Things That Don't Go Right. School is Cool

I have two ideas on how to open my review of Things That Don't Go Right. So let's do them both.

1. There are quite some albums that I have applauded already this year. Perhaps things go too far to write this is an exceptional year (yet?), but my list of albums on the longlist for favourite album is rising. This is one of the albums leading the pack.

2. Let's do an alternative pub quiz. I put on Things That Don't Go Right and you score all the influences you can get out of this album. Let's see who wins. There just seems to be no end, hence my asking.

This is my first School is Cool album. I remember that the debut album came by, somewhere in the past years. How many years? No idea. It didn't impress me or I never truly listened. All possibilities with so much new music coming by. When Things That Don't Go Right fell into my letterbox and was put into the cd player, I was impressed straight away. It hasn't really left the player too.

It isn't hard to point out why that is. School is Cool manages to convince in a combination of songs and influences within songs that for most are not combinable. Ranging from songs with a solid power to nice melodies encompassing influences from years of music, including the "hated" 80s synths and all. Not to mention daft effects that should be totally corny but somehow are not in this context. When a band manages to combine the drive of War on Drugs with the prowess of Arcade Fire while infusing the whole with pop synths Howard Jones, Nik Kershaw or Thomas Dolby would not have had to feel ashamed about, a lot goes on in the song 'Close'. That is in one song, yes.

That is just the beginning of Things That Don't Go Right. There's so much more. I will not spoil the pub quiz for you as there needs to be something to enjoy for you as well.

That first album turns out to be from 2011 and since two others have been released. Here's number 4. Through the years many band members came and went, yet the guitar, bass, drums core of the band is the same as it ever was. Johannes Genard sings.

Promo photo

One of the songs I truly, truly like is 'Masculinity'. It has this sort of Rupert Holmes mood, some ridiculous disco pew-pew sounds and the song does something with the time signature. There's more than fits into four bars. A little extra is needed to make the melody fit or it is cut off prematurely or so it seems. A true fun song.

This trick is repeated in the much more solid song that follows next, 'Nothing Good'. More rooted in 1979 powerpoprock and Bryan Adams of 1985, again School is Cool manages to give the song so much extra as the 10s take in their place once again with the War on Drugs drive incorporated into 'Nothing Good'. Yes, I admit, I gave something away again, but how else can I underscore the inventiveness of a song like this? I leave you the intro of 'The Book Of Yearning', ok?

Things That Don't Go Right is not a new 'Abbey Road' or 'Dark Side Of The Moon', not even 'Favourite Worst Nightmare', that is true. I like the album better than any album by the albums of all the bands and artists mentioned in the above, with the exception of Arcade Fire's last one, 'Everything now'. That is telling something, isn't it.

This changes when the influences of 'Married At First Sight - Australia' are noticed by me. No, I won't tell, but the bands that come to mind here, have made better albums. The things that do go right though have all been gathered on this album. School is Cool, I beg to differ on that, brings elements of great pop music together with some rock, some more exotic music in small hints and even psychedelia in the outro that live will no doubt go all out. The outcome is a great mix of pop music, where opposed to most Belgian bands the hint of madness or possession is missing. So a little more normal perhaps than the average band from Belgium but a great pop album.

A lot of things may not go right in life. Things That Don't Go Right is not one of them.

Wo.

Listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g