Two Door Cinema Club - The Evolution
From the success of their early singles, the band established themselves as a solid enough indie band, influenced by the post-punk of The Strokes as much by the synth-infused sounds of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. They harnessed a none-too original sound that played to their youthful strengths, and were most notable for their quirky, conscious lyrics. With simple, catchy guitarlines and a knack for excellent rhythms, they were a band that were instantly recognisable, even in the competitive climate. Born in a time where both the weirder and more folky alternative bands began to thrive, TDCC found themselves in a somehow unique place with an unoriginal and yet profoundly interesting sound. Their first album, Tourist History, saw this success climb and remain stable, three of their most iconic singles still in rotation to this day with decent radioplay and playlist exposure. "Something Good Can Work", "Undercover Martyn" and "What You Know" being well-remembered indie staples at this point, and they represent that early sound incredibly well. Whilst I wouldn't consider Tourist History one of my favourite albums of all time, it is a valuable listen that I hold close to my heard and revisit often.
Now, despite landing in an environment perfectly suited for up-and-coming indie bands, they never really caught on in the mainstream as much as they hoped; never landing a no. 1 album or claiming a true hit single to their name. But they tried. On the sophomore record Beacon, they embraced their poppy side quite immediately and incorporated much more prominent synthesizers and allowed themselves the space to experiment with the sounds that had been the centre of the indiesphere around the time of the debuts release. Whilst this slight sonic shift propelled the band to further success, criticisms against them began to rise as the blogs that supported them lapsed in support and people began doubting Two Door Cinema Club's integrity. I never really found this to be a problem, after all, they weren't perpetrators of cultural appropriation such as Vampire Weekend and although they were selling out per say it was just a different direction that amounted to a wider album that has some of their best work on to date. Overall I'd say it's weaker than their first, but it was never as frustrating a dip as with The Wombats took the year before them, and as with Tourist History I re-listen reasonably regularly.
Upon failing to gain the sort of radio hit that they were pursuing, the band felt strained for singles, predictably but regrettably releasing "Next Year" as the next single as the most poppy and one of the least good songs on the album. This didn't chart, and so the band chose to lean further still into their mainstream aspects with the synthpop EP "Changing Of The Seasons", the eponymous single being their highest charting and only Top 40 to date in the UK, peaking at #33 and really pandering to the trends beginning to emerge with bands like Chvrches, Crystal Fighters and that era of Phoenix. In spite of this release resulting in the most controversy of the band's career, with many fans really let down by the lack of guitars and more casual pop listeners eating up this ultra-commercial and danceable direction. Personally, although I do consider this the low of their career it's easy to enjoy "Changing Of The Seasons" as a single and it's by no means the soulless sellout some claimed it to be. Unfortunately, it didn't especially resonate for that long and with the failure to grab a hit single yet again and the pain of extensive touring, tensions within the band got to their most strained.
Alex, the band's frontman, had been battling from serious mental illness that climaxed around 2013 due to the massive levels of stress and pressure from labels and the band itself. According to Alex, he and Kevin would barely speak in the studio or just spend time arguing and shouting; their productivity was completely stalled and the band was falling apart. After cancelling a headline slot at the Latitude Festival, TDCC went their separate ways and practically didn't interact until later in 2015 when they reformed and began work on their third studio album. At this point, they were past pandering to pop or conforming to trends so they took influence from two of their favourite musical pioneers - Prince and Bowie. This resulted in their most experimental album to date, a dive into the jazzy R&B of the late 80s and the funk that characterised many of the more avant-garde beats of the time. The result was Gameshow, a dance-punk blast that, whilst still criticised by some critics for its unoriginality, was generally praised for the creative direction and more complex instrumentation, lyrics and performances from the band. I personally feel like this is a staple of the 2010s and one of the best albums of its respective year and style, particularly the tracks "Ordinary", "Gameshow" and "Surgery". Whilst this was by no means a commercial sensation, it did fairly well despite the four year gap between this and their last album. In my eyes, it is the highest that their career has reached thus far.
After playing the 2016 and 17 festivals, the band took the time to write their fourth album, "False Alarm". It is to be released on 21st June and has been preceded by the singles "Talk", "Satellite" and "Dirty Air", all of which showcase a synthpop direction a few lightyears away from their work on Beacon and Changing Of The Seasons. The chaotic instrumentals that feature most prominently on the most recent single are much more of a new wave sound, alongside enough modern production choices to flatter the ears and come across as convincingly experimental in a way they always strived to achieve but more often than not failed to succeed in. I have high expectations for the new record, i predict that it will be an enthusiastically composed yet accessible listening experience, in the way all their albums have been to some extent.
Conclusively, I would say that throughout the stages of Two Door Cinema Club's career they have demonstrated their capabilities in three distinct fields, and whilst I would say they've only excelled in one (the funk rock and alternative R&B of Gameshow), they have a certain consistency in their delivery that always reflected the experiences of that time in their lives. Below I will break down each stage of their career and give my opinion and rating too. I think it's worth saying that I do have bias towards this band due to the impact that they have had on my life and musical preferences, and especially in getting me into their peers and predecessors: they are one of my favourite bands.
Four Words To Stand On (EP)
26/03/2008
Independent (Re-released 2018 through Glassnote)
Indie pop
A sweetly naive collection of recorded demos that reflect on a very young, inexperienced yet undoubtedly earnest band. They are impressionistic and create soft, synth-infused indie music that occasionally shines in the surprisingly conscious lyrics. Admittedly, these are very simplistic songs and a fraction of what would be found later in their discography.
5.5/10
Tourist History
01/03/2010
Kitsuné, Glassnote
Indie rock, post-punk revival
A more developed extension of the tones and themes explored on Four Words... the band's debut is an impressive reintroduction to the sounds of The Strokes, albeit with a greater pronounced usage of synthesizers to add some flare alongside the dancy bass grooves. Altogether a fun release that put TDCC on the map with iconic singles and predictable but solid deep cuts to fall back on. Definitely a progression, but they weren't exactly bringing anything new to the table.
7/10
Beacon
03/09/2012
Kitsuné, Glassnote
Indie pop, electropop
The attempted epic by Two Door was never going to achieve what the band wanted. Yes, they got a little ambitious with some quirky electronics here and there but it was always just so safe. Even at its highs, whether that be bursting with energy and passion on "Wake Up" or going for a more sinister tone on the title track, they weren't exactly doing anything perpendicular to pop. I come back to this release, but the entire midsection drags on even with its relatively concise sub-forty minute runtime.
6/10
Changing Of The Seasons (EP)
30/09/2013
Parlophone
Synthpop
Mainstream pandering that should not have worked as well as it did. Honestly, the redeeming qualities are purely the catchiness of the title-track and "Golden Veins", as "Crystal" is a dreary-as-you-get pop ballad and easily my least favourite TDCC song. I'm not wishing this EP didn't come out, I'm just wishing it was better. Also, the lyrical quality infuriatingly dips to the poppy standards of the instrumentals, which is a shame for a band as typically quippy as Two Door.
4/10
Gameshow
14/10/2016
Parlophone, Transgressive
Funk-rock, dance-punk
The comeback album nobody expected, least of all for the quality to be so high. This record is engulfed in lavish instrumentals, amusing lyrics and fantastic beats that showcase the best of the band whilst simultaneously propelling their sound in an utterly splendid new direction. Probably a one-off in their career but a one-off I am pleased to call my favourite, this is easily one of the most out-of-nowhere exciting albums that demonstrates Two Door's capabilities once in a new stage of maturity that resonates so much more potently than any of their previous material.
9/10
False Alarm
21/06/2019
Glassnote
New wave, synthpop
[I will be sure to update this once the album has been released with an overview of my thoughts and a rating, after putting out a review first of course]
In the coming months, look out for a list of my favourite Two Door Cinema Club songs. I am currently working on it, so feel free to share your own personal favourites. I love hearing passionate, strong reasoning and I'd love to hear your opinions.
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