Placebo ‘Loud Like Love’ Review; it ain’t broke so don’t bother fixing it. Placebo does exactly what you expect them too, and it sounds just fine. 

[rating=4]

If there’s ever a band that can comfort Gen-Exers as we muddle through middle-age, it’s Placebo. They’re the musical equivalent of Matthew McConaughey’s quote from Dazed And Confused:

One thing I love about highschool girls, the older I get, they stay the same age

But Placebo are just as old as we are and they still manage to hit that same late 90’s ache of muddling through your 20’s with a mix of uncertainty and optimism.

And don’t let that Dazed quote be seen as a knock; it’s not. Loud Like Love is a perfectly fine Placebo album. Just don’t look for it to be a game changer . This is preaching to the converted, not that we mind with such great hooks and their slick combo of alt-edge and glittery ear-candy. And while vocalist Brian Molko’s nasal whine remains an acquired taste, it wouldn’t be Placebo without it.

Title track Loud Like Love starts up with pitch-shifted guitar notes, and wistful delivery from Molko. It has them at their most upbeat in recent memory, but don’t worry, they can still mope in fine fashion.

There’s gritty melodrama in the shifty Scene Of The Crime. Molko does his patented mix of sleaze and shame accompanied by synthesized hand claps: Scene of the crime/friend or foe/got a body to hide/you got a body to show/and with our bodies entwined then we will know paradise.

This feel of illicit connection continues with Rob The Bank. But it’s more amped up and horny.

Bosco is as lovely a piano ballad as the band has done; imagine Tears For Fears Head Over Heels meets Ben Fold’s Five’s Brick. Molko is making a case for sobriety after years of chemical ingestion; And when I get drunk/You take me home/And keep me safe from harm. 

But the album’s highlight is Too Many Friends, perhaps the catchiest song the band has done to date. A lithe piano figure builds into an orchestral wash and new wave guitars. Molko’s lyrics always waver between clever and clunky. Lines like My computer thinks I’m gay is comical, but it’s clear he’s skewering social media and the ironic antisocial stress it can cause: I got too many friends/Too many people that I’ll never meet/And I’ll never be there for…What’s the difference anyway/When all the people do all day/Is stare into a phone.

So in the end, Loud Like Love won’t (likely) win any converts. But who needs ’em? For Placebo fans, they’re always the right band at the right time.

 Want to own Loud Like Love on iTunes or Amazon? Order via the links below:

[amazon_image id=”B00F0349LS” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Loud Like Love [+digital booklet][/amazon_image]