The Diamond Sea - Second Move
- Written by Kenneth McMurtrie
Seldom can I recall hearing lyrics so trite as on the opening song of The Diamond Sea's album, Second Move. "We'll fly away to Spain and steal a Jaguar/We'll sit on a beach, drink champagne and eat caviar" they whine before equating France with cheese and Beaujolais. At least when Crass stated the world owed them a living you could imagine them going out and grabbing what they felt they were due. The Diamond Sea sound as if they'll never open their bedroom door to take the first step in a life of bold brigandry.
And so things proceed on this debut from the Leeds trio. Their city is currently often hailed as the place from which indie music of various shades is being saved or reinvigorated or whatever but based on the evidence displayed here The Diamond Sea are set to be also-rans that only a dose of whatever Snow Patrol copped a few years ago will save from that fate.
'On A Night Like This' it seems on the face of it is one of the unhappiest accounts of a straight lad losing his virginity you'll ever hear. Tunes this plaintive used to be about failing to achieve that longed for first encounter with the girl next door and even then they managed to hold out hope and fit in a dash of pathos. Here though it's either been a terrible first time or our hero's worrying it'll never happen again. Either way if that attitude's maintained he's definitely on a hiding to nothing.
Allegedly the band toughen things up live. This can only be a good thing as on record they lack the promise of any improvement that if faithfully translated to the stage would have you heading for the bar to await the main act. 'What Shores' is a pleasant enough country-tinged shoegazer and 'Son' has hints of muscle on it's frame but ultimately the quality of the lyrics and their delivery throughout the album lets down any gains made by the music or the strong production.
