Album Review: Concrete Knives - Be Your Own King

Their name conjures up black metal or noise vibes, which might be part of their joke – all things considered. Concrete Knives are, in fact, a northern French indie pop rock five-piece who're throwing their collective hat into the ring of modern indie pop with Be Your Own King, a succinct, 34 minute, vibrant burst of energy housed as a debut album.

Bornholmer, the record's opening tune, could hardly frame the record more ideally. The song is short, punchy and driven by a straightforward energetic beat. Kinda fuzzy, kinda not guitars belt out danceable riffs behind youthful male and female vocals ebbing and flowing in and out of harmonisation at will (this is the free-spirited 2010s after all, kids). 

It's all rather successfully done and immaculately produced by fellow French indie comrade Dan Levy of The Dø. Unfortunately, it's the one tone the band know how to nail. They continue to show this off on the catchy and stomping Wallpaper and pleasantly Yeah Yeah Yeahs-reminiscent Greyhound Racing (complete with its own “na-na-na-na” refrain), but that's where it ends. Oddly, and unsuccessfully, minimalist mid-tempo Roller Boogie only solidifies where the group's strength lies.

Be Your Own King is perfectly fun, inoffensive, catchy pop music, albeit stuck in the one lane. The youthful passion the band brings to the table is as naïve as it is infectious. Concrete Knives never leap out of a middle of the road feeling of, 'Ah yes, post-2000 indie pop,' but that doesn't matter to them. They might not be the king of anything, but they're obviously having too much fun to care.