Preview of An End Has a Start

Jen and I have both been very antsy about the next Editors album, An End Has a Start. It has to do with the fact that the second albums of Franz Ferdinand, Maximo Park, Bloc Party, The Killers, The Bravery and even the Kaiser Chiefs have all been lackluster at best. The Kaisers less so than the other bands, but still.

We had a good sense of two songs, "Bones" and "Weight of the World," because the band had been playing them live as far back as the first show we saw them early last year. Both are great songs, and they gave us hope.

Jen did some searching on The Hype Machine and Elbo.ws tonight and found the first six songs off the album. Quite a feat considering the album isn't even out in Britain yet. We already had live bootlegs of "Bones" and "Weight of the World," so it's nice to hear the studio versions.

It's hard for them to live up to The Back Room, which was fantastic. But, and this is important, An End Has a Start is not a let-down. The first single, "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors," is pretty awesome, with a simple but terrific bass line. Jen thinks it goes a bit at the end, which is fair enough.

"An End Has a Start" is a a straightforward rock song, and bit of throwback to the first album. Jen likes this one a lot. "When Anger Shows" and "The Racing Rats" are not standouts on first listen, but I have a feeling they will wear well.

I'm hoping the other four songs on the album are as good or better. Even so, what we've heard so far has pleased us mightily. Sadly, we have to wait until later in the year before their tour hits the States.