Perhaps it’s the sense of establishment recognition – in the last two months they’ve been the recipients of lifetime achievement awards and Brits nominations – but what role do New Order, arguably the most important and maverick British band of their generation, play in 2005?
Let’s not forget, the long-term axis of Sumner, Hook and Morris have already changed musical history at least four times – and that was just in the 80s. Aside from making “Blue Monday” from Maplins home electronics kits and bringing Acid House to the North West via the Hacienda, they began that decade with “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and finished it with “Technique”, one of the greatest albums of all time.
And after a fairly disastrous 90’s and an eight-year hiatus, 2001’s comeback “Get Ready” was a real return to form. Taut, lean and rocking out, it found the band reclaiming their mojo with some style, and, with “Crystal”, they had a single up there their greatest. And while great songs is something “Waiting For The Sirens’ Call” obviously lacks, it’s still a cracking New Order album - albeit one performed by a group all pushing 50 and mostly written about Bernard Sumner’s yacht.
The single “Krafty” offers a pretty good indication of the whole. Kicking off with a Hooky bassline ripped straight from the Joy Division textbook it soon gives way to a sunny Sumner pop song about the banality of the 9-5. Welded to an effortlessly catchy tune, the frontman’s trademark lyrical flakiness is in full effect and littered with such truisms as: “They've got violence, wars and killing too, all shrunk down in a two-foot tube.”
In fact, for a man who deserves a statue for his services to the rock lyric, “Waiting…” could well be Sumner’s career pinnacle. “Krafty” is only exceeded in the choicest stanza stakes by “Hey Now What You Doing” which contains the immortal line “Is it love or is it hate, banging on an open gate?"
Both these tracks define the album’s impressive first half which is marked by a series of similarly great guitar-based songs of which the title track, courtesy of its boundlessly optimistic chorus, is probably the pick. Sonically, the nearest benchmark would be their own “Low-Life” from 1985.
Interestingly, it’s only when the band attempt to revive their early electronic roots that the album starts to stall. The likes of “Jetstream” (featuring the Scissor Sisters’ Ana Matronic), “Dracula’s Castle” and “Guilt Is A Useless Emotion” are not particularly bad, just anonymous. By midway the album starts to sound like New Order by numbers - a bit like a Monaco record, in fact.
And then, just when it’s starting to peter out, a genuine surprise pops up with the closing track “Working Overtime” which wipes the blueprint clean to come up with something resembling Primal Scream playing The Stooges covering The Beatles’ “Ticket To Ride”.
So, back to the original question, what role do New Order play in 2005? Probably the same as they always have – as independent and as wilful as Barney’s lyrics, they do what they do and they do it better than anyone else. “Waiting For The Sirens’ Call” isn’t as good as “Power, Corruption & Lies” – or even “Get Ready” – but if the likes of Franz Ferdinand are making records this good in 30 years time then they’d have every right to be pretty pleased with themselves.
