Artist: Grand National
Album: Kicking the National Habit
Label: Sunday Best Recordings
Tracks: 17
Length: 77:09
Review by: Luke Kruse

 

With bands like The Killers, The Bravery and Franz Ferdinand all over the radio and major music magazines, 2005 was the year of 80’s influenced dance-rock.  It will be interesting to see if dance-rock fizzles out in 2006, or if the trend can gain some credibility as a viable form of music that transcends fad status.  All signs seem to point to bands like The Bravery being tossed aside as quickly as The Rapture was after they were infamously named Pitchfork Media’s top album of 2003.

 

When I first found Grand National’s Kicking the National Habit in my stack of albums to review, the first thing that struck me was the 2004 release date.  I wondered what the point of reviewing a two year old album was, so I did a little research and found out that the album was released in the U.K. in 2004, but was being re-released stateside in 2006.  I’m not sure if such a late re-release was simply a problem of distribution, or if someone thought Grand National might be able to cash in on the dance-rock fad, as the ten album tracks on this release mostly feature those shimmering guitars, quick disco drum beats, and expressive bass lines that would not be out of place on any dance floor.

 

Questions of fads and motives aside, Kicking the National Habit is a surprisingly solid album from this duo of twenty-something Londoners.  When trying to peg what part  of the dance-rock spectrum these guys reside on, think names like “The Police,” and “New Order” not “The Killers.”  This is a band clearly influenced by the classics, not the imitators.  I was amazed at how much the group has the tendency to bring The Police to mind, especially on the Roxanne-influenced “Playing in the Distance.”  That aforementioned song is the definite highlight on the album, complete with a horn-freak-out section, ska guitar riff and memorable background vocals.  Elsewhere on the album, “Drink to Moving on” and “Daylight Goes” provide a similar upbeat summer vibe that would make this album a windows-down sort of affair.

 

While there are certainly a number of standouts on the album, Kicking the National Habit unfortunately suffers from simply being too much to listen to all at once.  While usually a fan of a few bonus tracks, this re-release has, count ‘em, seven non-album tracks that push the album close to the 80 minute mark.  I would recommend listening to the ten album tracks and coming back at a later time to see what sort of treasures may lie in the glut of bonus material.  One other small complaint with the record is that the band sort of uses up all of its tricks in the first four songs.  While those four songs are great, they perhaps set to high a bar.  Perhaps better sequencing might have made this a more fluid record.

 

As it stands, Kicking the National Habit is an album that exceeded my expectations.  Whether or not this band ever “makes it,” they should be proud of an effort that transcends its obvious influences without imitating them.  Dance rock may not end up being the “it” sound of 2006, but with standout tracks like “Playing in the Distance,” Grand National is a band that stands a chance of gaining a solid following.