Placebo have, to my mind, always been a fair-to-middling act with too much of an infatuation with glam lords Bowie and Bolan to be taken seriously. Sure, they did have some moments of sparkling delight, such as Nancy Boy (the nearest thing Placebo have written to an anthem) and the delectably dirty Pure Morning, but for the most part their career has edged more toward the anodyne than the interesting.
So now they find themselves in the winter of their career, and in Because I Want You they release, oddly enough, their most interesting song in a while. Opening with a low, rumbling bass, the song is extremely reminiscent of late Joy Division/early New Order, a style that informs a lot of the crop of new wave-influenced bands that have emerged of late. The cold, dispassionate guitars evoke Joy Division and Magazine, while the addition of a klaxon midway through the song adds to its eerie appeal.
However interesting all this may be, the song is damaged by a poor vocal from Brian Molko. It is curious that the worst thing about a band is its vocalist, but I'll be darned if I can think of a more annoying singer than Molko; strip the song of the vocals and you have a rather interesting (if derivative) prospect. As it stands, this is okay. But okay isn't enough for a band whose best days are firmly behind them.
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