July 2007: The Enemy - We'll Live and Die In These Towns

July 2007 was an odd month for me in terms of music consumption. I was in South Africa armed only with a dying iPod and a music collection that needed some serious attention. But what else do you do on a plane for 11 and a half hours?

So July 2007 for me will be remembered as the month that I started paying attention to Coventry outfit The Enemy. As I was working at BK at the time, I was exposed to a lot of the new class of British indie with bands like The Twang, Pigeon Detectives and The View all receiving plenty of radio play and the same was easily said for The Enemy. After hearing two singles I was still left wondering what all the fuss was about as I found it difficult to distinguish The Enemy's accented indie pop from Pigeon Detectives equally standard songs.

Now I've admitted before that I make snap decisions and I'm often wrong and will have to retreat with my tail between my legs and luckily, I didn't have this blog then so I didn't make public my disinterest. There are times when a boring song that you know and are familiar with all of a sudden becomes relevant and interesting and engaging and Away From Here was one of those tracks. Working 7-4 everyday cooking burgers is a thankless job I can assure you. Trying to manage kids that are doing that is even harder and possibly the most demotivating thing I've ever done including uni and D of E.

So when I heard Away From Here again on the radio, something clicked. The lyrics are cheesy and obvious and so easy to relate to when you've been working the same crappy job for as long as I was at that place. The chorus is undeniably catchy and the more you listen to the lyrics, the more you find you agree and crave the easy life. Now I'm not saying they are pioneers in writing a song about how rubbish the working week is but luckily this band has more than one song.

We'll Live and Die In These Towns was released on July 16th 2007 and debuted at the top spot. Aggro is a solid album opener and prepares the listener perfectly for the next 40 minutes with no allusions of grandeur, over complicated riffs or difficult vocals. Aggro is exactly how The Enemy should be, straight out of the blocks with loud guitars, dancey drums and a chorus that you can sing along to without knowing the words. The album mirrors the cocky swagger that lead singer Tom seems to carry, storming on to Away From Here and Pressure before you've even caught your breath. It is half way through the album when the title track plays that I really started to appreciate this band.

I've always viewed Medway as a bit of a trap, It's a wonderful place to live and a very safe area in general. And that's kind of what worries me. I'm a pretty restless person, I need to be doing something that excites me or I get bored and claustrophobic and by last summer, Medway was starting to be that place for me. Same routine of BK then gym, same places, time was passing without achieving anything new, seeing anything different.

"And it's all too much for your head to take,

It's just a matter of time before you break"

We'll Live and Die In These Towns is on par with Away From Here for my favourite song simply because it's a complete removal from the rest of the album and still feels familiar. The song touches on every little emotion of being trapped in a job, in a town, in a situation and that was very much how I felt and is something you can always apply to something in life I think.

You're Not Alone is pure, unadulterated indie pop and it's fantastic in every way. Uplifting and heartbreaking lyrics, it's almost a love song but only if you choose to read it that way. The album begins to build momentum again after a slight respite and powers through the final few tracks before ending slightly anti-climatically with the downbeat and slightly wasteful Happy Birthday Jane. But then again, when the previous 11 tracks have run so perfectly together, I guess a little chill out at the end is allowed!

I've found it quite difficult to describe my enjoyment in this album as it was such a personal connection to the songs and the lyrics and I was just in the right place at the right time. The production is fantastic but very few albums these days don't sound amazing, whether they're by lo-fi artists or bands with incredible budgets. The songs are catchy but don't break ground on topics covered or amazing guitar sounds or anything inventive really.

or me, We'll Live and Die In These Towns summed up my general feeling of wastefulness and claustrophobia in my situation at the time and was a welcome escape from that nightmare. The album shows that you don't necessarily need to do something different to be noticed, you just have to do the things you're good at very well and hope that people like it. I feel like this is a bit of a lame review but I guess you can't capture every feeling in words, sometimes the album speaks for itself.