Album Review: Reverend & The Makers - @Reverend_Makers

There was a time, back in 2007, when Reverend & The Makers looked like they'd become the next big thing to spring forth from the UK indie pop scene. However, with a fickle frontman in the form of John McClure, they descended from their by-the-numbers pop debut to a politically-charged follow-up that lacked radical thrust, and now to a third record that seems to be clawing at current trends in a vague bid to be considered relevant.

It seems McClure has decided to drop the Tory-taunting lyrics and sing inanities like “All the Mondays spent craving for Fridays highs/All the people want is bassline” on first single, Bassline, while a watered-down, pop-acceptable version of dubstep plods along in the background. Like 2009's A French Kiss In The Chaos, there's a lack of cohesion that is saved merely by McClure's voice, a unique braying that could potentially lead a stadium chanting his lyrics, if they were any good. By the time the synth assault of Depth Charge comes barging in with its Skrillex-lite noise, cringing is inevitable. The embarrassment deepens when you pay close enough attention to hear the reggae undertones on the track. Calypso even makes a cameo on Warts N All. On The Wrestler, McClure sticks to his lyrical playground of fighting, and well… fighting. Nothing too insightful there.

If this is club music, then it's being played at the club that barely-legal teens hit right after turning 18, where they grind on each other with a furtive energy perfectly matched to the pace and lyricism of this record.