Editors

Considering the British boys in Editors spent a large part of their debut's promotion time hell-bent on convincing listeners that they're not merely a Xerox copy of Interpol, it's curious that they're releasing their sophomore effort, An End Has a Start, a week after the New York band's Our Love to Admire. But while Interpol is now focused on cool detachment and fleeting threesomes, Editors newest is the embodiment of earnestness.

Singer Tom Smith mopes his way through lyrics that wouldn't read out of place on a Hallmark card: "In the end all you can hope for is the love you felt to equal the pain you've gone through," the frontman emotes in "Bones," while "Push Your Head Towards the Air" sees Smith professing, "Now don't drown in your tears, babe, I will always be there."

As for the music, despite the band's insistence that Joy Division is not an influence, their sound still plays like a not-wholly-unique variety of gloomy post-punk. Ultimately, the Birmingham foursome might've been better served by taking more time to craft their second record—like any good editor would tell them, it's best to first find an original voice.

—Arye Dworken
07.16.07

To put it plainly, An End Has a Start doesn't have the electricity of Editors' first effort. And let's face it, The Back Room was a tough act to follow -- it was a damn near perfect debut, delivering a compelling set of cathartic, nocturnal neo-post-punk songs. The problem is not simply that there isn't a track on this release that comes close to the visceral, resonant power of "Bullets." The problem is that there isn't really a memorable moment here, period. And it's a big deal, because it makes Editors, for all their musical prowess, sound practically average. The lead single, "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors," charges out of the gate with pounding, purposeful drums and surging guitars only to stumble into a muddy, oddly forgettable hook, and "Bones," in spite of its needling momentum and affecting lyrics ("In the end, all you can hope for/Is the love you felt to equal the pain you've gone through...Your face in my hands is everything that I need"), somehow fails to come to a satisfying climax. Editors are reaching for something here, but one gets the sense that they never quite grasp what they're aiming for. The inspiration and exploratory spirit found on the first album are not here; most of the material, albeit well crafted, sounds pretty safe. It's consistently moody, licked throughout with tame fire, at times not entirely unlike (forgive the comparison) something Coldplay might put together in their edgier moments, especially in the case of "Push Your Head Towards the Air" and "Well Worn Hand." Make no mistake: this is a decent album; it bears a craftsman-like solidity and many fans will no doubt be satisfied (and, more than that, happy) with it. But An End Has a Start is simply not the best album Editors are capable of putting together. Hopefully it's just a sophomore slump and not, in fact, the beginning of the end. [A deluxe edition of the CD was also released.] ~ Margaret Reges, All Music Guide