New Order's evolved style triumphs
By Jeff Renfro
New Order's new album, "Waiting for the Sirens' Call," is one of the finest albums released by a band with a catalog of classic albums. The band has returned to the style that made them famous in the early '80s: a mix of post-punk and dance music.
New Order's history is almost as interesting as its discography. Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Ian Curtis formed the influential band Joy Division. After Curtis' suicide, the remaining members changed genres and formed New Order. They invented the post-punk genre and made Manchester England's musical center for a period. After leaving their mark on rock, they revolutionized dance music. Early albums married their punk sensibility with dance beats.
"Waiting for the Sirens' Call" follows in the path of 2001's "Get Ready." The band says they have gotten too old to go to the clubs and no longer keeps up with current trends in dance music. They have returned to the style of 1983's classic album "Power, Corruption and Lies," in which they invented a new type of club music.
The songs are great to dance to, and the lyrics provide a moral depth and sense of humor that is non-existent in modern dance music. The beats sound dated, but refreshing. No one can create these now-cheesy, often-imitated grooves like New Order. There have been many imitators, but all fall far short. The album relies less on vocal effects and lets Sumner's weak, untrained style come through. Most of the album's tracks rely heavily on Sumner's guitar.
The album begins strongly with the standout track "Fast Synth," which is one of the best album openers in recent memory. It fades in with the sound of a heartbeat, before transitioning into the band's signature fast-drumming/slow-synthesizer song form. It begins with the line "Just another day in the week/ Waiting for an opportunity to step right in front of me," which conveys their familiar themes of general malaise. Its chorus praises the virtue of love in a way that is simultaneously tongue-in-cheek and completely sincere.
The album gets stronger. New Order consistently puts together great strings of songs on their albums. The best sequence begins with "Road to Ruin" and "Turn." Its lyrics focus on addiction and recovery. The lyrical content makes sense in light of the band's unbelievable history.
After a hiatus in the mid-'90s, New Order has made several great albums. They are already at work on the follow-up to "Waiting for the Sirens' Call," which will hopefully build on their great formula.
Grade: A