Enter Shikari

Common Dreads

[3.5/5]

It would be easy to have a go at this British quartet whose catalog of over-the-top influences is completely off the charts. At their most ambitious (see “Solidarity”), Enter Shikari manage some unholy amalgam of the Streets’ Mike Skinner, the Prodigy, nü metal, screamo and what sounds like the London Boys Choir, with each element cranked to 11 on the bombast meter. (What? No Celine Dion?) And to say they shove their politics under listeners’ noses is an understatement: Do people really say things like, “We will sing as one in solidarity,” and “You can change your values,” anymore? It turns out that the real story of Common Dreads is actually one of moderation, not excess. Like most top-flight bands, Enter Shikari are figuring out how to meet the great unwashed more-or-less halfway, working with producer Andy Gray and adding sweeteners like metaphor, backing vocals and choruses that’d be wave-your-fist fantastic whether they were about economic policy or getting laid. Songs like “Juggernauts” (one of the year’s best singles, with singer Rou Reynolds sounding not just defiant, but terrified, as he goes toe-to-toe with imperialism) and “Wall” should not only turn stadiums into mosh pits–they throw the more abrasive stuff (such as the grime-through-a-cracked-looking-glass “Zzzonked”) into sharper relief. You’d have to be one black-hearted bastard not to smile when Reynolds bellows earnestly, “It’s glorious outside!” It’s sometimes glorious inside Common Dreads, as well. (AMBUSH REALITY/DGC/INTERSCOPE) Dan LeRoy



GO DOWNLOAD: “Wall”