Rating: NN
These London goth rockers took a harsh and mostly deserved critical beating for their 2009 debut, To Lose My Life. Serving up a silencing sophomore album to their detractors would make a nice plot line, but it’s not in the cards.
Essentially, what it comes down to is whether you’re buying what lead singer/guitarist Harry McVeigh is selling. As he did on To Lose, he employs an affected vocal monotone to add gloom to the three-piece’s glossy brand of stadium-ready rock. Producer Alan Moulder (Depeche Mode, Interpol) helps them cautiously move into industrial territory, as on Turn The Bells.
But if McVeigh’s methods irked you before, they only get worse on Ritual.
Top track: The Power & The Glory
White Lies roll into Mod Club January 29.
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