For all its astronomical cover art, moody-looking band photos, referencing of Factory Records and UK New Wave artists, not to mention the track and album titles, La Resistance's 'Philosophy' is anything but stellar, and certainly doesn't match up with the bands they cite as influences.
There are some reasonable ideas and the sounds aren't altogether unpleasant, as demonstrated in the Beatles-inspired harmonies on opener 'Shells' and the anthemic leanings of the string-laden Spiritualized-influenced 'Starchild', but overall, there's just nothing worth making a fuss about here. 'Forsaken' may well boast a bassline nabbed from a Cure B-side from any time in the last 20 years and 'Infinity' might rewrite New Order's 'In A Lonely Place', but 'Loathing' is far too bouncy to be affecting, and most of the emotional strife and real-life difficulties that supposedly informed main man Greg Summerlin's writing of the album just isn't rendered apparent across the eleven tracks here.
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More Jesus Jones than The Jesus and Mary Chain, 'Philosophy' resurrects the moribund corpse of dance-infused early 90s indie. In this instance, it's probably better if the dead remain buried.
La Resistance Online
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