, in terms of its commercial longevity, has now outlasted the genre it resurrected. How long the original New Wave lasted has always been the subject of controversy. Its initial fans, the hardcore purists, believe it was dead when it began to dominate MTV with more accessible acts like Duran Duran, Culture Club, and Spandau Ballet. Which is ridiculous, of course, as that’s when it reached incredible heights of popularity. Then some claim it ended when the ’80s did, but that’s false as well, as the Cure, New Order, and Depeche Mode had some of their biggest hits in the early ’90s.
New Wave actually went back underground after grunge ruled alternative radio circa 1994, then transformed into Britpop a year or two later. Circa 2004, young New Wave acts such as the Killers and Franz Ferdinand rebelled against the flannel-clad by bringing back angular guitars, quirky dance rhythms, and thick British accents. Two decades later, All Fires make a dramatic, thrilling entrance with Make an Entrance, a new EP that cranks up the swirling riffs that define the genre.
“Champion” leaps out of the speakers with a Strokes-eque garage-rock rush. Michael Roman, creator/host of the Everything Always YouTube channel, is well-versed in the alien language of post-punk. “Champion” is drenched in Peter Hook-ish bass throb, Depeche Mode keyboards, and eccentric English-stamped singing. All Fires does it all convincingly well.
The spiraling guitars of the title cut recall the Editors — its breathtaking energy reminds me of U2 on their debut LP. The pulsating beat and shimmering synthesizers of “Awake” should be blasting out of your local discos if they caught wind of this swell EP.
There’s no filler, no wasted cut here. All Fires are on fire.
