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The Enemy U.K. We’ll Live and Die in These Towns Warner Bros. |
These Towns tell a tale of two sounds. The majority of The Enemy U.K.’s debut consists of post-post-punk similar to the antics of Artic Monkeys or Franz Ferdinand’s faster songs. The acoustic title track tries to temper their streaking speed with some softness, but does little to slow the pace these lads play with in hopes of getting out of town (“Away From Here,” “Had Enough”). Yet once they seemingly escape, they play their three best songs right near the close. Perhaps because they raced to get there, the sweepingly beautiful “This Song,” bluesy “Happy Birthday Jane” and lamenting “Five Years” (the first of two bonus tracks) have such a stronger significance and make for quite a pleasant album-ending surprise.
– Eric Mitts
