The Back Room

I recently picked up Editors' The Back Room and have concluded that it's one of the three best albums of 2005. I've been impressed with this band since I bought the "Bullets" 7 inch, and the album really brings it all together for me. Their sound harken's back to darkness of The Cure and Joy Division but it includes the upbeat rythyms of early U2. The band that they will draw the most comparisons to is Interpol, but the Editors' music is a bit more upbeat (even if the lyrics aren't) and the vocals are better. The singles off The Back Room are especially strong ("Bullets," "Munich" - tied for my favorite song of the year - and "Blood"), and the rest of the album does not disappoint - mixing slower ballad-esque songs with post-punk rock (check out that foot stomping chorus on "Fingers in the Factories"). The copy of The Back Room I bought came with Cuttings, a second cd that includes their b-sides. While they're good, the b-sides cannot compete with the album tracks (except "Release").

Looking forward to a US appearance from these guys.

From Cuttings:

Let Your Good Heart Lead You Home

You Are Fading

Crawl Down the Wall

Colours

Release

Forest Fire