Whilst I have always found Guy Garvey a likeable frontman, and the group have written the occasional gem such as ‘Grounds For Divorce’, I have never been fully able to get on board with Elbow’s brand of bloke-ish indie rock. This is a state of affairs that hasn’t been altered by the Mancunian outfit’s latest offering, Build A Rocket Boys!, which has the odd moment of inspiration but never properly attains lift-off, if you’ll pardon the pun.
The album kicks off with ‘The Birds’, an eight minute epic built around a moody guitar groove and psychedelic keyboards. Featuring a falsetto vocal from Garvey, the track is hugely indebted to Radiohead, and is none the worse for it. Also in a similar vein to Thom and co. is the rocker ‘Best Little Rows’, while ‘Lippy Kids’ – the lyrics of which are a paean to the halcyon days of youth – is an ethereal piano ballad and ‘With Love’ is a Talking Heads-style mix of thudding bass and choral vocals.
All of these tracks are perfectly enjoyable, but as with previous Elbow records, there isn’t a tune on Build A Rocket Boys! that had me really leaping out of my seat with excitement. The likes of ‘Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl’, ‘The Night Will Always Win’ and ‘High Ideals’ are all expertly crafted slices of emotionally charged rock that will delight Elbow fans, but perhaps prove less appealing to the floating punter.
It was great to see Elbow making a breakthrough by winning the Mercury Prize a few years back, and I certainly wouldn’t begrudge them continued success. But I won’t be rushing to put on Build A Rocket Boys! again. There is, I think, a greater urgency needed.