The Enemy – We’ll Live and Die in These Towns

Facing The Enemy

The Enemy’s We’ll Live and Die in These Towns can be described as a sweet folk-punk cake iced and filled with punk revival frosting. Yet while The Enemy do both genres well, the two styles don’t mesh on this sonically inconsistent album. Opening track “Aggro,” with its driving, playful drum beat and cynical lyrics, is reminiscent of early Green Day. Conversely, later tracks like “Had Enough” are new wave dance songs and would be appropriate in hip bars. “We’ll Live and Die in These Towns” is an anthemic folk-pop number, as is “This Song,” which also uses sweet melodies nicely contrasted with bitter lyrics about “the kids who you grew up with [who] were pushin’ prams by the time that they were just 16” to show off a softer musical side of The Enemy. “This Song” gets bonus points for referencing Elton John purposefully and gleefully.

The Enemy draw influence from fantastic artists but they would be best served by honing their own sound. If you like a wide range of sound from alternative punk to indie pop, you’ll probably enjoy The Enemy’s We’ll Live and Die in These Towns. For optimal enjoyment, stick this on an mp3 player and shuffle it with other songs to avoid the bizarre punk-and-folk-punk layered effect the album possesses.