Scanners
Submarine
A quick glimpse at the track listing from the Scanners second album Submarine could have people wondering if somewhere between their 2006 release Violence is Golden and today the London based group grew sick of the rock and roll lifestyle and abandoned it for born-agains and Bible study.
“Jesus Saves.” “Salvation.” “Halfway Home.” It reads like the set-list from a Saturday night concert at Liberty University. But Matthew Mole, Sarah Daly, Amina Bates and Tom Hutt have no intentions of preaching like holy rollers or evangelizing fire and brimstone; although, with Daly’s vocal prowess she could undoubtedly make the career switch to the pulpit if she ever hears the calling.
“Jesus Saves” provides the opening, immediately introducing the sound that will become familiar enough to define the album: Daly’s singing coupled with predictable guitar usage and a heavy dose of elctro-synth stylings. It sets a mood that appears to be bent on not taking a stand. Not quite pissed off to stoke rage, but not upbeat enough to smother any that you may have lingering. It isn’t overly sad, but calling it happy wouldn’t be right either. The sound is stuck somewhere in emotional purgatory, a difficult and frustrating state of perpetual flux.
“Salvation,” the disc’s lead single, is a melodic and darker number, with an ominous “woah” providing a haunting backdrop, a bit like a modern take on Gregorian chant. The grey toned number doesn’t leave much to be sifted through; its simplicity and repetitiveness are not at all bad things, and “Salvation” escapes being weighted down by superfluous noise. It is this simple formula exactly, as well as the band being signed to Dim Mak Records headed by the infinitely hipper than thou Steve Aoki, which has already made it a favorite for remixes.
The single was released with Tittsworth, Dan Sena, Dirty Disco Youth and Don Diablo’s takes on the track along with the Scanners’ own remix, which more than anything leaves one to ponder the appropriateness of the outdated title “single” when it no longer contains a singular track but instead six separate takes.
“Sick Love” and “We Never Close Our Eyes,” both of which are reminiscent of Grace Fiddler of One for The Team, are welcomed reprieves from a work that, at times, can seem all too similar. “Sick Love,” in particular, has a strong, clapping opening that stands out against what the ear has grown used to, forcing one to listen up and maybe even tap the foot a bit.
On “Baby Blue” Daly’s singing ability breaks through with passion, again the simple nature of the track lets her shine and she does so with a firmly stated emotion that is sorely missed on other parts of the record.
Submarine is frequently an unvarying effort that could use a few more surprises, a few more moments of divergence from Daly’s strung-out lyrics and the band’s inability to take a stand, an unfortunate byproduct perhaps, of trying to play to please too many.
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