Two Door Cinema Club’s Gameshow is the latest in a disheartening series of records that seem intent on taking all the bands that contributed to my interest in indie and alternative music when I was younger and stripping them of all creativity and uniqueness. Tourist History was awesome and it’s ridiculous to think that it came out in 2010. An eclectic mix of bubbly pop and disco and alternative guitar-led riffs all tied together in Tourist History to make a record that to this day I associate with Florida, because that’s where I was when I first heard “I Can Talk,” which wasn’t even a single off the record at the time, just a song I’d found.
In contrast, 2012’s Beacon was a lot more subdued. There was a lot more space between the instrumentals on the record. If anything, it seemed to be a more meditative take on the punchy, straightforward pop of its predecessor, and short of a couple tracks that come off as way too heavy-handed an attempt at melancholy, the record was passable.
And now we have Gameshow.
Go to an ice-cream shop and wait for a child to drop their ice-cream cone and you will see an accurate approximation of my own reaction upon listening to this record.
Oh, no!
