Music can be a catalyst for social change. Just ask Enter Shikari, whose sound has always merged disparate elements in brilliant ways – how many bands do you know that can adeptly merge post-hardcore vibes with heavy electronic influences and actually make the two coalesce effectively? Better yet, And their continuity is just as impressive, with no member changes since their inception.
Better yet, how many bands do you know that collaborate with their hometown football club – or any sports team, really – on a football kit? The band’s hometown of St Albans FC is the one they work with, and the band’s name is even on the jersey. Truly wild stuff, Enter Shikari are truly ahead of the curve with this one. Although St Albans FC is in the sixth tier of English football right now, they are 2nd in the table – imagine seeing Enter Shikari’s name plastered all over English Football League matches. Or maybe even in an FA Cup away match to a top-tier team? Dare to dream.
Of the six full-length albums they’ve released to date, though, it’s hard to pick one that stands tall above the rest. Whether it’s their innovative debut album Take To The Skies, their evolution on sophomore album Common Dreads, or even their evolving songwriting on Everything Is True And Nothing Is Possible, it’s difficult to find a consensus favorite. Partially due to not making the same record twice as well as delving deeper into their array of influences in each record, a fair target might well be 2012’s A Flash Flood Of Colour.
At the album’s core, you’ll find multiple genres of music represented in a single track, something the band had done on previous works, but it’s properly well fleshed out here. Considering the band’s identity is about merging rock and post-hardcore music with various subgenres of electronic music, there’s even more to it than you might expect.
A good example is mid-album track “Search Party”. What seems like a fairly innocuous mid-tempo track eventually shifts into typical heavy Enter Shikari territory, then back again to what you were likely expecting. You can probably rename this record A Flash Flood Of Genres for this reason, because you’ll find hip-hop and drum and bass influences scattered throughout – just to name a few.
Enter Shikari stand for more than just music, though. Tracks like “Arguing With Thermometers” (which laments dependence on oil) and “Warm Smiles Do Not Make Your Welcome Here” (which deals with the music industry moving toward a model of whatever brings in the most money) bring about topics that are much needed. Yet, the band manage to discuss these subjects in a decidedly non-hamfisted and quite intelligent fashion, something many other bands could learn from.
Of course, there’s bangers made for the moshpit too. Simply put, if you’re not dancing and/or moshing during “Sssnakepit”, you’re having a bad time. And the arena rock tendencies of the anthemic “Quelle Surprise” (technically, this song was a non-album single but it was intended initially for the record) manages to get heavy with a snazzy breakdown, but its subject matter is determined and contains the universal emotions of standing up for something that matters – lest you fall for anything. Instantly relatable.
Enter Shikari always know how to write a ballad, too. I mean, have you heard “Adieu”? “Constellations” is more fleshed out, though, as the track draws its key influence from the ebb and flow of post-rock. Ballsy of the band to try something in this style out, but it totally works. A love letter to the power of hope and change, it’s one of the most heartfelt tracks the band has ever written.
A Flash Flood Of Colour is a statement both musically and lyrically for Enter Shikari. With its blend of bouncy electronic vibes and more aggressive post-hardcore, there are very few bands in this subsect of music that can accomplish what they have. There’s a little something for almost every music fan here, and to quote a famous band, “don’t be fooled into thinking that a small group of friends cannot change the world.”
