The Splendour - The Best Way to Make Money (2008)

If imitation is the most sincere form of flattery then Franz Ferdinand should be feeling flattered indeed. As a musician myself I know how difficult it can be to acknowledge influence but avoid imitation. It can take years to find your own voice. And for The Splendour, despite putting in a sterling effort, the stylized vocals and clunky song construction sounds so borrowed, so horribly familiar as to feel as you're in the presence of a rather good covers band. 50% Strokes mixed with 50% Franz F.

They've entitled the album 'The Best Way to Make Money' and I think it's quite possible that, in common with many bands, they're just a bit too sussed to what's happening now to dare to be different. Many of the world's greatest and most innovative bands have come from the provinces - often hopelessly out of step with what's happening but doing it anyway. The Splendour have decided to try and fast-track their struggle to the top by jumping on the bandwagon, despite the fact that this one must surely be on its way to the next station.
That's not to say it's a strategy that doesn't work. It might. After all - look at the countless pale imitations of the already fairly insipid Coldplay (Keane, One Night Only, Snow Patrol etc). They've done OK. But unlike Coldplay, they're destined to be remembered only on compilation albums called something like 'That's what I call the Noughties' in about 15 year's time. Unless the very capable 'Splendour' change tack soon and find a voice all of their own, that's the very best they can hope for too.

Now, having said all that, it's not all bad. In fact, it's often quite good, which may be why I feel so frustrated with them. They're clearly inventive, witty, and very capable musically. Looking at their My Space site they're a hard gigging band (favouring their own hood, Brighton) which means they're probably as tight as they sound. Some of the tracks are very catchy too, encouraging you to turn them up rather than down, which is no bad thing. It's just that the sum of all these parts results in a rather forgettable collection.

Highlights for me (the bits where they surprise you by not doing the bleeding obvious) included the drum solo in 'One Finger' and the organ intro to 'Fantasy Girl' which shows that, with a little less calculation, and a bit more creativity, this band could end up doing something quite special.

The best thing to do is to check them out for yourself which you can do at: http://www.myspace.com/thesplendourband

You'll see that not everyone takes the same view that I do.