Scars on 45 – Safety in Numbers

Not so Crazy for You

British indie rock band Scars on 45 has released their second full length album, Safety in Numbers, which was preceded by 2012’s self titled debut. This record is sweet, due to the fact that vocalists Danny Bemrose and Aimee Driver sound lovely together as well as the fact that every one in the band seems to know how to play their instruments well enough. But, beyond that, Safety in Numbers feels utterly forgettable…and the rock in indie rock feels like a bit of stretch.

Something about Scars on 45 feels like they’d been manufactured by an indie rock radio station looking for something to compensate for all of the borderline alienating post-punk that’s been popular lately. And that is not a good thing.

Safety in Numbers features the single “Crazy For You”, which sounds exactly like a song intended for a single to be released by a highly digestible, easily marketable indie band. With a bittersweet sounding chorus, and the calming combination of Bemrose and Driver’s voices, most people wouldn’t jump to turn this song off if it came on the radio, but they may not remember it after. “Tasted Every Tear” is just as cheesy sounding as the song title would lead one to believe, and feels like it was created solely for some toss away indie romantic comedy that no one will care about. Their attempts at being more upbeat don’t quite reach interesting at any point either, as seen in songs like “Feeling”.

The only real saving grace of Safety in Numbersis just how perfectly Bemrose and Driver sound when singing together. Along their voices are nice enough, but not all that remarkable, but they truly do sound meant to sing together. If they could only find some interesting sounding music to play, maybe something with just a bit of edge to it, they’d really be able to hit their mark. Scars on 45 will surely be moderately successful for the next two years or so, making moms and radio executives happy with their complete lack of a message, but that really is not a selling point. One can only hope that this is not a sign of things to come in the indie rock genre.