Canterbury - Dark Days

Canterbury are jolly handsome young men. They are also from Surrey, not Canterbury. So they are liars. But we’ve all told the odd fib in time, so lets not hold it against them and rather take a moment to consider the potent stomp of ‘Expensive Imitation’ the opener to this, the band’s third full-length. Its scuzzy bass and frenetic, whispered bridge belie its pop sensibilities, the grandiose strings embellishing a lovely, simple ditty.

It’s a pattern that pervades throughout: ‘Dark Days’ is a head nodder rather than a head banger. Indeed, it’s that subtlety that affords this record a deal of its strength, the wide screen ‘All My Life’ reminiscent of the light fingered song writing touch of River Cuomo in his pomp – fine praise indeed. ‘Hold Your Own”s staccato piano framework wouldn’t feel out of place on the recent Bastille record (though it does end up spiralling into more string-led epicness) while the de rigeur mid album acoustica of ‘By The Trail’ is actually pretty decent if a little heavy on the schmaltz.

This is solid song writing then, but it does feel a little lacking in punch on occasion. The band seem content to tread around the edges of great tunes without really stamping their own character on proceedings. It’s also notable that while Canterbury have ostensibly been positioned with the likes of You Me At Six, Mallory Knox, Deaf Havana et al in the ‘New Wave Of British Rock’ bracket, ‘Dark Days’ lacks the ‘punk’ cut ‘n thrust of almost all of those bands. If the quartet are trying to step out of their own, then you fancy they’ll have to do it with a bit more conviction than this to convince serious, chin-stroking indie critics. If they’re trying to run with the pack then they’re some way off the mark.

Of those two options, Canterbury would probably best served by the former. They have produced an album totally apt for mainstream consumption which will no doubt appeal enormously to people who like feeling a bit edgy at Radio 1’s Big Weekend. Sure, it’s a tad lacking in personality, but in the world of mass-marketed guitar bands that is probably a pro rather than a con. If they can move beyond their ‘rock’ peers then they’ll be on course to reap a deal of success. ‘Dark Days’ is a genuinely handsome record and hopefully one which let Canterbury stop lying to us about where in the scene they belong.