The Dykeenies – ‘New Ideas’ (Lavolta) Released 09/04/07

Great singles always grab you within the first few seconds and won’t let go until the last chord fades. The Dykeenies have mastered the first part of that sentence, but not quite the second. Beginning with a catchy, hand-claps-a-go-go intro is a great way to grab everybody’s attention. Following it up with some out-of-place balladeering is a great way to lose it. This is a trend that continues for the duration of the song; we get some frankly brilliant rock ‘n’ roll blended with some inexplicable, faux-emotional ‘reflective’ portions. This isn’t a massive problem per se, but the song is only three minutes long, so it often feels like they’re trying to cram too much in at once. When you have a superb chorus and an exhilarating middle-eight such as this, there’s nothing wrong with making a simple, pop-rock stormer without any extra trimmings. “I’ve got so many new ideas” the chorus goes. No arguments here. Leave some of them out next time, eh?