Bombay Bicycle Club - I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose

I’ve already vented how I feel about this album quite alot already, which you can read here so I’ll avoid going over old ground…

This for me was the best record of 2009 for the following reasons:

1. The entire album flows perfectly from the opening song to the closing. At no point does the record die off, even at ‘Always Like This’ which in comparison with the rest of the record, bar the final track, is one of the slower ones.
2. This was the most refreshing and uplifting sound I had heard in a very long time. The whole ‘nothing new’ argument could still apply because of the “jingly jangly” guitar riffs mixed with good old fashioned indie rock riffing, but Jack’s vocals are amazing, and it seems to knit everything together perfectly making the whole record sound fresh and original even if it does take shades from other bands
3. Every single track has the ability to carry it’s own as a single release. There seriously isn’t a weak song, or a filler song on the entire album. Even the closing track ‘The Giantess’ which is a slower, live session recording could hold it’s own.

I could probably go on, if I sat here all day and thought of things, but I think I’m in danger of waffling on too much.
I cannot stress how good a record I think this is, it seems to have captured perfectly the live spirit of the band and produced the most catchy, enjoyable album I’ve heard in a very long time. I hate it when reviewers compare bands to other, more established acts, but there’s shades of Bloc Party, Editors, Interpol perhaps even early Libertines-ish guitar work in here, but instead of churning out the same old Brit-Pop sound, B.B.C. seem to have re-invented it and injected it with a youthful exuberance and made an outstanding debut record in the process.

Favourite Tracks: Lamplight, Dust On The Ground, Cancel On Me, The Hill