3/5 stars
Love Parade’s second album, Shake On The Mission, is drenched in negativity. The lyrics don’t digress from whatever it was bugging the band during this album’s conception, and if you’re not empathising with them, you’re probably bored. But polarising the audience isn’t necessarily a bad thing to do.
The Newcastle-cum-Sydneysiders’ opening track ‘I’m Not Gonna Get It Now’ is danceable and the most uplifting moment of the album. Optimism isn’t obligatory for music, but when you’re being told for the next 28 minutes things like “I was looking for any way out” or “I took my body to the river and tried to drown it”, you need some kind of relent.
The slower ballads like ‘Wake Up, It’s Midnight’ and ‘Lake River Lake’ have sparse and simple acoustic guitars, boosted by haunting vocal harmonies. Then quicker and quirkier stuff like ‘Suspicious Delicious’ chugs along in easygoing and bittersweet blasts of fuzz and driving double-time. The diversity in song structures and instrumentation is this album’s saving grace.
If vague negativity bugs you, Shake On A Mission probably won’t float your boat. But if you can work around that, you should enjoy this catchy, pub-friendly pop-rock.
Love Parade’s Shake On The Mission is out on Electric Sun.
