The Courteeners – Falcon
by Matthew James on March 4th, 2010
The Courteeners – Falcon
February 22nd, 2010
Polydor
Score: 5.1
Playing in the shadows of such groups as Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, and more recently Oasis and Elbow must be a pretty daunting ,though inspiring, thing for a young band from Manchester. The Courteeners are such a band with a pride in their city’s musical legacy and a belief that they too can touch that greatness. An approval from none other than Morrissey for their 2008 debut St. Jude also led to The Courteeners opening up for Moz on his last US tour. This experience has obviously had quite an effect on mainman Liam Fray as Falcon finds the band seeking world domination whilst keeping in touch with their Manchester roots.
Ever since the cocky swagger of the likes of Ian Brown and Liam Gallagher, it seems every UK indie guitar band has the longing to be “the biggest band in the world”. Liam Fray feels no different. Falcon is a massive-sounding album full of guitars, strings, and big choruses and there’s no doubt that had it been released in 1995, the whole of England would have gone mental for it. In this day and age though, you can’t help but feel that this is not the kind of album we really need. The Courteeners are without doubt big music fans and have a passion for what they do. As a frontman, Liam Fray attempts to convey the confidence of a Liam Gallagher with the sensitivity and introspection of someone like Guy Garvey. And this becomes a bit of a problem. Fray is a prisoner to his hometown’s musical wealth and while a competent songwriter, at times he struggles to find his own voice.
Things start well enough on the excellent and appropriately named song ‘The Opener’. From its simple picked guitar intro to the anthemic ending, it’s a great way to start an album. Fray tries to balance his love of home with his newfound status as a world-traveling would-be rock star. “I miss the city I love but I’ve been having an affair with L.A. and New York”, he confesses. His head turned by the bright lights of America, he is keen to remain grounded by adding “Dundee” and “Doncaster” as places he has been playing away with. “But I was made for this place and I was made for you/My heart is here, here to stay” concludes Fray and it’s clear from this track what Morrissey liked so much about The Courteeners the first time around. If only the rest of the album was this good.
For every good song, there is another to drag things down. ‘You Overdid It Doll’ was certainly a misleading lead single as it is probably one of the poorest songs on the album. Adding some synthy dance vibes to the indie guitars serves only to make things sound like a second-rate version of The Charlatans. They go for the epic on ‘Cross My Heart And Hope To Fly’ and you can see that The Seldom Seen Kid or Asleep At The Back are what they are aiming for. This one just doesn’t work though. Save for some lyrical naivety, ‘Take Over The World’ is a fine tune and the same can be said for ‘Sycophant’, a song that is musically one of the most invigorating here but is let down by some sloppy lyrics at times (“You flirt with the weather, a kneeling knave/Billy Shakespeare would be spinning in his grave”).
Falcon is an album with huge ambitions but by the end, it all feels a little shallow. There are some moments to treasure but sadly too many wrong turns that completely throw things off course. Liam Fray probably has the ability to write a very good album as long as he sticks to his strengths. For now though, what we have are some heartfelt, though often badly worded, musings and some big sounds and elaborate production over what in all honesty is just a decent-sounding guitar band. There’s nothing wrong with ambition but there are already too many indie bands with ideas of being U2. If The Courteeners really want to make as big an impact on the musical world as they suggest they do, it will be through Liam Fray stepping from out of the shadow of his heroes and finding his own voice. Not by calling Brian Eno.
Matthew James
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