THE STRUTS: Strange Days (ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

How can you continue to communicate the freshness that characterizes you when you're confined? This is the thorny problem facing The Struts in the year 2020. After two excellent albums, the Britons must now confirm this with the famous pivotal album, the one of all dangers but which can also install you on the summits. Nevertheless, it would take more than four walls to contain the communicative energy of Luke Spiller's band. The Derby quartet managed to lock themselves in the studio to record their new opus in just ten days. And to validate their move, they surround themselves with a host of guests who seem to endorse them and confirm the essential place they are taking in the world of rock from Great Britain.

But a roster of top names in the genre is not necessarily a guarantee of product quality. And some purists must have cringed when they saw Robbie Williams' name added to the opening single and title track. And yet, although it's surprising to start a rock album with a sweet pop song, it quickly proves to be extremely endearing, with an unstoppable chorus that recurs throughout the ten nuggets that make up "Strange Days". The lyrics convey a great deal of optimism, despite the disconcerting times these tracks deal with. The rest confirms that The Struts has no equal when it comes to conveying a refreshing positivity, whatever the situation. The recipe remains the same as on "Everybody Wants" or "Young & Dangerous", yet the effect is just as immediate and the effectiveness just as implacable.

There's no let-up, and even the cover of Kiss' 'Do You Love Me' benefits from a version that strikes the perfect balance between respect and appropriation. We find Rolling Stones influences in a riff that sounds like it came straight from Keith Richards' six-string ('Cool') or a smoky bluesy ballad ('Burn It Down'). Glam roots are also evident on the whirlwind 'All Dressed Up (And Nowhere To Go)' or the no less irresistible 'I Hate How Much I Want You', on which Joe Elliott and Phil Collen (Def Leppard) get involved without reservation. But it's all part of The Struts' own identity, and they add a Queen-style theatrical touch ('Am I Talking To The Champagne (Or Talking To You)') or invite Tom Morello to reinforce the heavy character of a reptilian 'Wild Child'. Here, it's impossible not to be swept away by the torrent of positive energy and the cascade of choruses that quickly embed themselves in your mind and never leave.

Despite the pandemic, The Struts have transformed themselves from a hopeful phenomenon into one destined to take root at the pinnacle of rock for which the UK's borders are far too narrow. "Strange Days" is the antidote to the epidemic the world has been looking for. Immerse yourself in this opus and you'll immediately feel better, although the risk of addiction is real. - Official website

THE STRUTS

STRANGE DAYS

INTERSCOPE RECORDS

ROCK