The Politics

These Bridges Will Not Stand

The debut album from local trio the Politics bridges post-rock and dance punk, and, if there’s a music god, this rehashed conflagration will be taken out with an RPG. It’s possible that brothers Patrick (vocals, guitar) and Steven (drums) Gonzalez and bassist Andrew Campbell were going for the best of all worlds with the jittery hi-hat of opener “Thief” commingling with the Rapturous bassline of “We Burn All Night,” or maybe they just wanted to make people dance. Yet the jam of “About a Liar” and ridiculous lyricism of “Make Time for the Radio” (“shuffle, shuffle, shuffle all your papers”) point at the Politics being more likely to clear a room than fill a bar. Obvious rhymes trump any sort of thoughtful songwriting or meaningful melody. And you thought She Wants Revenge did Interpol wrong.

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This article appears in February 15 • 2008.

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