The I Spies – In The Night
I press the power button and my sound system comes to life, displaying a welcoming message in a familiar blue glow. I greet it by inserting a brand new CD and turning the volume knob to 50 percent. What happens next cannot be described with words.
In The Night takes your sound system and converts it into a boxer, who punches you in the jaw with grungy guitars, haunting vocals, gritty drums and bass lines that are so pumped with Red Bull that it makes me wonder if it’s Red Bull after all. Oh, and there’s one more thing… its loud.
With the volume knob at 50 percent my china starts dancing on the shelves and my neighbours no longer consider murder to be something sinful. Well all right… I don’t even have shelves over at my place, never mind china.
You’ve gotta listen to songs like Talkshow, I (Heart) Middle Mind and In The Night to understand what I mean when I say that the album cannot be described with words. If we were sitting, discussing the album over a cup of hot coffee, or maybe something much cooler (rum anyone?) – you’d probably see me gesticulate a lot and say stuff like “dude…wow”. And considering the fact that I actually do talk a lot – that’s gotta count for something.
The production and the sound of this record come dangerously close to being pop but fortunately only dance on the brink, never going beyond the point of no return. It’s not a pop record because of one simple thing – the instrumentation is bloody awesome. Period. However, every now and then the album falls victim to its own strength and you find yourself getting lost in the maze of all the instruments and effects and completely forget about the singer and the lyrical content. And you know what? In The Night is probably the first record that I can forgive for doing that.
The I Spies did a very good job on their debut album and pleased critics and various magazines (have you seen how many reviews they got?). But most importantly – they pleased music lovers like you and me. And even though some songs do tend to sound a little bit alike – it’s okay.
Some time ago I read in a review that In The Night is “catchier than the plague” and you know what… I couldn’t say it better myself.
Trust me when I say – dude, they’re great.
Tags: album
