Album Review

Computer Club – Before The Walls Came Down

• 5th Nov 2008

Computer Club offer an enjoyable blast of Indie pop that unfortunately cannot help but be compared to The Editors. These boys are no cheap imitations however, their debut album is a solid effort and vocalist Paul Hampton has a genuinely powerful and soulful voice.

There are soaring vocals aplenty throughout the album, opener ‘Glorious’ and ‘Reykjavik’ are prime examples of this, and both highlight the fact that it is Hampton’s vocal stylings that elevate CC above the average. Tracks like ‘Before the Walls Came Down’ present a more up-tempo sound and the vigorous guitars and driving drum lines resemble 80’s alternative bands like Echo and the Bunnymen or Joy Division.

Downbeat and melodramatic in tone, this offering from Computer Club may not win points for originality, but it is still a shining example of how to combine heartfelt lyrics with an atmospheric new-wave sound. The band is just as comfortable when delivering these energetic blasts of Indie rock as they are with slower and more melancholy numbers like ‘Fragile Minds’.

Comparisons to the aforementioned Editors are inevitable, but this should not put anyone off listening to Computer Club. ‘Before the Walls Came Down’ is a beautifully bruised debut that shows real potential, and could well see the band become one of the next big things.