A new sound for new fans
For a band that’s long reveled in
shadows of cheap hotel rooms reeking of stale cigarette smoke,
releasing an album 13 years after its debut may actually yield good
luck. After finding success stateside with 2006’s Meds and losing
drummer Steve Hewitt to mysterious circumstances, Placebo debuts a
new sound on Battle, with a punchier, heavier and more stable assault
than ever. The threesome, along with Tool-producer Dave Bottrill,
deliver a brightly focused, 13-track collection that hard-core fans
will pan and newbies will adore. The shouted vocals of “Ashtray
Heart” and even the constant unabashed glam-power-pop strewn
throughout signal a new day for the band, and by the time you hear
the triumphant brass of closer “Kings of Medicine,” you may feel
a bit guilty for instinctively using the record as a rainy-day mood
setter.