The House Of Love hail from that lineage of well-scrubbed UK indie bands too polite to be laddish, and too self-aware to indulge in any of that ol’ art school wankery.
It’s a bloodline that over the years has sired some genuine nobility (The Bunnymen, Coldplay, Shack). Unfortunately it has also produced its fair share of dotards (The Longpigs, Keane) who would have been better off locked in an attic.
With the exception of one song (the impeccable ‘Shine On’ – so good, they released it twice), The House of Love never looked like inheriting anything of note. However, neither did they bring any disgrace down upon themselves.
They were a promising and intermittently dazzling outfit who were not helped by the tendency of their cheerleaders to bandy around ridiculous Morrissey/Marr comparisons.
Days Run Away sees them adopt a productively low-key approach to their comeback. It’s been over 10 years since Terry Bickers and Guy Chadwick’s famously nasty break up, but if you’re expecting a hurried scramble to make up for lost time then you’ll be in for a disappointment. In fact, with its eschewal of modish production moves and reliance on a hardy bunch of rock perennials (the Fabs, Velvets, and Byrds) it’s hard to imagine how this record could be any more at ease with itself.
As a whole, Days Run Away is grown up enough to let the listener make up their own mind about it. But then, that’s an easy pose to maintain when you have tunes of the quality of ‘Love You Too Much’, ‘Maybe You Know’ and ‘Days Run Away’ in the locker.
So, although you may not have noticed any pyres burning when The House of Love originally called it quits, prepare for a comeback that will leave you feeling warm.