<img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-464761" src="http://louderthanwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Razorlight_Castle_And_Falcon_PReynolds_3.jpg" alt="Razorlight Castle & Falcon Birmingham Photographer Paul Reynolds” width=”1200″ height=”800″/>razor
birmingham castle and falcon
Friday 18th October 2024
With the release of their new album on the horizon, Razorlight return from Planet Nowhere to play their smallest Birmingham show since before Johnny Borrell first donned those snazzy white jeans, playing both upcoming releases and classic classics. was played at high volume. Sam Lambeth crammed into Castle and Falcon to get the details.
Walking past Birmingham’s small but charming Castle and Falcon venue, you’d be forgiven for hearing a familiar sound. In fact, there have been many reports of people walking their dogs in the evening stopping and admiring the sound of the band playing inside the store, which sounded a lot like “Razor or something like that”.
But this isn’t your local indie night or karaoke spot, it’s actually Razorlight itself. Not only do the group have their first new album in 800 years, but two weeks before its release, they sold out a short tour of the UK in small venues, playing songs from the album for as long as they and the world could bear it. I plan to. It remains to be seen how many of the approximately 100 fans crammed into Castle and Falcon are aware of this, but the truth is that once they do, they won’t be able to get out.
But Razorlight doesn’t care. This is the new raison d’être (or should I say raison d’être?) for Johnny Borrell and his friends. They’ve already released a single boasting that they’re not afraid of anything, and this declaration of playing mostly unreleased new material is groin-grabbing brazenness. Laughing at danger and convention is the mood tonight, the first stop of this short sojourn, and Borrell is clearly fearless. Castle and Falcon were already drenched in sweat, but the messy-haired bard jacketIt might be a hassle.
Fortunately, this isn’t the seemingly disastrous gig that Borrell has played in the past. However, the announcement that a song is titled “Taylor Swift = US Soft Propaganda” harkens back to the days when the singer would let you into concerts for free if you drew a cool peace symbol. Well, tonight’s In Ear Faith gig might just be the quartet’s most fun since cutting their teeth in Camden.
The reason this show is a masterpiece is because Razorlight understand and appreciate their audience. They know that getting on stage to perform 10 new songs is like an intense caress without lube, so they begin a little gentle but satisfying foreplay. That came in the form of a double-whammy opening with Rip It Up and In the Morning, with the audience excited and ready to accept.
To their credit, they then perform a delightful cantor of their masterpiece. Songs from the band’s debut album Up All Night in particular resonate particularly well in such a filthy venue. Don’t Go Back To Dalston is raw and restless, and Vice is the perfect soundtrack for sticky dance floors and boys with cheekbones. The acerbic In the City is a cauldron of Television and Patti Smith punk ethos, a nearly 10-minute epic in which Borrell vents about Bukowski and receiving phone calls before a frenetic finale.
Razorlight’s lineup of classic songs has captivated their fans, but if even one new song is questionable, hordes of enthusiastic fans might head straight to the bar. Thankfully, the group’s new album, Planet Nowhere, features an embarrassingly long list of songs that are memorable at first glance.
It doesn’t sound like Borrell and Co.’s mature Razorlights entering middle age, but it has the same gritty spirit and charming exuberance as their first album. Borrell also shows a more playful and self-deprecating side. “I don’t have a celebrity girlfriend,” Borel sighs, criticizing the vulgar language of the Cool People and the empty, cliched rock star tropes while watching cricket with Kirsten Dunst. I laugh in my heart as I remember those ordinary days.
In other songs, he’s heading to the record company, only to appear as a “drug guy” over the imposing guitar sounds of Dirty Luck. Even the aforementioned Taylor Swift, Borrell, downplays the song as “filler for a Jonathan Richman album.” In addition to this bit of dry humor, there are also songs with plenty of hooks. Zombie Love skips along with a meditative chorus and blistering keyboard lines, while the album’s final song, April Ends, sounds introspective and powerful, much like the band’s second self-titled album.
By this point, Borrell’s jacket has been removed and the sweaty frontman admits that the fearlessness story may not be entirely true. “To be honest, I was really scared to do this,” he admits. As viewers, we should be shocked, but on the other hand, wouldn’t that be expected of the guy who wrote the song Rock ‘N’ Roll Lies? His candor is refreshing, and as the first day of the mini-tour comes to a close with the obligatory broadcast of the worldwide hit America, you can sense the quartet’s new spirit rising.
“There’s no one cool, there’s no one cool in this band,” Borrell may sing, but figuratively, and certainly after entertaining a crowd of nearly 1,000 packed into a small space. He’s literally wrong.
[埋め込まれたコンテンツ]
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All lyrics are by Sam Lambeth. Sam is a journalist and musician. Other works by Louder Than War include: archivehis music is Spotify is.
All photos by Paul Reynolds. Instagram.
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