So then, the third album from Dundee’s premier pop scamps the View. It’s a typically upbeat, jangly record with nothing to make it stand out from the crowd… hang on, what’s this? It’s not the View? We better start again…
OK, so this is actually Sergeant, a four-piece from Fife. They’ve been on my radar for a couple of years – I think I even saw them at Leeds festival back in 2007 – but their sound has been polished so much it’s nigh-on unrecognisable from their early ramshackle and lovable noise.
It doesn’t help that Nick Mercer’s unremarkable vocals are almost an exact copy of the View’s Kyle Falconer, and the music is a pale, toothless imitation of the Dundee band’s debut record Hats Off To The Buskers.
The best track present is the album’s last, It All Comes Back To Me. Harmonies make a rare appearance, and it lifts the track above the landfill indie it accompanies for the rest of the record. Jo Whiley probably loves this band, and that should be enough to put you off.
It’s not a bad record. It’s easy to nod your head along to it, and the songs are short and sweet enough to hold your attention. But once the record is finished, the hooks leak out of your brain as quickly as sand through your hands, and all you’re left with is an empty feeling. There’s nothing as interesting in Sergeant as other bands of their ilk either. They’re just a wee bit dull, and it’s hard to recover when your first album is boring. What a shame…
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3 comments
Jeff says:
Oct 7, 2009
“It’s not a bad record”…4/10?
People like you just don’t like them because Alan Mcgee and Jo Whiley do. Typical critic talk. Although the songs are all available, albeit not in their final versions, over the web, the album isn’t even out yet so how could you have given it enough listens to warrant a rating?
Pointless pop albums have their place. Escaping and feeling upbeat once in a day for 40 minutes is the highlight of the day for a lot of people in their lives. Albums like this should be celebrated for that reason.
Sergeant a copy of the View? Uhhh, I think I’ll put in some La’s and the View back to back tonight and see how they all compare…
Jamie Smith says:
Oct 7, 2009
Hi Jeff.
Firstly, 4 is only just on the wrong side of average. If you want to see a ‘bad’ review wait til my Calvin Harris one goes live.
I wasn’t aware either Alan McGee or Jo Whiley had championed the band. Who Jo Whiley likes has never had any impact on my tastes, cos I don’t listen to her. McGee famously shouted about Glasvegas, and they were my favourite new band by a mile last year, so you’re wrong on that point.
Next, do you undersand how music journalism works? We get the albums in advance, so we can listen to them and review them before they come out. That’s what happens. I’d had the Sergeant album a fortnight before I started writing about it. My iTunes informs me it got five complete listens. That’s enough.
I’m all for pointless pop (the Saturdays’ new album is my most played this week, no joke) but Sergeant are just too bland to be entertaining.
It’s the vocals that reminded me so much of the View, not so much the music, but the vocals were so overpoweringly like the View it was hard to get it out of my head.
Jeff says:
Oct 8, 2009
I appreciate your response, and I do understand that journalists either get watermarked CDs or mp3s, but often times a band doesn’t hit you until after many listens, or until you see them live, or many years later for some unknown reason.
That being said…Sergeant…they are a bit visceral and digestable, but so is a lot of great pop music. Isn’t that why it’s “pop”? The reason I really enjoy some other music reviews across the web is that when they rate a band they only compare it to itself and its own intentions. There’s no point comparing the Enemy to Sergeant for example (not that you have) because they are different bands with different intentions. I will give your site credit for actually covering a fair amount of not so mainstream music and at least giving your opinions and me something to read.
If fact, Alan McGee did champion the band back in 2007 I believe, and although he’s been more wrong than right until he saw Glasvegas and gushed over them I do think he’s picked another winner.