I try to keep a level head about music these days, try not to get too enthusiastic about any one band, singer, etc. It seems every time I fall head over heels with anything music, the band breaks up, the drummer goes to jail, the lead singer shows up on a VH1 reality special and/or I find out my 10 year old niece loves them too. I am going to throw caution to the wind today and declare: I freaking love this band.
Comprised of Tom Clarke (vocals, guitar), Laim Watts (drums) and Andy Hopkins (bass), The Enemy is three guys who went from playing for fun to playing with purpose. It was evident during the show that there is no agenda behind their music but their music expresses the frustration with the government, with our fellow man/woman, that many of us are already feeling.
The Enemy is raw and honest. Their music has an element of justifiable anger: they aren’t pissed because the girl next door isn’t into them; they are pissed because their government has continued to fail them in a manner that is all too familiar to America as well. They are pissed because friends are losing jobs and not finding new ones. They are pissed because it seems too many musicians are blabbering idiots with guitars saying, well… nothing.
Not that angst is anything in new in the world of rock, and especially not in the world of punk but The Enemy is refreshingly unique in the current music scene. There is a huge difference between the whining boys presently on the radio, the over-produced screaming/rapping/being lame lead singers that somehow managed to make a record, the oh, so scary, marketing-centered mask wearing bands that play shows in the desert and The Enemy: a band who are legitimately angst-filled and have chosen their musical talent to express exactly why.
Beyond their honest anger is good music and good music that is brilliant live. Their show at the Troubadour on Wednesday night was more than just a good post-punk-indie-rock show it was a one-hour introduction to three guys that are gathering a legion of fans at every new city they visit and are headed into greatness.
Proof of this growing fan base was the amount of British men, women, boys and girls in the audience. If it wasn’t for the obnoxious scenesters that decided it would be an excellent time to have a meet and greet during the show, The Troubadour would have seemed like an English pub.
They’ve taken their British fans and left LA in a bloody-dizzy. If you happen to be in the same town where they are playing, see them. The Enemy is a band you can believe in, The Enemy is a band you can love.
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1 annmarie // Aug 8, 2008 at 4:12 pm
i was there too…
loads of raised beers & sing-a-longs from the audience & a band that really seems to believe in the songs they sing.
as tom clarke said “just cause we’re from england doesn’t mean this is a f*uckin tea party!”
indeed tom, fantastic show!
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