Review - Idlewild: 100 broken Windows 4 out of 5

Not very long ago a tune popped up everywhere from the radio to MTV2. "Ooooh," thought I "What a wonderful song this is, I simply must go out and buy the album!". (Or something similar, but less Enyd Blyton) That song was Idlewilds amazingly brillient new singly "Actually It's Darkness"
Of course this wasn't the first time I had heard an Idlewild song, Oh no - I was still reeling from hearing other past diomonds like "Little Discourage" and "I see shapes when I argue". It was the basis of these that I added '100 Broken Windows' to my 'Albums I want' list. And thus began my Idlewild adventure...
Now I was not expecting either of the above mentioned songs on the album, so imagine my surprise, that as well as "Actually It's darkness", which i was expecting, "Little Discourage turned up too. Which was nice.
Sorry, I have been watching FAR too much TV.
Anyway, If you havan't heard either of the songs i will briefly review them for your pleasure, because being the singles they are standout tracks.
'Little Discourage' is the first track on the album and sets the tone of the band perfectly. It starts with a solitary jangly guitar riff, then after ten seconds the drums and Roddy Woomble's bold vocals start. His vocals in this song completely dominate it without you forgetting about the rest of the tune, wich is clever indeed. Accompanied by a contrasting distant backing vocals it really stands out. The song doe a very good job at combining angry drums witha woozy, bluesy guitar and vocals which makes the song quite hypnitizing. As the song builds to a climax at the end, with the repeated chorus being joined by a chanting background the mood is completed.
'Actually It's Darkness' starts with a rythmic, could be prigrammed drums, and a distant guitar. This rythm is kept up throughout the song, escept in the chorus. Roddy had mastered a way of shouting while still singing. Singing in a shouting style if you want.
The style of song doesn't seem to match the subject matter: shyness, yet it works amazingly well. The quiete bit in the iddle, with a haunting piano in the background, seems to fit the subject much better and for a minute we are transported into another song entirely... and then brought screaming back
Idlewild certaintly have thier own very unique style, but yet it seems as natural as a knife and fork. One thing I really like about this album is the drumming - rythmic in places, uneven yet perfectly timed in others - especially on the 9th trak 'Rusty' and the 4th track 'Roseability'
However, on the first listen the songs do seema bit samey, but on the second listen they each start to devolope thier own distinct personality. I originally intended this album to be just a nice addition to my collection but it has actually bacome an old reliable friend of an album

If you have anything you'd like to add to this reviewlet me knowand i'll take it all on bourd, even if it's nasty. How nce am I? hmmm...

Go here and input code IDLEALB2 for Idlewild updates