"Just Put Down Those Scissors"

White Lies - To Lose My Life
Verdict: Love More (<3)

White Lies' album reminds me of everything I want 80's pop music to be like. I'm a huge fan of bands like The Bravery, and White Lies' To Lose My Life fits perfectly up there with the greats of, really, many genres of music.

My theory:
The problem with 80's music is that in the 80's all these new production techniques were developed, and artists just pushed everything up to 10 and said "go." There was an overabundance and overuse of every aspect of production that nothing sounded real anymore, and the problem with that is that, while interesting at first, it soon becomes notoriously unbearable (this is why we talk about 80's music the way we do). After people started to realize that there was too much too much too much, they cut it all out and went back to the basics, and, since then, we've been slowly building ourselves back up to the point where we're thinking about structuring songs the way they were in the 80's, but not going overboard.

This is what White Lies' new album is. We've finally been able to take everything the 80's wanted, and produce it at a level that people can actually bear, and enjoy. The string-style synth sounds warm and inviting, and the computery 80's style drums sound like there's an actual human being behind the set. You can almost hear the fingers of the bass player moving along the fret board, and the singer, while deep and cheesy, doesn't sound ineffectual and over the top. You can really relate to the music because you aren't too busy laughing at it.

On top off all that, the songs are just fun, clever, and poppy songs that don't get stale or sound like they've actually ripped any of the 80's stars off. I may have mentioned this before, but I'll mention it again: a friend of mine who also happens to play bass in my band, Cody, once told me that when he heard a certain album, he instantly felt like he could sing along with the album, even though it was the first time he'd heard it. This album quickly became on of his favorite albums. This seems to me to be a great gage as to whether or not an album is good. To Lose My Life is that album for me. As soon as it started, I felt like I knew every word, and, now, I know quite a few. I have no idea how this effect is reached, but it is very effective in getting me to think positively about the album.

This is just a solid, solid, solid album, and I can do nothing but recommend every track. Here are 3 that I narrowed down:

Whtie Lies - Death
White Lies - A Place To Hide
Whtie Lies - E.S.T.

They have videos too. and they are Good. youtube that shit.