When I saw that Doves were releasing a best of I must admit I did not feel the urge to immediately download it or run to my nearest record store.
The release is the next logical step for a band that have been delivering anthemic guitar pop for over a decade now.
Their debut, 2001’s Lost Souls was a welcoming one, after the mid-90’s guitar music mediocrity. An un-polished yet slick sound entwined with soaring melodies over a dusty, downbeat soundtrack.
Justifiably it received a nomination for the Mercury Music Prize, and as the noughties brought about a resurgence in guitar music, their second album, The Last Broadcast, shot them to fame in 2002. It appeared that having found a successful niche in this dominant genre Doves were content to release a series of albums that although still impressive in terms of production and craft, failed to push the band forward.
Latter albums appeared to first be trying to get away from the vast production heavy sound of Last Broadcast, with a coarser sound on 2005’s Some Cities.
Much of this album felt like a struggle to move beyond the success’ of The Last Broadcast, while 2009’s Kingdom of Rust seemed like an attempt to regain it.
However, a best of should be judged on its merits and as a collection ‘The Places Between’ makes for impressive listening and serves up some valuable lessons in sustainability to some of Indie’s current upstarts.
Opener ‘There Goes The Fear’ is a song that I grew to detest.
I loved it, then suddenly it was everywhere. However, they should be congratulated on there combination of incessantly catchy melodies and slick production skills that for a while, took Doves to the top of their game and there is no denying that‘…Fear’, ‘Pounding’ and ‘Words’ defined this band.
There is nothing wrong with this, it’s just that I much preferred the more subtle approach of Lost Souls.
For me, ‘Here It Comes’ and ‘The Cedar Room’ are every bit as good as ‘There Goes The Fear’ and ‘Words’, and along with ‘Sea Song’ and ‘The Man Who Told Everything’, interspersed with the best bits from later releases Some Cities and Kingdom of Rust, I start to realize that as best of collections go, this one is pretty good.
For me, ‘Here It Comes’ and ‘The Cedar Room’ are every bit as good as ‘There Goes The Fear’ and ‘Words’, and along with ‘Sea Song’ and ‘The Man Who Told Everything’, interspersed with the best bits from later releases Some Cities and Kingdom of Rust, I start to realize that as best of collections go, this one is pretty good.
‘…Rust’ started with a bang, and a return to production heavy sound as ‘Jetstream’ smacks you between the eyes, and genuinely impressed and hinted at the first sign of real progression since The Last Broadcast.
However, they appear to slip out of the jetstream pretty quickly, and as it drags on this album loses its pace and drive and is lucky to feature even three songs on this best of.
Latest single ‘Andalucia’ deserves a mention, as it provides further evidence that Doves still have something to offer and a few lessons to today’s Indie scene in how to produce a great pop song.
Disc 1 finishes on ‘Caught By The River’, the first release off The Last Broadcast. Less well known than those that followed it, but like so many tracks on this release, it is a slice of pop gold.
The stand out tracks from these albums serve to make up what is an impressive back catalogue, and this release provides a timely reminder of a band who know their genre, and their limits.
With this, their songs become a much more enjoyable prospect.
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