Review: Placebo’s Meds
Well, this has been sitting in my head for awhile. While I was in Rome, I had the pleasure of being reconnected with one of my absolute favourite bands from high school, Placebo. They were extraordinarily popular on MuchMusic (in its purely Canadian form, before it became Fuse, spun off the network and went back to its roots.) With painfully androgynous lead singer, Brian Molko, brooding style and necrophilic aesthetic Placebo is a dirty treat. Their newest album, Meds is as avant garde as I remember their sound being all the way back in 9th grade…and I love it.
Opening with the title track, we are quickly seared and shaken right into “Infrared,” my second favourite song on the disc. It’s edgy and rockin’…but not in a cliched kinda way. Nothing too complex, just enjoyable and tinged with a bit of anger. The best song, though is certainly “Follow the Cops Back Home.” It has a depth and beauty that I wasn’t expecting on my first listen…and is positioned as a respite in between the fire of the opening songs and the rest of the tracklist. All in all, a great, great album, I’d say. One you should check out.
The breakdown:
- Sounds like: Orgy, The Cure, Bright Eyes’ Digital Ash in a Digital Urn
- Favourite track: “Follow the Cops Back Home”
- Worst track: “Space Monkey”
- Overrated: Not really played here in the States yet, so this hasn’t happened
- Best surprise: “One of a Kind”
