“Gameshow” starts out well with bouncing bass and swift strokes of guitar before it transitions into an explosion of a chorus that finds Trimble’s vocals in mid-2000s pop punk territory. Luckily, a few tracks save the album from becoming a collection of dated songs you would expect to hear at Karaoke night in a bar filled with 50-somethings. Instead, it sounds like a half-baked fusion of modern groups like DNCE and Cherub known for retro-influenced tunes and soaring, airy vocals. It would be one thing if Gameshow successfully evoked the best of musical icons gone by, like David Bowie and Prince, both of whom Trimble described as sources of inspiration for the record. That doesn’t mean the album falls flat because it’s rooted in throwback jams. Nothing that Two Door Cinema Club had ever done before suggested its inclination toward this weird strain of funkpop, and yet here we are so deep in disco fever that I’m surprised the group’s members didn’t pose with bell bottom jeans and paisley shirts for the cover of Gameshow. For an album that boasts such prophetic prose and drastic changes in musical style, it feels ridiculously dull and unoriginal. The vocals aren’t bad, but they’re also fairly unremarkable. Trimble ascends to his falsetto for a good portion of the record - an unimpressive imitation of the high-pitched singing style that dominated much of the 70’s. Tiresome techno beats and retro synths are commonplace throughout the album, overshadowing the guitars that made up the backbone of the indie rock band’s discography. Hell, at times Gameshow doesn’t even sound like Two Door Cinema Club at all. Yet aside from aspirational lyricism, none of that applies to the group’s latest release. It all felt fresh and infectiously joyful. The tracks on those pair of records pulsated with a certain electricity, acting like an audio espresso shot capable of jolting you awake with just one listen. That’s because much of the album feels like a lazy rehash of disco and early 80’s rock - something you would expect to hear for 15 seconds in a movie like Saturday Night Fever, not off a LP from a band that ascended to the top tier of indie rock groups with its 2010 release Tourist History and follow-up Beacon in 2012.Įnergetic guitar riffs, Trimble’s pure vocals and imaginative lyricism fueled Two Door Cinema Club’s first two albums. With such pensive musings throughout Gameshow, you’d expect the music to be just as forward-thinking and experimental.
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