Search - Rogue Traders :: Here Come the Drums

Good dance pop/rock from Australia. 3.5/5

dfle3 | Australia | 07/13/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

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I decided to buy this album after "In love again" started getting frequent radio airplay here recently...which made buying the album 'do-able' as I've heard other songs from this album in the past and didn't mind them.



Having heard that a limited edition 2cd version of this album was available in Australia for around $13 odd Australian dollars [new], I hung out until I managed to hook this compilation for that price.



Anyway, the 'obvious' songs to like on this are:



Voodoo Child/Watching You/We're Coming Home/ and In Love Again



Each song above has either had radio airplay or been used in commercials, so you know they have been popular, at least here in Australia.



Many of the songs on this album-how shall I phrase this?-pay 'homage' to other well known songs, to my ears at least.



E.g. the thumping beat of Voodoo Child has a keyboard riff reminiscent, to me at least, of Elvis Costello's song "Pump it up". It has a hook of its own in the male [I think] voice which chimes in with the very sing-along-able "weeeee ooooooh". Having recently heard Huey Lewis and The News song "Do you believe in love?" I can see that the Rogue Traders have taken those 'words' above, and sung it differently.



Or "Watching You", which has the riff from the classic The Knack song "My Sharona". It even lyrically gives a nod to The Knack's song.



And, lastly, "In Love Again". This song features the chant from the absolute UK pop classic by Tears For Fears "Head over heels" [i.e. the "la la la la la" bit from that song] but sung by the Rogue Traders female lead vocalist. Natalie bring a delightful hook of her own into this song...her girly, silky smooth vocals to the verses, which are very nice indeed. Also, there is a terrific, delicate guitar intro to this song, which I don't seem to hear when I hear this song on the radio. Another great hook for the song.



As I've stated, "In love again" made buying this album do-able. But without "Coming Home" on this album, I doubt I would have taken the plunge. This song doesn't seem to have any obvious nods or winks to other songs. It's perhaps the best song on this album. I didn't even know that it was by this group until recentlyish.



This album has a Beatle-esque track on it...the VERY short "Change the channel". It's about 30 seconds of a radio dial being shuffled between various radio stations. I liked it.



"Fashion" has a keyboard/guitar riff which reminded me of The Kinks "All day and all of the night".



Some other notes I made on this album were:



"Believer" has a heavy guitar rhythym.



"Way to go" has a punk rock type guitar sound.



"World go round" has an alright guitar riff to it and a 'dirty' guitar sound and synthesiser beat.



"Rescue me" has a more delicate pop sound to it but a pretty big beat sound.



"White lightning" has a jarring synthesiser sound to it.



"Casting aside" has a nice, accoustic guitar sound to it and is the only song with the main vocals being sung by a man.



As for the second cd, I really CANNOT recommend it. It has a really alienating sound to it-not at all like the catchy pop/rock/dance of the first cd. I'm not sure who would like the second cd remixes of songs from the first cd...people into "Techno" perhaps? That's not my scene, so I can't really comment on how you would define or label the second cd's genre.



The second last remix is probably the worst-each of the songs on the second cd are at least six minutes long, and the second last song makes you aware of how long it is. It's really boring to listen to. None of the second cd's songs are as good as, or in the same league as the regular versions of these songs. Perhaps I'm showing my age, but I used to LIKE re-mixes of songs that I liked, from the 1980's especially. For lovers of techno, only, I suspect.



P.S. other Australian acts I've reviewed at this site are:



INXS



Midnight Oil



The Vines



Johnny O'Keefe



Alex Lloyd



Skyhooks



John Farnham



The Saints"