The Subways - 'Money and Celebrity (Cooking Vinyl) Released: 19/09/11

Since their debut release, ‘Young For Eternity’, in 2005, The Subways have endlessly toured the festival circuit, played with the Foo Fighters and supported AC/DC at Wembley Stadium. Now, after facing the daunting task of making a tricky third album, The Subways are back with a record fuelled by the fame game and lined with energetic hits.

‘Money and Celebrity’ is a well-rounded record, jam-packed with catchy choruses and future dance floor hits. This combination is one that looks likely to catapult the Welwyn Garden City three-piece back into mainstream success. The familiar pop-rock formula is no more evident that in opening track, ‘It’s a Party’. The song, first released as a free download, hears frontman Billy wail “It’s a party and don’t you know it don’t get much better”. With such sing-a-long lyrics sitting delightfully over an easy to follow drum beat, it’s a well-crafted track tailored to live performances. Much like many, if not all, of the songs on this record, the feeling that they are meant to be heard live leaves you longing to be in a muddy festival arena.

The Subways called upon London-based producer Stephen Street (Blur, The Smiths, Kaiser Chiefs) to realise their challenging third album. With a year in the making, the record focuses heavily on the band’s attitudes towards celebrity and fame. Tracks ‘Celebrity’, a toe-tapping number about a girl who just wants to be famous, and ‘Popdeath’, one of the album’s slower tracks, go some way to defining what the band are getting at here. Still, ‘Like I Love You’ and ‘Leave My Side’ ensure the album contains an expected dose of love angst. While later track, ‘Rumour’, presents the band’s heaviest offering, compromising a successful blend of crashing cymbals, screaming vocals and what sounds like a definite Foo Fighters influence.

The trio’s sound may not have come a great way since their second album, ‘All or Nothing’, but this record has enough momentum to continue what they already had going. ‘Money and Celebrity’ is a 12-strong song album, crammed with radio friendly hits that will inevitably catch you off guard, whether you like it or not. No, it’s not particularly ground-breaking but ‘Money and Celebrity’ achieves a successful blend of solid pop-riffs and plenty of sing-a-long choruses’ to keep crowds happy.