keane - under the iron sea

Under the Iron Sea is the kind of album I want to not enjoy. It goes against my ingrained indie instincts. On first listen every single song is pure pop confectionery. And like candy these types of albums typically make you ill after consuming too much. I've learned my lesson on this one time and time again. Every indie mag worth its salt has written a review that you'd expect from an indie mag worth its salt - listenable but cliche and trite. It's hard to disagree with that assessment.

But like Coldplay, every now and again a listenable but cliche and trite band comes along that is so adept at pumping out exquisite pop melodies that you simply must overlook the bad reviews, popularity, 9th grade lyrics, and pretentious hairdos and say, "What the fuck. This is really good." (It's perhaps not surprising that the same small label discovered both bands). So as I listen in rapture on the first listen through I think to myself, why not. I'll dip my hand into the bag of candy. And I'll keep eating until my sticky fingers and bloated belly can take no more. And I may feel sick and cheap in the morning but so be it.