Domino Effect

Following on from their platinum-selling debut, A Public Display Of Affection, this follow-up from Westmeath’s answer to Weezer is mostly a confident, cocky affair. With producer Michael Beinhorn (Marilyn Manson, Chili Peppers) at the controls once again, there are few symptoms of ‘difficult second album’ syndrome.
‘Buy It, Sell It’ is a jauntily upbeat opener with a neat guitar riff in the chorus. New single ‘Trust Me I’m A Doctor’ – about a dead cert chat-up line guys use on gullible females when holidaying abroad – opens with a cheeky “la, la, la” that sounds like an outtake from The Boomtown Rats.
The jauntily scathing ‘Money Doesn’t Buy You Class’ follows, and then it’s ‘Three Cheers For Modern Medicine’ – an ode to Valium’s effectiveness in combating the fear of flying: “And the magic of modern medicine means/That I will fly with you to wherever you wanna go tonight/And the magic of modern medicine means/That I will finally be the man that I know I am not.”
For the most part, there’s not much depth to the lyrics. Frontman Niall Breslin is a songwriter with a breezy Ray D’Arcy Show kind of sensibility – many of his tunes are humorous stories or everyday observations about life, lads, rich bitches, relationships and text messaging. That’s probably a big part of the band’s appeal (having said that, he totally surpasses himself on the brilliantly poppy two-fingers-to-the-zeitgeist title-track).
Musically, they’re not exactly reinventing the rock/pop/ska wheel, but the playing is always tight and occasionally inventive (‘Silence Is Violence’ sounds like a tequila-fuelled night in Mexico and, played loud enough, the stomping ‘The Reason’ makes you want to kick in a door). There’s hooks and harmonies aplenty, but they’re far better at rocking out than they are at Coldplay-ish introspection.
Despite their meteorological moniker, The Blizzards are no musical flakes. Ultimately, The Domino Effect should see plenty more fans falling at their feet.
Key Track: '(You Can't Stop) The Domino Effect'