Doves

Kingdom of Rust

(Astralwerks)

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Review [6.Apr.2009]

Mancunian epic rockers Doves often suffer in the indie world’s view for their generic similarities to several derided giants of British stadium rock, but there’s no other lad-rock anywhere that’s quite this dynamic, angular, and haunted. For Kingdow of Rust, Doves shook off the dust from the sonic blueprints for their career-best effort, The Last Broadcast. The final product can sometimes be over-familiar (“The Greatest Denier” and “Spellbound”), but the most evocative moments are undeniably powerful. Opener “Jetstream” is influenced both by Kraftwerk and Vangelis’ Blade Runner score, and expands gloriously on its electronic base. The title track envisions ghostly shapes amidst Manchester’s cooling towers and the Pennine moors. “10:03” begins predictably but soon switches tracks to something more forceful and sinister. The rewarding journey ends with the wonderfully-produced “Lifelines”, their finest ballad since “Caught by the River”. Four albums in, Jimi Goodwin and the Williams brothers continue to restlessly tweak their creative formula, with completely satisfying results.