“Easy Being A Winner” is the successful attempt by the Irish band Silverbacks to shake off the image of a strictly post-punk group (with Television and Fall acting as a perpetual shadow), a record that broadens perspectives by reconciling experimentation and pop vibrations -rock, which give a lightness and appetizing versatility.
Four years of break, a new entry into the lineup (bassist Paul Leamy), and a predilection for less obscure sounds definitely shift the axis towards an alternative rock that reserves some surprises. The intertwining of three guitars on a jumping up-tempo like Yo La Tengo opens the dance with a decidedly biting tone (“Selling Shovels”), the disco-rock movements of “Something I Know”, the second single with a certainly unusual for the band, a song that offers the starting point for an interesting psych-pop digression which finds further development in the feverish “Spinnig Jenny”. The exciting motorik rhythm that supports the guitar digressions of “No Rivers Around Here” and the unhealthy post-punk temptations of the splendid “Songs About Divide” are the two spearheads of a record that willingly or unwillingly witnesses the artistic emancipation of band.
With “Easy Being A Winner” the Irish demonstrate that they have what it takes to continue in the name of definitive stylistic autonomy, even when they return to more familiar paths (the title track and “Billion Star Night Light”) freshness and liveliness are not lacking, and put the band back on the right path after the misstep of “Archive Material”. For the Silverbacks the road ahead is still full of obstacles and unexpected events, but at least the new album also shows signs of growth in songwriting, and the result is at least pleasant.
08/11/2024
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM
