Album Details

• Artist: Computer Club
• Single:
Snobs
• Label: Split Records
• Year of Release: 2007
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: mschmitt on 2007-06-14

Computer Club is one of those bands that pulls so well from their influences, you’ll swear you’ve heard them before. A tight foursome from Birmingham, Snobs is Computer Club's debut 7” on Split Records. Up until now, Computer Club have enjoyed a rabid following of fans, gorging themselves on the band’s vibrant live shows which have rocked audiences from London to Japan. Snobs features the name-sake track “Snobs” and the b-side “Back In Your Arms.” Both are horribly catchy, employing the grooviest indie-pop skills seen this side of The Shins. Their English accents bring up comparisons to Boy Kill Boy, The Arctic Monkeys, The Sunshine Underground or The Pigeon Detectives, but their music could relate better to Dirty On Purpose or The Arcade Fire. “Snobs” is a jumpy, quirky track, employing the guitars in a more percussion role than anything else to create a bouncy dance-floor melody. The dance-floor is used as the lyrical setting for “Snobs” as well, retelling dramas and sexual exploits, just as The Arctic Monkeys are known to do. Paul Hampton’s vocals sound too much like Boy Kill Boy’s Chris Peck at the opening of “Back In Your Arms,” but thankfully pulls them back to his own rousing style. The guitars break out of their percussion roll to show off the fast fingers of Hampton and Jonathan Baker in instrumentals that sound like The Arcade Fire in their rawer moments. Computer Club draws from the best of the indie-pop and post-punk of the day to assemble a pair of songs you won’t be able to remove from your head. “Snobs” and “Back In Your Arms” will plague you as you try to determine where you’ve heard these tracks before. A brilliant if not frustrating debut from Birmingham’s Computer Club, they are now recording their debut LP.

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