Working for a Nuclear Free City - Businessmen & Ghosts
Businessmen & Ghosts is just another example of the new psychedelic rock-fest brought on by the modern British invasion, Working for a Nuclear Free City. After releasing their self-titled debut album in 2006, the Manchester band’s fan base has grown tremendously. These guys have attempted to go where few rockers have gone – the dance world. Surprisingly, they survived.
For those new to Working for a Nuclear Free City, think Chemical Brothers meet Fatboy Slim all partying with Oasis on Eiffel 65’s spaceship, and you have Businessmen & Ghosts. The 29 track album changes moods with each song, either inducing whiplash or an adventure into fantasy. Every song could easily be sung in the soundtrack of your life. Within the first thirty minutes of listening to the album, I had taken on space walk, danced at a rave, and mellowed out at the beach. It was a lucid dream that just sucked all sense of time away.
Being a fan of hard rock myself, I was hesitant to believe that I’d find these tracks enjoyable. However, I’ll freely admit that I was pleasantly surprised. The electronic/indie feature of the music was not overpowering in any sense. In fact, some of the riffs reminded me of tracks from System of Down, Snow Patrol, Jimi Hendrix, and Alabama 3. The album will never have same “dance-ability” as hip-hop, but it is definitely capable of bringing about free expression in anyone. Thumping bass, lacerating distortion, and smooth melodies will make a fan of any rocker, “playa,” or hip indie kid alike.
I have but two complaints about this album:
1.Much too long.
2.After a few tracks, every song started to blend into each other.
It was incredibly hard to listen to every song on this expansive album, as everything really did start to sound exactly the same by the middle of the first CD. However, you truly are getting the most bang out of your buck by buying this two disc set. WFANFC is different from most other bands because it cannot be characterized by just two or three genres. It’s rock, alternative, electronic, pop, indie, acoustic, zouk, and even jazz all mixed into a psychedelic frenzy of British style.
Top tunes on the album are “Dead Fingers Talking” and “Sarah Dreams of Summer.” Businessmen & Ghosts – worth a listen if you want to expand your musical horizons and learn how someone could integrate great genres of music into dance floor day dreams.
Swathi Iyengar
Overall Grade: B+
