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Single Review: Lostprophets – Bring ‘Em Down

You wouldn’t have thought it but Lostprophets have been together since 1997: that’s a whole 15 years! What’s even more remarkable is that they’re still loitering around the edges of mainstream success. Yes they’ve had big hits with ‘Last Train Home’ and ‘Rooftops’, but they’re still not headlining the O2. That said, 2012 could be the the year for the Pontypridd boyos.

With their fifth studio album ‘Weapons’ hitting the shelves in April, Lostprophets have released the first single to tease us with. Entitled ‘Bring ‘Em Down’, it’s (as the name suggests) an angsty ‘let’s stick it to the man, yeah’ ditty that lyrically speaking doesn’t add much to the already overflowing trough of faux social awareness. That said, it’s not the worst thing they’ve ever done.

There’s a general split between Lostprophets fans over which era was the best; the nu-metal/punk stage or the emotive stadium rock stage. Luckily for original fans, ‘Bring ‘Em Down’ harks back to 2003′s ‘Start Something’ with its punk edge and bouncy rhythms. The anthemic chorus (albeit not lyrical genius) is aimed solely at the festival crowd, which will no doubt be used to full effect when summer rolls around.

While the track is full of punk energy, Ian Watkins and his cohorts play things too safe. It needs to be ballsier and feature less cliché-ridden lyrics about beating the unnamed opposition. The big instrumental breakdown toward the end is begging for Watkins to go absolutely batshit and scream until blood comes out his ears, but we’re met with random electronic noises and a countdown from ten to zero before stopping.

In short ‘Bring ‘Em Down’ is not the band’s best work but it’s also not the worst. It blends the raw, energetic ethos of ‘Fakesoundofprogress’ with the ‘we really wish we were 30 Seconds To Mars‘ ideology of ‘Liberation Transmission’ and to an extent ‘The Betrayed’. But if the new album can improve on the single, Lostprophets may finally achieve what they’ve craved for the past decade and a half.

5/10

Lostprophets will be touring the UK starting the middle of April through to the beginning of March, shortly after the release of their next album, ‘Weapons’ (2 April).