Does music have to be original to be truly great? When do your musical influences stop becoming inspiration and start becoming redundant? There’s something immediately recognizable when listening to The Postelles’ self-titled debut and it’s because they are recycling old ideas and calling it their own. But heck, are those hooks ever catchy.
Taking the best of the early millennium’s Strokes, Hives and Libertines (who in turn took the best from the 1970’s Television and The Velvet Underground), The Postelles is a quick burst of rabid — though familiar — energy. Chugging guitars, chants and sing-alongs, simple lyrics and a steady driving rhythm. By now, it’s a photocopy of a formula. Yet, all things considered, it doesn’t stop every song from sounding like a hit single.
Opener “White Night” is impossibly danceable and the lyrics for “Stella” are just plain charming. The plus (or problem) with albums like these is that it sounds like a Greatest Hits compilation from the get-go. Everything is fast-paced, but there’s no real album flow. And bands like these tend to burn out quickly, after only two or three albums. There’s really only so far you can go with this type of music. It has a short lifespan, so enjoy it while it lasts.
..Richard Lam