WE HAVE BAND - Movements

Having blossomed toward the end of the first decade of the new millennium, the London trio that goes by the name We Have Band - almost as if to assert a certain distance from the coldness of the electronics that are nonetheless an essential part of their sound - had already established itself with the full length debut "WHB" in 2010 as a possible surprise of the alternative, synthetic indie world; and yet quite a few had turned their noses up at it, even more so with the follow-up "Ternion", two years later. Darren Bancroft (vocals, drums, percussion, sampler), Dede WP (vocals, percussion, sampler) and Thomas WP (vocals, guitar, bass, programming) carry on down their path of mysterious - but not too mysterious - wave melodies and endless synths, taking only minimal steps to break away from those never-quite-convincing beginnings. Ideally borrowing as their main points of reference their far more talented countrymen Hot Chip, who here seem to be regurgitated with youthful swagger - almost following the path of the new, post-electronic-turn Chapel Club ("Save Myself", "Burning On My Lips", "Blue") - the British WHB thoroughly dissect synth-pop material, starting from a certain distant Eighties with a The Beloved-like character ("Modulate", "Please"), without necessarily having to invoke New Order, who themselves released an album titled "Movement", almost the namesake of this one.

The moods sometimes turn darker, in a synth-wave that fuses Depeche Mode and Editors in a not-too-unlikely pairing ("Look The Way We Are"), but it's when those same laconic suggestions drift to touch the cold shores of New York dance-post-punk revival in the style of The Rapture ("Burning On My Lips", "Every Stone") that We Have Band seem most at ease. Still, one shouldn't be too taken in by so many similarities, nor be fooled into thinking the trio drowns in a sea of conventionality - it rather sounds like an attempt to do well something that has already been created wonderfully in the past. The Londoners also dare to push further, albeit without too much conviction, testing ground that seems to be the exclusive domain of Glen Johnson and his Piano Magic ("You Only"), or marching toward a more accessible and immediate pop-wave ("Someone", "No More Time"), or else betting on stripped-down electronic tribalism, powerful and spontaneous as on this year's marvel Erotic Market ("Heart Jump").

Not too many surprises, then, on this “Movements”, but a handful of excellent tracks and a few attempts to break free of the formula that only half pay off. Three albums in, it seems clear we shouldn't expect much more than this from We Have Band, and while it's not quite a swan song, we have to admit the skeptics have won out over those who put their blind faith first in Paul Lester (see the Guardian's “New band of the day”) and later in a certain Gareth Jones. All that's left to rely on here is the odd good melody, and to make peace with the idea of betting on whatever surprise turns up next in the shadow of Big Ben.

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27/08/2014