Liverpool’s This Is War set out in January to release a single each month in 2022. The final instalment comes in the form of ‘Weekend’. Have they saved the best to last?
Frontman Paul Carden has had an innate ability to develop a febrile atmosphere across the singles this year. He demands your instant attention and can often plummet the soul into the gutter but, it’s always a great place to reside.
Like the ‘Crossfire Fever’ before it, ‘Weekend’ builds to a crescendo of great but brief guitar solos. In the early stages, the riffs take Interpol out for a bravado fuelled night out in the UK. The climatic guitars are a different animal, however. Lead by Carden’s growl, they take the early hiss of Stereophonics out to play with U2’s euphoria.
In many ways, This Is War have been ground-breaking in 2022. Freeing themselves from the usual promo format, they built hype each month with remarkably consistent tracks. All of which, have their own claim to be an old-fashioned radio-friendly single.