Universe in Revolt

The cover of Universe In Revolt – showing a gas-masked subaltern, mid-riot, about to lob a photogenically lit petrol bomb in our general direction – may tantalise you with the prospect of a young British band with concerns extending beyond the symmetrical slant of their fringes. But don’t get fooled. Infadels have not spent the spring tuning into the fascinating static generated by the 30th anniversary of the Paris riots. No, judging by the over-egged pomp pop of their new album, they’ve been too busy digging out old (and here’s one for the decrepit amongst us) Carter USM albums, and nodding their approval during artwork briefings, while being fobbed off with yellow pack Banksy knock-offs.
Glance at the song titles (‘Circus Of The Mad’, ‘Play Blind’, ‘Don’t Look Behind You’, ‘How To Disappear’) on this, their second LP, and you might mistake Universe as a grand emo state of the nation address. But really, emo doesn’t do state of the nation, and in terms of its lyrical content, the record has all the wit, insight and conviction of a MySpace blog.
When confronted by a song called ‘Free Things For Poor People’, for example, at the very least you should expect a tin-eared (but well-intentioned) Manics-esque polemic; how lame it is to discover it’s actually a dire, carbon-neutral ode to his girlfriend’s t-shirt. Similarly, while the bland, Muse-lite, histrionics make massive demands on our attention, there’s simply not enough going on to keep us entertained.
So ignore the cover. Seems it isn’t a Molotov cocktail Infadels are preparing to launch our way. It’s really just a damp squib.

Key Track: ‘Million Pieces’