White Lies, Big TV

Indie schmindie doesn’t come any schmindier than the first two records by Londoners White Lies.

A hodgepodge of the usual influences – Joy Division, The Smiths, Talking Heads – topped off with the sort of hollow portentousness particular to privileged twentysomethings who have embraced wobble-lipped self-pity as a lifestyle choice, they made Editors sound like heartbreaking geniuses. But even the most well rehearsed of schticks starts to get old after a while and, for their third outing, the trio have decided to experiment. Mostly, the results are positive: who’d have thought the addition of a few glistening synths could transform leaden also-rans into genuinely engaged artists, which is what is achieved on quicksilver opener ‘Big TV’. ‘Getting Even’ and ‘Be Your Man’ steer a thunderously agreeable middle course between Vangelis and Sisters Of Mercy while ‘Change’ is Moby’s ‘God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters’ (aka the haunting piano tinklier from Heat) grafted to a devastated break-up ballad. Alas, White Lies occasionally fall into their old ways: ‘There Goes Our Love Again’ aims for Ian Curtis on a long dark night of the soul but strikes closer to Chris Martin on a weekend in the country with the kids, and the instrumental ‘Space I’ is a squelchy sci-fi beat in search of a purpose. Such lapses are rare, though. For the most part White Lies have displayed a commendable determination to abandon bad habits and strike out for fresh territory. Big TV abandons the Joy Division recycling that has become UK alternative rock’s major growth industry and – woah –  tries to think differently. Pats on the back all ‘round then.