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Hadouken!: Music For An Accelerated Culture |
Contributed By: Josh DaNewYork
Created On: Monday, 23 June 2008
Hits: 103
 Music For An Accelerated Culture Starting at the tail end of 2006 in Leeds before setting up camp in London, Hadouken were honing their electronically tinged skills and putting down their grime-infested roots. When all of a sudden they released indie hit 'That Boy That Girl'. After dividing much of the music world with said single, Hadouken then concentrated on scrapping much of their old sound in favour of some new beats. The results in many ways are varied. With Music For An Accelerated Culture, Hadouken have tried to put forward a different side to the music we have grown accustomed hearing from them. It's a darker side with deeper and slightly heavier undertones, made most obvious in new single 'Declaration of War', a track full of delicate rhythms and less violent rhyme. These can also be seen in other songs - 'What She Did' and 'Driving Nowhere' are prime examples.
The cheekier side of Hadouken is never far away on the album, with 'Crank it Up' and 'Get Smashed Gatecrash' showing that James Smith's influences usually centre around being drunk, young and foolish. His lyrics and expressions freshen up songs and choruses that would normally be quite weak , though the dreaded filler songs are dotted around quite regularly. 'Spend Your Life' and the quite frankly awful 'Mister Misfortune' do nothing for the album and tells us nothing of what the band is about. Even 'Liquid Lives', which last year was at the forefront of the modern sound and the epitomy of Hadouken's sound, now sounds dated.
There are many bands in the nu-rave scene who have managed to make their album sound as fresh as their first few singles - New Young Pony Club and Klaxons to name but a few, but part of the problem with this album is the formulaic way in which Hadouken conduct their business. Whilst James Smith's lyrics can be witty and dangerous in parts, the rhythms and beats are generally anything but. It's only when the two come together that Hadouken sound like the band they're trying to be. Everyone knows that first albums can be tricky business. A year ago it seemed like Hadouken! could touch coal and it would turn in to platinum, but a year later and Hadouken! have almost missed the bus. I say almost because they are on the bus, but hanging onto the coat-tails of the conductor.
 
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