Switches

Heart Tuned to D.E.A.D.

(Interscope)

US release date: Available as import

UK release date: 23 April 2007

by Jason MacNeil

Bringing to mind the likes of infectious rock bands like The Fratellis but with a bit more brawn in terms of guitar work, Switches turn the switch on quickly with the thunderous and powerful “Drama Queen” that immediately lures you in. And near the end of the album they’re doing the same damn thing with the steady “Lovin’ It”. Meanwhile the band also shines on the delightful “Snakes & Ladders” with its Queen-tinged bridge fuelling things along. Fortunately, the band isn’t just one of these “one-or-two-songs-good, nine-or-ten-songs-yak-crap” groups. Just take a listen to “The Need To Be Needed” with its adorable Cheap Trick vibe and you’ll be converted. They soar over the high bar with the cocksure, strutting title track that is full of vim, vigor and Franz-friendly, dance-rock hi-hat. And the same rock solid approach is there during “Coming Down” despite taking things down a notch or three.  But things pick up again with the feel good, party-starting “Message From Yuz”. If there was a moral to this album, and to all bands worth their salt, it might come it the song “Every Second Counts”. Switches certainly do that and then some.

Switches - Lay Down The Law
— 30 October 2007
Tagged as: switches
Related articles
Switches: Lay Down the Law

Review: Switches: Lay Down the Law

Christel Loar

01.May.08

The unrelentingly sexy, guitar-driven dance rock and harmony-heavy glam pop American debut from Switches.

 

TODAY ON POPMATTERS
Columns | recent
Marginal Utility: Brand Evangelists
Field Studies: Vinyl: Got to Get You Into My Life
Events | recent | archive
:. Sonic Youth - River to River Festival — 4.July.08: Manhattan, NY
Books | recent | archive
:. Federico Fellini The Book of Dreams by Federico Fellini
:. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
Multimedia | recent | archive
:. Wii Fit
RECENT MUSIC

In bold are PopMatters Picks, the best in new music.