Adding DFA-provided beats to Radio 4’s “Dance to The Underground� was an inspired idea. Following that invigorating single with an album’s worth of nearly identical floor-bangers wasn’t, so much. Not that there weren’t some bright spots on 2004’s Stealing of a Nation, it just so happens that what the group does best, both live and in the studio, is blistering, abrasive post-punk, with more guitars than groove boxes. From the opening drum crashes of the title track on the group’s latest, Enemies Like This, it’s clear that Radio 4 realized that as well. Brushing off the over-clocked Rolands this time around, the NYC fivesome gets back to basics, offering ten rocking punk songs that, although jagged, radiate with just the right amount of studio touches, thanks to Jagz Kooner’s production. Enemies Like This is still every bit as danceable as the band’s earlier records, only when they crank out a dancepunk anthem like “Too Much to Ask For� or an Afrobeat jam like “Always A Target,� the resulting sound seems much more natural.
(Release date: May 16, 2006)
