Altsounds - Enter Shikari - Common Dreads [Album]

Ever since Enter Shikari’s early EP’s of "Nodding Acquaintance" and "Sorry You’re Not A Winner" I’ve been intrigued by Shikari’s mixture of rave culture and hardcore guitars. Hell in the case of their first two EP’s bar "Sorry You’re Not A Winner" no synths were present giving them more of a pop-punk vibe (strange I know but that’s early material for you!)

Then came the release of "Take Me To The Skies" which added the rave culture crossover that the fans had come to know and love with Shikari while the detractors saw it as a way to cash in on the (warning buzzword alert…) Nu-Rave fad that the Klaxons had started with their "Myths Of The Near Future", the term later made out to be a joke both in the literal and figurative sense!

Interviews as this album was being produced gave the impression that Rou and the rest of the band were wanting to now seek influence from another rock/dance crossover act that had suddenly made it big in Pendulum with more of a Drum and Bass influence being present.

While the fans such as myself were waiting we were subjected to re-recordings of more EP material to fill in the gap (pretty standard procedure really with bands sometimes) and one question plagued our minds: Would the album suffer from the difficult second album syndrome?
This once again reared it’s head when it became clear from another interview in which Enter Shikari wanted to comment on the political and economic climate of the time.

Previous readers know of the review I gave on Gallows recently and called it a revolution starter so now we come to the answer of the question… not only on the second album syndrome, but would it have the same impact as Gallows did? To start off if Gallows was the voice of the disenchanted for the new punk generation, Common Dreads would be the album for the more everyday person as it opens with a spoken word intro that uses voices of fans, friends and family of the band while a poem is read out with the main call being ‘We Must Unite’. This is followed by ‘Solidarity’ which once again repeats the message that opened the previous album of ‘standing like statues’ refusing to move until a change is made. This brings up a good point lyrically with the Gallows album: Gallows was more of various individual viewpoints while Shikari takes more of an anarchist viewpoint more clear from Gap In The Fence onwards.

Throughout the album it becomes clear that there IS more of an electronic mixed with hardcore influence this time however Rou has decided to become more of a rap-rock vocal which is sometimes successful and at the same time can be a hindrance as the critics could say it gives him a delivery on par with Mike Skinner (Jester being the one I’m sure people may agree with.)

There are moments however where the idea of the message does gain on a repetition, now even though that can work for Governments (less said about THAT, the better) it doesn’t work as well as Gallows.

Musically there is some evolution with the vocals, having less of a growl for Rou and more singing does show some maturity not only in his voice but of other members in Shikari and say what you must about the Pendulum factor but consider this fact: Glastonbury, Reading, Leeds and other festivals are taking this band on this year mostly on the same bill!

Is this a better record than Take Me To The Skies? Yes as it escapes the Nu-Rave fad and shows Shikari can actually mix more diversity, as to the question of will it help them hit the mainstream?

This record I predict will do well come the Top 50 Album lists due to it’s crossover appeal and is a must listen for a hardcore fan or newcomer.