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The Enemy - 'Had Enough'

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Fraser McAlpine | 10:15 UK time, Wednesday, 20 June 2007

The EnemyOFFICIAL CHARTBLOG NOTICE: People, as we all know, are fallable. We all make mistakes and we're all entitled to second, third and fifth chances. So, having commissioned a review of this song from the very wonderful Hazel R, and received and published it, only to discover it was actually a review of the band's previous single 'Away From Here', well, the only appropriate response is to say "tsk! Oh well, never mind..."

Just so that we're clear as to what is what. Here is the review Hazel wrote about 'Away From Here':

Gentle readers, I have spent the best part of the last week staring at a blank computer screen, a blank notepad and eventually, some elaborate doodles. As the days increased, I felt an increasing sense of futility and self-doubt; could I, in fact, think of anything interesting to say about this song? Could I think of anything at all to say about this song? Could I remember a thing about this song, even while I was actually listening to it?

The answer is no. No, I cannot think of anything to say about this song. There is nothing, nothing at all to say about it! I cannot even think of a way in which to make fun of their frankly appallingly hubristic name without it either being so appallingly hubristic on my part or simply intolerably boring that I would have to chew off my own face upon creating it. I don't even know how they created this song; it's sort of a rip off of 'Going Underground' by The Jam, via The Kooks and daytime radio and technically the lyrics are about being very annoyed about life but it could just as well be saying 'lalalala what a lovely day at the seaside' for all the aggression and frustration it conveys. How do you make music like this? How, especially, do you get signed to a record label with music like this?

I can only assume that someone somewhere important has heard about this new "indie" business that's very popular with them young folks and then heard the band's song 'Had Enough,' which does at least have the grace to have quite a good chorus and a great bit that goes 'hey, hey, what's the matter with your fa-ace?' and thought 'ah, now I am down with the kids.' No you are not, you are middle aged, whether prematurely, latently or otherwise and you are scared of music.

Six things that rock very considerably harder than this song which I've thought of in the last sixty seconds:
1. Aly and AJ
2. The Sounds
3. Senor Coconut
4. Boards Of Canada
5. My left foot with pins and needles
6. Static when you haven't turned your speakers off but nothing's playing

[NB: the bands mentioned above are in fact purveyors of quality music, whereas my left foot is not, pins and needles or otherwise and the speaker static probably does not even count as ambient jazz, if we're honest, despite their hard rocking nature]

This is the musical equivalent of a truly beautiful curry which you have created, enjoyed, loved for about a week. Y'know, when you make about ten times too much for yourself and eat it reheated in sandwiches for days and blissful days and then one day, you look in there and it is not a curry anymore, it is something rancid and terrible that were you to eat it would probably make you very ill. There is nothing wrong with the Jam and there is nothing wrong with indie per se but if you listen to this song too much, it will make you into a very boring person who rants about how kids these days have no idea how good they have it.

I'm sure there's sincerity in it somewhere but bands could do a lot better than sound so muted, so generic and so blimmin awful. It is OK to be loud! It is OK to be quiet! It is alright to be medium volume and mid tempo but for God's sake write your own tune rather than sounding like you haven't quite got the hang of someone else's! It is OK to actually have a tune, come to that. It is not OK to assume you have a get-out-of-song-free card simply by making some relatively unexciting semi-socio-political statements like "I'm fed up of early mornings" or expressing a wish to sit around watching popular daytime tv shows - this is hardly 'Chronicles Of A Bohemian Teenager,' or 'Lost In The Supermarket,' is it?

Pull yourself together, Britain - this will chart and probably highly, because it has guitars and gets press in NME but it shouldn't. There are brilliant bands and music you can actually remember that go totally unnoticed, it goes without saying and any purchase of this song is a purchase against music.

Well there you go, I did have things to say about it after all.

One starDownload: Out now
CD Released:
June 25th

And here is the review you should have been reading, the one for 'Had Enough'...

Gentle readers, I have spent the best part of the last week staring at a blank computer screen, a blank notepad and eventually, some elaborate doodles. As the days increased, I felt an increasing sense of futility and self-doubt; could I, in fact, think of anything interesting to say about this song? Could I think of anything at all to say about this song? Could I remember a thing about this song, even while I was actually listening to it?

The answer is no. No, I cannot think of anything to say about this song. There is nothing, nothing at all to say about it! I cannot even think of a way in which to make fun of their frankly appallingly hubristic name without it either being so appallingly hubristic on my part or simply intolerably boring that I would have to chew off my own face upon creating it. I don't even know how they created this song. How do you make music like this? How, especially, do you get signed to a record label with music like this?

I can only assume that someone somewhere important has heard about this new "indie" business that's very popular with them young folks and then heard 'Had Enough,' which does at least have the grace to have quite a good chorus and a great bit that goes 'hey, hey, what's the matter with your fa-ace?' and thought 'ah, now I am down with the kids.' No you are not, you are middle aged, whether prematurely, latently or otherwise and you are scared of music.

Six things that rock very considerably harder than this song which I've thought of in the last sixty seconds:
1. Aly and AJ
2. The Sounds
3. Senor Coconut
4. Boards Of Canada
5. My left foot with pins and needles
6. Static when you haven't turned your speakers off but nothing's playing

[NB: the bands mentioned above are in fact purveyors of quality music, whereas my left foot is not, pins and needles or otherwise and the speaker static probably does not even count as ambient jazz, if we're honest, despite their hard rocking nature]

This is the musical equivalent of a truly beautiful curry which you have created, enjoyed, loved for about a week. Y'know, when you make about ten times too much for yourself and eat it reheated in sandwiches for days and blissful days and then one day, you look in there and it is not a curry anymore, it is something rancid and terrible that were you to eat it would probably make you very ill. There is nothing wrong with the Jam and there is nothing wrong with indie per se but if you listen to this song too much, it will make you into a very boring person who rants about how kids these days have no idea how good they have it.

I'm sure there's sincerity in it somewhere but bands could do a lot better than sound so muted, so generic and so blimmin awful. It is OK to be loud! It is OK to be quiet! It is alright to be medium volume and mid tempo but for God's sake write your own tune rather than sounding like you haven't quite got the hang of someone else's! It is OK to actually have a tune, come to that.

Pull yourself together, Britain - this will chart and probably highly, because it has guitars and gets press in NME but it shouldn't. There are brilliant bands and music you can actually remember that go totally unnoticed, it goes without saying and any purchase of this song is a purchase against music.

Well there you go, I did have things to say about it after all.

One starDownload: Out now
CD Released:
June 25th

So there we have it. Hopefully this clears everything up. Apologies for the confusion.

Comments

  1. At 09:54 AM on 20 Jun 2007, Hazel R wrote:

    Terribly sorry about this folks but Fraser's away so I don't think I can do anything about it- the song that's actually being reviewed here is 'Away From Here' by The Enemy, rather than 'Had Enough.'

    This is entirely my fault- 'Away From Here' was actually released in April apparently and so, err, just imagine this is a review of 'Had Enough,' mmmkay? I do mention it somewhere in it and to be fair the review does actually work anyway since all their songs sound exactly the same.

    Sorry, this really was a complete mess up by me.

  2. At 10:04 AM on 20 Jun 2007, Jenni wrote:

    How harsh! It's actually a catchy song and sounds nothing like the kooks, also how old are you because I'm 16 and I still think it appeals to a younger audience without sounding 'scared of music.' Personally, I don't think this song is as good as away from here but it's not bad and I believe the enemy are talented.

  3. At 10:31 AM on 20 Jun 2007, Hazel R wrote:

    I'm twenty. I think it's an incredibly derivative sound; they could as well be doing cover versions for anything new being in there and it's not even good cover versions. They just sound like a band in a pub and the self-important lyrics just further exacerbate things by making them seem arrogant.

    It could be a fun song, under different circumstances but as it is it's taking itself far too deadly seriously to be tolerable.

    Essentially, it's music for people who don't think any good music has been made since 1985 and these people are WRONG.

  4. At 05:18 PM on 20 Jun 2007, Lisa K wrote:

    Oh come on Fraser. This is catchy and sort of mad... you know? But I do prefer 'Away From Here'!

  5. At 01:06 AM on 21 Jun 2007, Kat wrote:

    worse mistakes have been made.. nice save though!

  6. At 10:39 PM on 23 Jun 2007, Tom wrote:

    I would love to see Hazel's attempt at writing a song, she seems to be such an expert.

    Perhaps you're in the wrong game Hazel, there's a lot more rewards in writing top ten records than there are in writing inaccurate, off the mark reviews.

    Shame, some-one with all the tools to put a point across....if only she had one.

    [So you're effectively saying that people who can't write songs shouldn't have an opinion on music? Wow, how elitist. You've just dismissed most of the population. All Hazel did was venture an opinion. That's the 'point' of any review. - Fraser]

  7. At 10:30 PM on 24 Jun 2007, Hazel R wrote:

    Tom- I have written songs, actually. I was fourteen and they were blimmin awful. On the other hand, I don't write about music because I hate it, I am a big fan of anything from envelope-nuzzling deep electronic fuzz aggression to dodgy old three chord punk bands. On the other hand, I can't stand the way anyone with a guitar automatically assumes they have a god-given right to be in the chart and there's no reason for derivative MOR rubbish to be glazed in a light coating of teenage sulking and passed off as innovation.

    Having a decent comprehension of the plagiary laws, I would rather not get into the top ten as one of The Enemy because I imagine Paul Weller's lawyer is a lot harder than anything I could afford with the album advance. :P

  8. At 11:25 AM on 27 Jun 2007, MARTIN wrote:

    MUSIC IS ALL ALL ABOUT DIFFERENT TASTES, NOT EVERY SONG APPEALS TO EVERYONE!!
    BUT AS I WAS ALWAYS TOLD IF YOU CAN'T SAY ANYTHING NICE DON'T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL.
    PERSONALLY I THINK THE ENEMY ARE A SUPERB BAND AND FANTASTIC LIVE IF ANYONE GETS A CHANCE TO SEE THEM GO FOR IT AND MAKE YOUR OWN MIND UP!!!

    [GLAD TO HEAR IT! WHY ARE WE SHOUTING? - FRASER]

  9. At 08:59 PM on 27 Jun 2007, Johnno wrote:

    I'm over 40, enjoy all sorts of music from early Delta Blues to Punk, and Folk to Indie. I saw the Kooks at V a few years ago when they were in their infancy and thought they were dreadful. I also heard Corinne Bailey Rae a few years ago and thought that one day she would be a big star. I loved the songs of Juliette and currently am a big fan of Keith John Adams and Eddie Martin. I'm not sure if I like good music or bad music but I know what I like....
    AND I LOVE THE ENEMY!!
    Had Enough might not be as strong a song as 40 Days and 40 Nights or It's Not OK,but all their music has b**s and lots of it. A new Oasis? I'm not sure about that, but I love 'em!

  10. At 06:53 PM on 01 Jul 2007, random wrote:

    ALL I'M SAYING IS NAHHHHHHHHHH

    look at the chart position

    [You're right, it ISN'T as good a song as 'Umbrella', 'Foundations' or that Enrique one, is it? - Fraser]

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