Two Door Cinema Club’s second album, Beacon, was far from the difficult second record. While their 2010 debut, Tourist History, charted promisingly at #24, the lack of a direct radio hit ensured that the Country Down trio stayed something of a niche hit. However, when they returned two years later, their sound had taken on a poppier edge and they immediately exploded into the album charts, peaking at #2. Fast forward 4 years and the band return with their third studio album, Gameshow, which in the aftermath of a mammoth release has expectations to meet. With the band now stadium fillers, can they deliver a record that warrants their continued rise?
Having taken time away from the trio, the band return with a renewed vigour and if their addictive sound is anything to go by, a real zest for life. While the album is an addictive, up-tempo sonic experience, lyrically the boys remain unafraid to challenge society within their lyrics. Having already proved a hit on Radio 1 with their album’s opening track and lead single, Are We Ready? (Wreck), the band are determined to move their listeners’ minds as much as their bodies. As they question consumer culture, they hit you with a hook that will have those hips moving in no time.
While their sound is consistent throughout the record, what is most engaging is that they are not, nor have they ever been, an act that delivers the same song twice. With so many of their contemporaries dropping the same album in a different form time and again, Two Door Cinema Club always shake up the game. From the Scissor Sisters drive of Bed Decisions to the Bowie-esque Fever and McCartney feel of Lavender, the diversity of their influences and their ingenuity and songsmiths shines throughout the entirety of Gameshow.
Although the band return with a bite in their sound, there are subtle hints as to why the extended break was needed. With Bad Decision questioning the morality of social media, it is the striking Gameshow that questions their desire to be in the public eye. It seems that despite their growing success, Two Door Cinema Club hanker for the early years when their music was all that needed to do the talking.
That being said, the trio have returned with an album that is bound to see them reach even headier heights than their first two releases. So whether they enjoy the fame game or not, Gameshow will win them an extended stay. Most bands have a short shelf life, Two Door Cinema are destined for an extended stay.