Album Review: The Alarm - “War”

 

There's no two ways about it - as well as being one of the genuine good guys in rock 'n' roll, Mike Peters is also one of its most persistent people. War is the third album from the Alarm in as many years following on from 2018's competent Equals and 2019's excellent Sigma. Driven on by the sheer boredom of lockdown (Peters and his wife are both cancer survivors and have been stuck shielding for almost the whole duration of the last 12 months), Peters has turned his inactivity into energy and written and recorded War in a matter of weeks. Not that you'd guess it given the quality which makes it even more impressive. Axl Rose take note.

The clarion call of "Whether you like it or not, the world has changed forever" kicks opener Protect And Survive into gear in fine style as Peters rails against Covid and the social injustices it's laid bare right in front of us in true preacher on the mountain style. The sinister electronica of We Got This builds slowly before exploding into a big rabble-rousing message of hope on the chorus and it's clear that the Alarm are on fine form here, sort of like U2 if they hadn't disappeared up their own backsides post-Live Aid.

Social upheaval is a running theme throughout War from the references to right wing nutjobs invading Capitol Hill on the rabble-rousing Tribes (Stop The War) and the Covid paranoia and claustrophobia informing the lyrics of the riff-heavy Crushed. Peters takes time to visit more reflective themes though with Still Unsafe dealing starkly with his ongoing battles with leukaemia and the hater-skewering Fail even dipping its toes into almost reggae territory and Gods And Demons could almost be the epic goth rock of the Mission if you squint a bit. A collaboration with Benji from Skindred on a rocked up cover of Massive Attack's Safe From Harm works way better than it has any right to (fingers crossed Skindred can pick up this sort of form on their next album after the disappointment of their previous one) before the epic slow-building War (It's Not Over Yet) brings this album to a close in fine style.

The Alarm seem to have become a band with a good knack of surprising people in recent years and War builds further on the good progress made with Equals and Sigma to fine effect. Thought provoking, rabble rousing and a much needed source of comfort to anyone who might be wondering just how much longer their sanity's going to last in this lockdown (so that'll be most of us then), Peters can congratulate himself on a job well done here. Recommended.

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)

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