This is the second album from this USA/UK foursome and follows on from their excellent 2004 full-length debut THESE WERE THE EARLIES. THE ENEMY CHORUS is full of contradictions; it’s bold yet friendly, it’s adventurous yet familiar, and it possesses a soft outer sonic coating but delivers hard, uncompromising messages. Suffice to say that the band’s invention, distinction and authority have produced an even better album the second time around, and it deserves your attention.

Press play on this mutha and you’ll be zapped between the eyes with swishing electronica, violins, moog before every drum in the arsenal is brought into the battle. Finally, the superb vocal harmonies arrive and you’re suckered. You then find yourself playing this track (No Love In Your Heart) all over again, and then again… Production quality, aka sound, is top notch for the song that’s epic – hell, it’s a top quality musical blow job. Then keyboards waft in aided and abetted by a molto rapido drum rhythm as Burn The Liars darts in leaving no time to catch oxygen. In truth you can’t really describe music like this, you just have to let it take you to places you ain’t ventured into before. Without the usual break, track three, Enemy Chorus is playing with its deathly, lumbering drum rhythm over a monstrous melody, and telling vocal with glorious harmonies. This one just has to be the single to conquer the chart and play live on Jools Holland. An oboe then opens the next contemplative, beautiful song, Ground We Walk On. The vocal and terrific melody dominates a song that exemplifies the diversity of the albums wonderful content. Galactic, heavenly sounds enter the final stretch and nail another album favourite. At this point I’m thinking Sparklehouse, Flaming Lips, Spiritualized, but more mature, more adventurous, and musically much better. Foundation And Earth storms in with big band brass and multi-layered vocals to sound like a mix of Tex-Mex and Beachboys - wild and wonderful. Little Trooper is part-ambient electronic wonderland, part- radio commentary, and all anti-war protest. Then a lonely acoustic guitar chord wafts in to introduce another beautiful ballad, Broken Chain. The vocals are sublime while strings and that acoustic guitar punctuate and add drama to a highly emotive song. “I’m goin’ to blow your house down, I’m goin’ to take you out…” opens When The Wind Blows and another anti-war, anti-Bush track with a devastating backbeat that is reminiscent of the Beatles. The album culminates in the enormous instrumental track Breaking Point with its powerful Middle-Eastern instrumental sound and an explosive rhythm that will project you out of your seat. Amazing!

The Earlies have really scored with this album and on a number of fronts. It’s a concept style of album where each song is so totally different from the last but it somehow hangs together so fucking well. It’s a meticulously detailed album that includes top notch production; where instruments and vocals are provided with their own space, while sounding totally co-ordinated. The songs are pretty special too with great melodies and lyrics. In short, this album is essential listening.

4.5/5