Locksley - Be In Love Review

Posted by Michael James on 01.31.2010

Where I try to objectively review an album by one of my favorite bands without sounding like their publicist.

I feel like I’ve watched the Brooklyn via Wisconsin four piece Locksley, grow up over the years. After checking out a few of their early tracks on various blogs and attending the album release concert for their second album Don’t Make Me Wait at a bar the size of my living room, I felt invested in their success. They have gotten bigger since then, headlining MTV’s Vote or Die tour, and performing as the backing band for Ray Davies of The Kinks, yet, I still get excited when the band gets a break, most recently when their music popped up on, of all places, an episode of Jersey Shore. So needless to say when an advance copy of their third album, Be In Love popped up on the album review list from 411’s fearless leader Mitch Michaels, I was all over it.



1. Love You Too
2. Darling, It’s True
3. One More Minute
4. Days of Youth
5. 21st Century
6. Away From Here
7. The Whip
8. Down for Too Long
9. On Fire
10. It Isn’t Love
11. The Way That We Go
12. The World Isn’t Waiting

But don’t worry, this review won’t be a puff piece. In fact, reviewing Be In Love taught me an important life lesson (well, important in the scheme of my music reviewing gig): sometimes it's better to remain a surface fan of an act you love rather than analyze their work with a critic’s scalpel. What I love most about Locksley, their infectious exuberance is present in spades on the new album, especially in the longtime concert sing along staple “Darling, It’s True.”

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Unfortunately, exuberance only goes so far in the face of what is some fairly middling songwriting. A trio of songs on the middle of the album, “Days of Youth” and “21st Century” and “Away From Here” turn down the fuzzy guitar garage sound which powers the group’s strongest songs and in the process shines too strong a light on pedestrian lyrics like “We are coming together, we are falling apart/ Reaching the end, only the end of the start/ Taking the pictures to remember the times/ Remember the times when were young in our life” (from “21st Century”). It’s no coincidence that one of the best songs on Be in Here, is “On Fire,” a two-minute dirty rock groove with a yelping lead vocal style reminiscent of Jack White.

Locksley’s own style is clearly evolving. Where Don’t Make Me Wait owed a heavy debt to rock pioneers like The Kinks and the rockingest portions of The Beatles catalog, those influences are less prevalent here. “The Way That We Go,” another of the album’s stronger tracks, features a group-sung chorus that evokes early Weezer. However, Locksley is still at its best when combining British Invasion and garage rock elements on songs like “Down for Too Long.”

Even when wearing my “critic’s hat,” it’s easy to get caught up in the infectious energy and crowd-pleasing sing along chorus of tracks like “The Whip”. But after the album ends and the sugar high wears off, very little on Be In Love resonates. It would be make an excuse for Locksley, and say that maybe they don’t have such lofty ambitions for their music. I won’t do that, mostly because my favorite Locksley song “For the Summer” off of 2004’s Safely From the City is a great piece of songwriting, which features a jazzy groove and memorable melody which is missing from almost all of Be In Love.



Since I know what they’re capable of, I still have high hopes for Locksley’s career. Unfortunately, Be In Love shows that they have yet to reach their peek as album artists. Even worse, the album’s worst song, “The World Isn’t Waiting”, was sequenced as the album’s last track, leaving a sour taste that colors the whole listening experience.

If you’re like me, most of your music ends up in an endless .mp3 “shuffle.” In order to preserve your valuable disk space, here’s what’s Ipod-worthy off Be In Love:

“Love You Too”; “Darling, It’s True”; “The Whip”; “Down For Too Long”; “On Fire”; “The Way That We Go”

The 411: With all the exposure they have gotten in the past few years, particularly on MTV, I really hoped Be In Love would be the album that broke Locksley into the mainstream, but unfortunately they aren't quite there yet. Exuberance triumphs handily over songcraft on the album, and some songs, particularly "One More Minute" just sound sloppy. Hopefully Locksley will resist the urge to use their raucous guitar riffs and sing along choruses as a crutch and continue to evolve and refine their sound.

Final Score:  5.5   [ Not So Good ]