Review Summary: An inconsistent, but ultimately enjoyable, addition to the Xcerts growing catalogue.
After a gargantuan four year gap since the Xcerts' scuzzy sophomore album was released, the Scottish trio have finally returned with their poppiest release to date. The band kick things off with a bang, once the fifty four second introductory track has passed. “Live Like This” storms out of the block courtesy of one of Murray's stellar rhythmic guitar hooks and some thrilling tempo changes. The impressive opening song is swiftly topped by the truly outstanding lead single “Shaking in the Water”, which contains countless catchy moments. This song's infectious pre-chorus is a highlight of the album, due to the cleverly interwoven backing vocals and the repetitive shrieks of “SHAKE!” burrowing deep into listeners' memories. “Kick It” maintains momentum with a propulsive drum beat and confirms that, when at their best, the Xcerts are masters of combining pop with emotional rock.
Unfortunately, the album derails at this point and a selection of tracks ranging from mediocre to downright awful ensue. One of the worst offenders is the uninspiring second single “Pop Song”, which is ruined by the addition of a cheesy piano line and awkward verses with far too many words packed into a concise melody. The chorus of “Kids on Drugs” is a further low point, which tragically limps along as if it were torn out of 'We The Kings' Big Book of Generic Poppy Refrains'. However, most criminal of all though is the derivative “I Don't Care”. Bizarrely, it seems that the Xcerts have chosen to plagiarize “Aberdeen 1987” - a ballad from their debut record! With this new song, instead of singing “I'm your new best friend; I'm your new haircut” over a gently strummed acoustic guitar, the band opt to use the exact same melody from their 2009 track and blurt out the grammatical nightmare of “I don't care no more” twice with a crude electric guitar line accompanying it.
In spite of some horrendous misjudgements across these tracks, the Xcerts actually provide some inspired lyrics at times during these musically weaker songs. For example, “Pop Song”'s lyrical hook of “You haunt me like a pop song in my head” is actually quite witty, whilst on “I Don't Care” the singer scathingly compares an ex-lover's voice to a joke told incorrectly. Additionally, it is clear that the lyricist's vocabulary has expanded monumentally since the Xcerts' debut which was penned during their teen years, based on the colourful imagery which litters their latest record.
All in all, “There Is Only You” sits uncomfortably in the Xcerts trajectory. Although the lyrics on occasions are genuinely inspired ad some of the more upbeat tracks are tremendously fun, ultimately this album feels like a step down from “Scatterbrain”. We can only hope that the next outing provides a few more hits than misses, but until then the likes of “Shaking in the Water” and “Kick It” are definitely worthy of a few listens.
