The Boxer Rebellion - Evacuate [Single]

Self Released

Historically The Boxer Rebellion, was a violent anti-imperialist, anti-Christian, some might say, slightly delusional movement; for like R.Kelly the Boxers believed they really could fly. All they needed to do was adhere to a strict training programme, eat a frugal diet, become masters of martial arts and with the additional input of that old chestnut, prayer, they would develop an immunity to swords and bullets. When I first discovered that ‘Evacuate’ was earmarked as The Boxer Rebellions lead single from their rather good 2nd album “Union” I was somewhat disappointed. I thought they may be suffering from the same delusions that afflicted the movement from which they took their name. I mean if they really believed that releasing the least interesting track on the album was going to make an impression on the national consciousness they must be barking mad. But oh boy was I wrong! When ‘Evacuate’ was released originally as a download only in January 2009 it became “iTunes Global Single of the Week” and clocked up a remarkable 560,000 downloads in 7 days. Now some ten months down the line from that particular landmark 'Evacuate' finally makes its debut on CD, but has my opinion changed? Well, it has grown on me since its first release, but I still wouldn’t have released it as a single myself and here’s why

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In Chinese The Boxer Rebellion means “Righteous Fists of Harmony,” and on 'Evacuate' the band show plenty of pugnacious aggression but it somehow lacks their normal depth and harmony. ‘Evacuate’ begins brightly enough with swirling, jagged, serrated guitars but surprisingly it’s the vocal that disappoints, it reduces heartfelt lyrics to a set of statements. The Boxer Rebellion are obviously eloquent chaps but over egging the angst results in the vocal becoming slightly grating and after a few minutes they start to resemble the whining of a child whose gotten themselves into such a tizzy that they can’t quite recall the initial trigger for their ire.

The lack of any real hook is another problem with this song, yes it postures and ticks various genre specific boxes but the occasional burst of melody rapidly disappears into a miasma of angst-ridden repetition and at risk of labouring the point somewhat, it's cause isn’t particularly helped by the vocals positively dripping in designer turmoil. This is unusual for The Boxer Rebellion as Nathan Nicholson has a truly wonderful and unique voice but alas here he huffs and he puffs and singularly fails to blow the musical house down. Sometimes less is more.

If a single is supposed to be a calling card, a statement of intent,a shining example of what you can expect from an album and to showcase in just a few minutes what a band has to offer then I’d always considered ‘Evacute’ to be an exceptionally odd choice, given the quality of songs available on the album. It's not bad song as such, it's just a little unremarkable, slightly worthy and unexciting in the same way as The Hours are, however it’s download success proves that I know very little about anything! If this track is the first you’ve heard from the band and it doesn’t cause your pants to explode with excitement or set your knees a-trembling in anticipation of hearing more from them, don’t be put off, as The Boxer Rebellion are much more than the sum total of 'Evacuate.'

My advice is evacuate this track from memory and go and listen to the band on myspace, songs like ‘Flashing Red Means Go’ and ‘Semi-Automatic' are quite wonderful tunes and really show what this band are all about. In this case don’t judge an album by its single.