(VERTIGO RECORDS)
Razorlight are sharp and bright.
They've also supported the Hope of The States and are hell of a band in their own right to look out for. 'Rip It Up' is their second single release and is an upbeat rock tune. Dominated by its rousing bass-line, this is a timeless anthem up there with the top-drawer songs that bands of The Strokes' and The Libertines' caliber produce.
'Rip It Up' isn't the only anthem they've written, and delving further into their catalogue will unearth 'Rock n' Roll Lies' with its fab vibrancy, the under-stated soulfulness of the vocal and a rock sound aurally related to The Revs and The Ga-Gas. Their 'Yeah Yeah Yeah' is a good old fashioned verse-chorus example of how to deliver a wickedly catchy tune, yet 'In The City' is much more subdued and fascinating for it. Deftly developing from its Lloyd Cole-esque narrative intro, the swagger that builds up subsequently reminds of another of the UK's most exciting Alt.-rock bands in the truly fabulous Mower.
As with the band Plastic Heroes, Razorlight deserve mass chart success and rock 'n' roll excess in return for their pop-rooted songwriting super talents that are never dumbed down. 4/5 (Steve Rudd)
'Rip It Up' is released on October 27th 2003