“Load up on drugs we’ll let the demons come in/Bring all the kids they won’t know where to begin”. It’s the indie equivalent of ‘Teen Spirit’, a blistering, brash little number called ‘Drama Queen’, and it’s the opening track on Switches’ rather lovely debut, Heart Tuned To D.E.A.D.. They’re an indie-rock four-piece from England – yes, another one – but Switches have something their contemporaries are so conspicuously lacking and that, my friend, is tunes.
From visceral, stomp-the-night away little beauties such as ‘Lay Down The Law’, to soul-rending smoochie-smoochies like ‘The Need To Be Needed’, this album puts the listener’s affections under house-arrest. In the main, the playing is tighter than a miser’s fist, gifting us riff upon intoxicating riff, delicious three-part harmonies and ingratiating choruses. High in vitamin B – Blur, Bolan and The Beach Boys – Switches are clearly a band in thrall to melody. Tracks such as ‘Give Up The Ghost’ and ‘Lovin’ It’ prove ad infinitum listens, the sort of songs that make you wonder "What’s gonna melt first, my ears or my iPod?"
However, there are occasions when a few pesky flies get into Switches’ sweet ointment. The lyrics are none-too-inspired, smacking more of the everyday then the eternal. In addition there is a discernible dip in quality towards the album’s conclusion. The final track ‘Testify’, a stink-off mix of The Subways and The Vines, carries a particularly fetid stench. Overall though, Heart Tuned To D.E.A.D. is a hugely enjoyable affair, the sort only misanthropes or pretentious poseurs could wholly dislike.