Quick 'N Dirty Review: The Radio Dept. | Clinging To A Scheme

Before we start, here's a quick look at the rating system that we use here at The Dirtywhirl:

100 - Classic Album; One Of The Best Of All Time
99-90 - Exceptional Work; Rush Out And Get This
89-80 - Very, Very Good; You Should Still Go Out And Get This
79-70 - Not Bad At All; Might Actually Be Worth Your Time
69-60 - Has Its Moments But On The Whole... Meh
59-50 - Won't Make Your Ears Bleed; Won't Make You Dance, Either
49-0 - Don't Waste Your Time; You're Smarter Than This (Probably) 

Now... onto the review:

The Radio Dept. | Clinging To A Scheme

Like a lone daisy springing from inner city concrete, the soundtrack from the entirely forgettable 2006 film Marie Antoinette was the one highlight of an ill-advised look at the child Queen Of France. Its soundtrack (because Sofia Coppola for some reason chose to back 1700s France with 80s new wave and post-punk) likely served as the iPod generation’s introduction to acts like The Cure, New Order, and Siouxie And The Banshees, while also highlighting lesser known bands like Windsor For The Derby and Sweden’s The Radio Dept. On an obviously stellar collection, The Radio Dept. stood apart with shoegazey pop tracks like “I Don’t Like It Like That” and “Pulling Our Weight.” (Side note: Say what you will about Sofia Coppola’s filmmaking talent but damn, does she ever have good taste in music. From getting Air to score her debut film, The Virgin Suicides, to using The Jesus And Mary Chain’s classic “Just Like Honey” to close Lost In Translation to hell… even dating Thomas Mars from Phoenix and now introducing the masses to The Radio Dept. through their use in Marie Antoinette, she deserves major props.) Returning with Clinging To A Scheme, their first long-player since the soundtrack’s release, The Radio Dept. expands on the promise that they showed on the Marie Antoinette collection. They hop from genre to genre but they really know what they’re doing and they incorporate all of the sounds (using dream pop/shoegaze as their base) to create something truly remarkable. “Domestic Scene” is a natural progression from the Marie Antoinette tracks and it sets the table for what’s to come on the rest of Clinging To A Scheme – very lazy (in a good way) and breezy vocals from Johan Duncanson with an airy dream pop/shoegaze bent to the instrumentation. The bouncy and summery “Heaven’s On Fire” follows and hearkens back more than a little to British Invasion pop while it grows more with each listen. It sounds like a paradoxical statement but The Radio Dept.’s sound can really be described as a cool warmth. This feel is heard best on tracks like “A Token Of Gratitude,” (without question one of the record’s standouts) where Duncanson coolly sings, “Do I love you?/ Yes I love you/ But easy come easy go/ Don’t let me down,” as the track evolves into ambient beauty that would have been at home on David Bowie’s Low, or on the absolutely gorgeous “You Stopped Making Sense.” Clinging To A Scheme is all about the creation of mood and atmosphere through incredibly lush instrumentals. “David” is more synth-heavy than most of the record and turns into almost an Enigma-esque track that closes with a guitar break that sounds like birds soaring into the sky, “The Video Dept.” morphs from its post-punk influences into a Smiths-like 80s alternative jangle, and the skittering pace and production choices on “This Time Around” recall Faith-era Cure. The results are mindblowingly good. The Radio Dept. utilizes many of the conventions of dream pop and shoegaze to create not just an unbelievably enjoyable album, but one of 2010’s very best as well.

Standout Tracks: “You Stopped Making Sense;” “A Token Of Gratitude;” “Heaven’s On Fire;” “David”

Dirty Rating: 94/100