“Turn Cold”
from the album You and I
2009
iTunes
Already festival-worthy in their New Zealand homeland (and neighboring Australia), this poppy four-piece recalls the best of ’80s Brit-rock, with some added punk zeal, a little emo-ish introspection and enough “oh ah oh” choruses to dominate your head for months. Outside of the somber, agnostic-leaning numbers “Someone Like Daniel” and “In the Name of Jesus Christ,” Cut Off Your Hands present love, pain, sorrow, and joy in the same way: frantically, on an epic scale and with biiiiig, shiny choruses. “Expectations” and “Turn Cold” mix the faster pulse and ringing guitar of Boy-era U2 with Morrissey-sized angst and a singer (Nick Johnston) not far removed from The Cure’s Robert Smith…so, yes, not terribly original, but it’s hard to argue when it’s all packed into one near-perfect pop punch. The album was produced by Bernard Butler, one-time Suede guitarist and current knob-twiddler du jour, thanks to his recent work with Duffy and Black Kids.