Bombay Bicycle Club
So Long, See You Tomorrow
Reviewed by: Stephen Krock
As one of the UK’s most ambitious bands, Bombay Bicycle Club breaks out of the indie rock shell in their fourth album in five years. Frontman Jack Steadman penned So Long, See You Tomorrow while traveling through India, Turkey, Europe, and Tokyo, and he takes the listener on the same aural journey. Cultural influences and samples abound. Much of So Long… resembles experimental electronic, with airy, dreamlike loops backed by exciting and dynamic beats.
The album opens with the adrenaline fueling “Overdone.” The song’s opening sequence is one of the best few minutes I’ve heard in a long while. Wrought with strings that soar over a melange of alt rock, techno blips, and Bollywood beats. Indeed, several Bollywood films are sampled throughout. It is a mood that carries through the length of the album, straying here and there for straight up techno, as in “Carry Me” and settling down for the final, titular track, which is a refreshing cool down from a frantic, frenetic story.
So Long… is an impressive and fun leap for BBC. It is wild and different from its predecessors, but the tracks are not as wild and different from each other. A small gripe that keeps So Long… from perfection.
Rating: Bad-Ass
