Brit rock with a kick

It must be due to the uniquely imaginative thinking that the Beatles introduced to pop music during the ‘60s. Those guys changed everything. Or maybe it can be because the British do have a different, quirky way of expressing themselves through their music or with anything they create for that matter. I do not really know the reason but you have to admit that Brit bands have this strange way of looking at things that makes them very appealing and makes reading even just the titles of their songs very interesting.

Take a look at what the new album An End Has a Start by Editors has by way of song titles. That title track is already a kicker. An End Has a Start. Of course, every end has a start but this is the only time I have seen it said in a way that is so in your face. There is also another song called Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors. You instantly get the picture and a story follows.

What about Push Your Head Towards the Air or The Racing Rats? We all know that rats or are they really mice, run races in the local peryas when there is a fiesta. This is the first time though that I have heard a song that brings about images of white rats running round and round and then stopping under a little house. You win! It took a Brit band to do that.

Any way, the Editors come from Birmingham in England. It is made up of chief songwriter Tom Smith on lead vocals, rhythm guitar and piano; Chris Urbanowicz on lead guitar and synthesizers; Russell Leetch on bass guitar and backing vocals; and Ed Lay on drums, percussion and backing vocals. The band made its debut two years ago with the well received The Back Room on take note, the interestingly named Kitchenware label. Since then the Editors have acquired the stature of often being mentioned alongside the other talented young bands of Brit rock like the Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, Interpol and others.

The songs included in The Back Room show that the Editors already had imagination working on a fast, creative lane right from the onset. Take a look at the titles and you will discover that each one of them kicks off other titles, other stories or even just pictures in your mind of what the songs are about. Lights, Munich, Blood, Fall, All Sparks, Camera, Fingers in the Factories, Bullets, Someone Says, Open Your Arms and Distance.

The Editors’ main trademark is the booming baritone of Tom Smith. Unlike other big voiced soloists, he has a way of coloring his tones that lends some softness to the lyrics and improves on the Joy Division influence. They went for a dark mood in The Back Room. Check out those titles. But easy to remember melodies and the contagious beat kept the Goth away. The effect on the listener is pleasing even when the loud guitars are driving full throttle.

The Back Room made for a great start and Editors aimed for bigger things in the next one, which turned out to be An End has a Start. The hooks are still around and Smith’s singing still leads. But the quality of the production and polish of the over-all performance could have only come from a successful band that knows how to sell its music. It is clearly goodbye back room with this one.

I know that there is bound to be some complaints from Brit rock purists regarding An End has a Start. They will think that Editors seem to be veering away from its punky indie roots and leaning towards the lush emo of Coldplay or Keane. But if that is how the band sees being bigger and better, then so be it. You do not get punk groups who rock but still manage to please a wide range of listeners everyday. And Editors is one of those rare ones.

I do not know if it is the single release but the best or maybe I should say most commercial of the lot in the album is Bones, which can play again and again in your head. Check out also Smokers Outside the Hospital Room and The Weight of the World where Editors really get a chance to show off.