Review Summary: Money and Celebrity: The Subways deserve both for this album. Conceptually cohesive, musically varied and filled with tracks made great by the Subways' own unique sound, this is one of the greatest records I have heard in a long while.
I can't say I've followed The Subways at all up until this point, but something made me give their new album, 'Money and Celebrity', a listen, and now I am most definitely a fan. A male-female sharing of vocals is not at all unusual these days (even Jimmy Eat World are doing it on tour), but the subtlety with which The Subways integrate Charlotte Cooper into their music is pretty innovative.
From the moment the album kicks off with the hit waiting to happen that is 'It's A Party' right up to the final moments of the enthralling guitar solo at the end of the record's final song, 'Leave My Side', The Subways put on a spectacular show. The album follows a format which I always agree with: start strong, end strong. Preferably, what's in between is strong as well, but not everyone can make 'Black Holes & Revelations'. Even so, weak tracks on 'Money and Celebrity' are difficult to come by; the slightly less impressive middle-end section is so short that before you realize it, you're into 'Friday' and Billy Lunn is telling you that he's been 'working til the middle of the night'.
Personally, I don't doubt it, and it shows in the quality that this three-person indie rock band from Hertfordshire has produced in this album. Conversely, one would never imagine that any of them had missed any sleep from the raw energy which pervades all their music. All good indie rock is filled with energy; that's why indie rock bands are so good to see live, and The Subways are no different. This is genuinely one of the best albums I've heard from a previously unheard (by me) artist, and it receives a suitably high score.
