Life is like a box of grenades – you never know which one’s going to explode. There’s so much to be angry about, isn’t there? Anger tends to render us semi-incoherent, though sometimes a scream will suffice. Or a Hello Cosmos album. Come Out Tonight is the second studio offering from the Manchester-based ‘intergalactic post-punk collective’.
On album opener ‘Joy Is The Way’ frontman Ben Robinson repeats ‘Hello’ like Biff in Back To The Future. “Disco is dead / Punk lost its thread / Rave needs to be saved / Rock is rolling in its grave”. Stick that in your music review and quote it! Robinson rants like Mark E Smith, and the riff and kick drum combo in the second half of the track isn’t a million miles away from Pulp’s ‘Do You Remember The First Time?’ ‘Joy Is The Way’ is a manifesto for living and will make you feel at least 5% more alive.
On lead single ‘Grind Into The Shrine’ Robinson combines the sarky commentary of The Streets’ Mike Skinner and the aggravated pontificating of Dead Pioneers’ Gregg Deal. Over a motorik beat and filthy bass we’re told that “Fool’s gold, Milky Bars / Yeah, we’re all made of stars.” Squalling mouth organ and fuzzed-up bass on ‘Spin The Wheel’ are accompanied by comparatively clear sentiments such as “We’re all hungry for change.” ‘Turn Off The News’ crackles and seethes at the start like the background sound to a segment in an Adam Curtis documentary. “Don’t let billionaires convince you you’re poor because of those who live next door…The dark agendas / The erosion of rights”. Robinson periodically howls at the injustice of it all.
‘Echo A2Z’ staggers on like a wounded soldier – a Gang of Four jam that got out of hand. On ‘Gig Buddies’ Robinson rants about the “cocaine castration of my social skills” over guitar that’s choppier than shark-infested waters. Similarly, ‘FUK ZUK’ is a series of ‘atonal alt-rock diatribes railing against the digital and political establishment.’ “Tech companies are terrorists” we are told over a Kasabian-like piledriver groove. It all sounds like a late 90s football advert, except that Cantona and the original Ronaldo have been replaced by Zuckerberg’s massive, pixelated face mouthing the words “eat your soul”.
On ‘Hot Seat’ Robinson implores us to “embrace the absence of things,” though the band disregard his advice by chucking out frantic drum fills, earthquake bass, and electronic squeals. ‘Awake and Bake’ is a Doves-like panoramic piece that allows us a bit of a breather. On the Stranger Things-referencing ‘Black Gloss’ (“I’m in the Upside Down”), Robinson continues to proudly embrace the absence of things – “I don’t care about what I lost.” The epic album closer ‘Old Friends Know’ begins with Shawshank Redemption-like piano and trembling strings, and the track gradually opens out like rosebuds in the sun, culminating in an arms-in-the air, bellowing-to-the-gods finale that will make Elbow jealous.
Come Out Tonight is, in the band’s words, “about finding the strength to switch off digital screens and go out and live.” If you’re reading this review on your phone, you’re momentarily exempt from judgement. However, you should put your phone down now and listen to Come Out Tonight. Stick it to Zuk. Say ‘so long’ to Elon. Anger is a gift.
Come Out Tonight is out now on Cosmic Glue
