Beacon Album Review

Photo By; Flickr User ausnahmezustand

By Laura Fouquette

After two years of touring the world for their 2010 album Tourist History, Northern Irish band Two Door Cinema Club is back with their sophomore album Beacon, released in the U.S. on September 4.  The transition between the two albums is seamless; some may call Beacon ‘part two’ of Tourist History;  it’s a little longer, a little heavier, and a little better.  The album was leaked in July, but TDCC fans nevertheless made the album ranked second in the UK and ranked fifth in America.  This indie-disco band’s dangerously catchy tunes and scandalous album cover catch the attention of alternative music listeners all over the globe.  It’s so catchy that even the choruses have choruses.

The lead single, “Sleep Alone,” was released in late July and is one of my favorites.  Other favorites on the album include “Next Year” and “Sun.”  TDCC’s new and improved sound has lost the jumpiness of their last album.  Beacon’s lyrics are more mature and seem to suggest that the band is a bit overwhelmed with all of their success, often affected by homesickness.  Although there’s a large disconnect between the in-your-face dance music in the first half of the album and the mellower emotional second half of the album, the combination produces an abnormally harmonious balance.  In an interview, TDCC bassist Kevin Baird explains the album title as the idea of being “stranded at sea, and aiming for this distant point, this beacon.”  Well, wherever they’re heading sounds pretty great to me.

The standard version of the album, containing 12 songs, is $10.99 on iTunes while the deluxe album, containing 26 songs, is only $14.99.  For only a few extra dollars, the deluxe album includes fourteen additional tracks live from Brixton Academy in London.  It’s as if you were listening to an entire TDCC concert in your living room with all the band’s commentary, the crowd’s screams, and sing-alongs.  The live portion of the deluxe version contains a perfect mix of classic tracks such as “What You Know” and “Something Good Can Work” from Tourist History as well as all the new tracks.

For all of you music lovers out there who love Passion Pit, Imagine Dragons, or Grouplove, Two Door Cinema Club’s Beacon is definitely worth adding to your music library this fall. Two Door Cinema Club is coming to San Diego on their North American tour on October 26th at Soma.