Bright Idea - Orson

I first discovered Orson totally by mistake, having got the kick off time of a football match wrong and turning over to BBC1 in the middle of a showing of "Davina" instead. I settled down to ignore it for half an hour and wait for the football until she introduced her musical guests and I was hooked by Orson's "No Tomorrow". The following day, I set about finding a copy of any album they may have released; only to discover there ...
...verge of making the most delayed impulse purchase ever when my flatmate came home with the CD, having made a similar purchase to help a long car journey from the South West to home. I was not reassured when, on asking to borrow the album, I was told I could keep it. Admittedly, the start of her journey had been quite a long way from home, but for an album to turn someone against it so fast is not an encouraging sign, especially when her purchase ... more

I first discovered Orson totally by mistake, having got the kick off time of a football match wrong and turning over to BBC1 in the middle of a showing of "Davina" instead. I settled down to ignore it for half an hour and wait for the football until she introduced her musical guests and I was hooked by Orson's "No Tomorrow". The following day, I set about finding a copy of any album they may have released; only to discover there wasn't one.

I was just on the verge of making the most delayed impulse purchase ever when my flatmate came home with the CD, having made a similar purchase to help a long car journey from the South West to home. I was not reassured when, on asking to borrow the album, I was told I could keep it. Admittedly, the start of her journey had been quite a long way from home, but for an album to turn someone against it so fast is not an encouraging sign, especially when her purchase had been influenced by a love of "No Tomorrow", as mine would have been.

That said, my tastes are a lot more forgiving of pop music than hers are, so I figured I'd like it more than she did.

The album opens with second single and title track, "Bright Idea". It's a mid-tempo track, which sounds a bit like The Thrills, as it's largely a heavy pop song with a slight blues and country edge to it. It's not bad, but it's not an opener that really encourages you to keep listening, as it doesn't go anywhere special. It does liven up a bit towards the end and there are a few quite clever lyrics, but this isn't enough to elevate the song above the mundane.

Next up, however, is the debut single and chart topping "No Tomorrow". This is a perfect song for the summer, being a heavy pop number with a driving beat to it and a great bouncy feel over the chorus. It's really little more than a pop song with guitars, but it's so catchy, you can barely stop your feet tapping and I've had the chorus stuck in my head for days at a time. It does tail off a bit towards the end, though, which is a dreadful shame as I could have the first 2 minutes of this track on a constant loop and it would take ages for me to get bored.

The opening to "Happiness" sounds even more like a summer pop song, as it's got quite a relaxed vibe to it. When the guitars kick in, though, it sounds a bit like a stadium rock song, with a very Def Leppard sounding riff. The verses wouldn't be too out of place in a Matchbox Twenty track, although the chorus doesn't fit in quite as well and is more suited to a Maroon 5 song. It's a fairly solid mid-tempo heavy pop track, but not really anything terribly special.

The following track is much the same, being a mid tempo heavy pop track. "Already Over", however, has slightly more of an indie feel than a stadium rock one, which would make Orson indie-pop's first boy band, if Embrace hadn't just beaten them to it. Much of this track reminds me of OK Go, which isn't a completely bad thing, but hardly a great recommendation.

Part of me was hoping that "Downtown" would be a heavy pop cover of the Dusty Springfield song. Instead it's another indie influenced pop track, with a synthesised lead riff which takes you back to the 1980s. Mostly, though, it's another mostly unimpressive mid-tempo heavy pop track with Maroon 5 leanings, although there is a part where it livens up towards the end and the OK Go influence returns, but this doesn't really last long enough.

There's quite a Feeder sounding intro to "Tryin' To Help", although the song quickly becomes something a little more synth-pop influenced than that. However, this is certainly one of the more indie-rock influenced tracks on the album and it's not too bad, especially if you're into bands like Feeder or Ash. It's not as good as "No Tomorrow", but it's different enough to most of the tracks on the album so far to stand out a little.

The riff to "So Ahead of Me" could have been taken straight from OK Go. It's a mid tempo indie pop that seems to fall somewhere between OK Go and the Strokes, with the emphasis a little more towards the former. It's a little heavier than most of the tracks before, possibly reflecting the more rock influence of the previous track, but it does sound a little washed out following directly on from that.

Given the sound of the previous track, I worried that "Last Night" might be a Strokes cover, but it's an original tune, with a synth-pop feel over the back and an indie guitar riff in the foreground. Sadly, the two don't work together terribly well and I kept wishing the song would settle for being one or the other, as what we get is another somewhat lacklustre mid-tempo pop tune with indie pretensions that doesn't really go anywhere interesting, much like most of the album.

These days, even on an album like this, it is unusual not to get at least one ballad and "Look Around" is Orson's attempt. It's unusual for their sound in that it has a piano lead. As it goes on, however, you realise there's nothing really that interesting happening and this track could sit quite happily alongside Daniel Powter's "Bad Day" without too many people realising they were by two different artists, except that Orson's chorus is a little louder, back into the new Embrace territory of indie-pop boy band. Unfortunately, this is the longest track on the album by some way, so it does seem to drag a bit by the end.

"Save the World" starts with something straight from the Beach Boys, which doesn't give any hint of what is to come. It's a hugely jaunty indie pop tune, again taken straight from OK Go or the Thrills. This track, however, really comes to life if you listen to the lyrics, as it's about a guy complaining about life with a superhero for a girlfriend, vaguely reminiscent of the Spin Doctors' "Jimmy Olsen Blues", although from a different perspective. This is easily up there with "No Tomorrow" as the best track on the album, although there is sadly very little competition.

The opening to "The Okay Song" could have come from Def Leppard's "Euphoria" or "X" albums, but the general sound is more of an indie one, with OK Go again a strong influence. Although this is a little more interesting than some of the album, it's not really a stand out track and the song title pretty much sums it up. It's an OK song, with nothing wrong with it, but lacking anything particularly special.

Sadly, that could be said of the whole album, with a couple of notable exceptions. Apart from the absolute brilliance of "No Tomorrow" and the amusement value in the lyrics to "Save the World", there is very little here to elevate this album above the mundane. If you're a fan of the new breed of indie-pop in general and OK Go or the like in particular, you may find you enjoy this album, but if you're a fan of "No Tomorrow", you'd be much better advised to obtain a copy of that song or the single from somewhere and forget the rest of the album, as it will be a let down.

Even for those who may be willing to take a chance, as a new album, the prices are still very high and not worth the purchase, with all of Play.com, CD Wow and Amazon offering the album at between £8.75 and £8.99 and with similar or higher prices being available in offline record stores. Copies are starting to appear on eBay from 99p, which is worth paying, as you can get two really decent songs for that money, in amongst 43 minutes of inoffensive indie pop music, and it's cheaper than buying the single. As an album purchase, however, this cannot be readily recommended, no matter how much you like the singles. 

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