Stuck On Nothing

Something about Free Energy, a band of very-rocker-looking rockers from Philadelphia, gives me the gags. Part of that urge, I'm sure, is a reaction to how much the quintet looks and sounds like a really great cover band. Their look features an assortment of longish haircuts, tight jeans, ironic shirts and a guy who must have a new scarf for every day of the year. So, basically, as far as their appearance goes, they're the douchebag version of The Strokes. But what do looks really matter? Take Lady Gaga, for example: she looks great, but sounds like (as Joanna Newsom said), Arty Spice. Free Energy sometimes sound like T. Rex and Big Star, but mostly sound like Journey, if Journey were Brooklyn outsiders or Midwest hometown heroes. 

Another gag-inducing fact is that the band's debut, Free Energy, was released by DFA Records and produced by LCD Soundsystem genius James Murphy. While Murphy is no innovator in his own right (see Can, Neu!, New Order, Faust, etc.) he's always made creative music that, for the most part, is unlike that of his peers. Not Free Energy. Free Energy sound like a crew of shit-hot players who play a cover set for dinner than go out for a karaoke dessert. They sound like they're rewriting the hits of the 70s and early 80s - more Jet than Strokes. Less Cars swagger than, well, The Fixx.

But damn, songs like "Bang Pop," "Dream City" and "Free Energy," the first three songs on Stuck, sure are instantly enjoyable for anyone with a love for radio staples like "Bang a Gong." They're ape tracks, sure, but the kind you want to turn up and wear out. The kind we're gonna hear in television commercials and bromantic comedies soon enough. The lyrics are anthem chants in the waiting, singer Paul Sprangers dropping obvious but memorable lines like "we're in love with electric sound" over radio riffs and big beats. These aren't quite Katy Perry songs sung by bar rock dudes, but they're close.

That these Thin Lizzy fans make no jokes about what they're doing - like, say, The Hold Steady does - might have something to do with my ill reaction. Or maybe it's the tight pants or the fact that The Killers do this retro obvious thing better. Mostly, it's that they guys seem very capable of making interesting music - they're talented, knowledgable and have a great friend in Murphy. For now, they're a great bar band who make windows-down songs with that old dude from LCD Soundsystem. And that's fine, for now. Stuck On Nothing is a solid collection of cheap thrills that should effortlessly please unseasoned ears.    5.5/10

Written by G. William Locke