Don’t confuse Avalanche with a landslide. Sure both involve large amounts of ‘mass’ moving quickly from a high place to a low place but avalanches involve ice, landslides involve land (duh) and British India’s third album has nothing in common with either. Compared to Thieves (released in 2008), it has a lower production quality but it seems as though that’s the only way the band has evolved musically and that doesn’t sweep one off one’s feet.
With most of the album’s songs falling under the four minute mark, the punk spirit is there but there’s more indie pop spirit in the sounds. ‘Beneath the Satellite’ is a pretty catchy pop song – just like ‘I Said I’m Sorry’ (released on Thieves) was, but it seems their only claim to the garage/punk genre on this album is Declan Melia’s somewhat strained and kind of slurred vocals and Matt O’Gorman’s thumping drumming on tracks like ‘Because of You’, ’90 Ways to Leave Your Lover’ or ‘Messiah’. Title track, ‘Avalanche’, sounds more like an earthquake (“the walls are coming down”) while ‘Friends’, ‘Vanilla’ and ‘Anti Gravity’ all scream indie pop! Pop! POP!
British India have done a fine job of making listenable songs on this, their third album, but where Kisschasy have a political edge, British India have a romantic one. Or where Birds of Tokyo have a lyrically poetic edge, they have a transparent one. I really wanted to like the sounds in this album but I just wasn’t convinced by them. Avalanche – or just an earth tremor?
