Glasgow's The Eisenhowers are back with Film Your Own Atrocities, the follow up to their 2006 debut Almost Half-Undressed. Atrocities is a step forward from the debut, as they refine their take on the classic British pop of bands like Squeeze, XTC and The Kinks.
Frontman/songwriter Raymond Weir shares the sardonic sensibility of his influences, and "Reign of the Stupid" does them proud with its biting Elvis Costello-style lyrics and its easy-on-the-ears Squeeze-style melody. "Less Than Nothing" continues in the same vein, although with strings and more of an XTC influence. The disc's most ambitious track is "1969", in which Weir weaves the awe of the first moon landing together with an indictment of today's mass culture, all in the context of a "Hey Nineteen"-style attempted seduction. At 6+ minutes with strings, choirs and samples of the Apollo 11 astronauts, it runs the risk of overkill, but Weir & Co. manage to pull it off.
There are plenty of other highlights: the Beatlesque piano pop of "The Things That Make You Happy", the lilting, loungy "Janine", and the Ray Davies-inspired "Lighthouse". By the time things close with the epic, 6:43-length "Icaurus Succumbs", you'll realize that this isn't a run-of-the-mill release; instead it could best be described as a thinking man's power pop album. Or to be succinct, I like The "Ikes".
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