Two Door Cinema Club - Gameshow
It’s always refreshing to hear a band dedicated solely to the art of making great pop music. It’s for this reason that few begrudged Two Door Cinema Club, a totally unpretentious, mild-mannered three-piece from Bangor in Northern Ireland, when they rose to arena-sized stardom a few years ago.
Their third record and first in four years, Gameshow covers similar territory to 2012’s Beacon. Rife with shimmering guitar leads, golden pop hooks and frontman Alex Trimble’s soft-centred vocals – it’s a remarkably consistent record with no tracks that feel particularly left-field. Is it a little too safe? Perhaps, but then again when the tunes are this good it’s hard to care all that much. There will be no doubt be criticisms of it lacking invention or innovation, but in a day and age when people are taking The 1975’s music seriously it’s refreshing to hear an album so comfortable in its limited ambitions. Gameshow is a terrific batch of fun, vibrant pop songs. The only downside is it didn’t arrive quite in time for summer.
8/10
