I have not enthusiastically listened to anything by Lower Than Atlantis that came out after World Record. Even that I found a bit of a half-arsed grab at radio-rock glory, ‘Bug’ aside. There is always the danger that if a band releases an incredible debut (see Far Q for just why LTA are really a superb band), nothing that comes after will live up to it. However, since my last three reviews read like the bitter memoirs of a dude who thinks he could do it all better but almost certainly couldn’t, I thought I’d change the record (ha ha…).
First impressions: the intro riff is actually pretty cool. I mean, it’s never going to be- sigh… In all seriousness, this is definitely one of the better tracks that LTA have created for a while. It is still a lot more radio-friendly, but it has some of the quirky guitar-work that is the band’s trademark, second only to Mike Duce’s distinctive voice and lyrics: “These shelves won’t stack themselves for £5 an hour”. The only thing that seems missing is drummer Eddy Thrower’s unique style, which leant itself incredibly to their previous-and-now-noticeably-absent love of jaunty rhythms and kind of weird time signatures. But then again, what can you expect, it is a promotional single after all. And, as is the very nature of such things, ‘Go On Strike’ is hella catchy. I’d love to hate it, but I admit defeat.
7/10
