The Divorce: The Gifted Program

The press release for The Divorce proclaims that the pump-your-fist-through-the-Camaro’s-sunroof choruses, swooning vocals and robot-precise soloing are worth listening to. Look past the inevitable hyperbole and just feel those hyphens; it’s less a mission statement and more a 14th century British surname. How could the music itself possibly begin to live up to that?

The answer is pretty favorably actually. The watchword here is ‘tight’ as vocalist Shane Berry and his merry band of Seattle men have released 10 spunky, punky efforts that don’t reinvent the wheel but, crucially, don’t outstay their welcome either. Sure, you could draw comparison with The Killers or The Bravery but right from the off, this is economically driven music on a mission. Without doubt, there’s a healthy nod to the past - you get the impression that the band have listened to their fair share of New Order - yet the record doesn’t feel like an homage.

The tone is set with opening effort ‘Yes’, full of lyrical cheekiness (‘because the answer is ‘yes!’/and we don’t know the question yet’) and exuberance. This upbeat nature continues unabated as both the band and listener barely have time to draw breath. ‘Birds = Magic’, ‘Deny! Deny! Deny!’ (even the title smacks of enthusiasm) and ‘Houses In Hurricanes’ rattle along without a worry in the world but they really hit their stride with ‘Air Traffic Control’. Notwithstanding the audacity to rhyme ‘wine’ with ‘lying’, The Divorce seem to update ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’ (‘So carry me home/Oh! Swing low) over these three minutes and that should surely be admired. ‘The Gifted Program’ won’t necessarily appeal to listeners with older ears but The Divorce are certainly there for - and are thinking about - the kids. And rather appropriately, shouldn’t that be the aim? At least they’ve now got something to work with for their next press release.