Doves - The Last Broadcast (2002)

The Follow Up to the Critically Acclaimed 'lost Souls' Dispels Any Prior Notion that this Band Are Melancholy. Their Collective Confidence and Cohesion as Well as Strong Positive Attitude Come Through Each Note of this Album as You'll Hear the Moment the Laser Hits the Disc. This is an Auspicious Occasion Where the Band Prove to the World that They Indeed Belong in that Class of Groups with Radiohead, U2, Oasis and all the Rest...where Everything They Do Justifies Attention and the Praise Heaped on them from the Beginning. The First Album was Born Out of Frustration and Countless Setbacks. This Time, It's Solid and as Nme Says, 'something Fresh and New. It's a Euphoric Experience...and One that Finally Reveals What a Great Band the Doves Are.'

The Last Broadcast sees Doves frontman Jimi Goodwin and multi-instrumentalist brothers Andy and Jez Williams soaring to new if perhaps grandiose heights. The thundering opening beat and spiraling guitars of "Words" are reminiscent of Ride at their bombastic peak, and "There Goes the Fear" has relentlessly reverberating Latin rhythms, New Order-influenced guitars, and sweeping vocals that are nothing less than breathtaking. Quiet reprieve comes with "M62," a delicate haunting reworking of King Crimson's "Moonchild," bizarrely recorded under the M62 flyover in Manchester, and its desolate atmospherics are juxtaposed against the remainder of the album. With the thrusting onslaught of "Pounding," the obligatory earthy rock of "N.Y.," and the joyous pastoral acoustic-led splendor of "Caught by the River," the Doves have crafted a liberating sophomore album that happily combines the uplifting anthemic essence of dance with good old rock & roll. --Christopher Barret