'Up All Night might be Razorlight's debut album, but we've heard their like before: from Oasis's Gallagher brothers, whose wilful arrogance is echoed in frontman Johnny Borrell's proclamations of his own songwriting genius, or The Libertines, who share Razorlight's romantic vision of London as a city of boozy rock & roll dreams. And while those two touchstones are probably a pretty good encapsulation of the Razorlight sound--holler-along choruses, presented with a slightly greasy leather-jacket sense of urchin cool—there's certainly more to Razorlight than such a simple equation can spell. Sure, there's nothing especially original about Borrell's tales of hot clubs and pretty girls, but his delivery is passionate in all the right places: see the startling "In The City", which finds him bursting with enthusiasm, words spewing out of his mouth like a teenage Dylan. The title track is the album's highlight, a graceful number about walking the streets through 'til dawn. But the irrepressible "Rip It Up" proves Razorlight can spit out the odd party number, thieving the guitar sound direct from 70s punk pioneers Television's Marquee Moon and fleshing it out into a rabble-rousing indie-club stomper.
AMAZON
