According to their absurdly florid biography, The Orientalists are a “wrecker of engines… a sonic assault on your oppressive, decrepit regimes…”. While their music doesn’t quite sound as angry as you might expect, and it’s never quite clear which oppressive regimes they’re so upset with, it is full of energy and spirit – solid guitars and pounding drumbeats permeate the six tracks here. The first half of the record is promising indeed – both ‘The Doll’ and ‘Pretty Friend’ are loud but catchy enough to warrant attention from a wider audience, but the second half lets them down greatly and ‘Jinglin Baby’ is a poor finish. They clearly seem to be a band with a message, but you’d never know it as the vocals are too incoherent and low in the mix to make any sense. The Orientalists should perhaps spend less time writing their biography and more time writing their songs, as there appears to be an imbalance. Maybe then we will be ready for “the day when the earth is rent asunder and… the taste of blood in your mouth from the kick drum”. Ridiculous.
