After 2017's 'Good News', School is Cool returns with their ironically named 'Things That Don't Go Right'...
In an era when we're continually bombarded by images showing perfectly face tuned people in whose ideal lives everything seems to be going right, the tenor of international news seems to be that, in the wider world, truly nothing is. In this light, 'Things That Don't Go Right' was an obvious choice for a title.
Very few things do seem to go right, in life, do they? But on the whole, the production of this album went quite smoothly. Inspired by the typically raucous energy of their gigs, the School is Cool went out looking for the pure joy they knew when playing live. So they recorded all of the tracks in four days, in one room, under the auspices of veteran producer Reinhard Vanbergen.
This adventurous collection of songs is bathed in a classic rock glow, bursting with heady synth riffs, electronic organ bossa nova and loud choruses. The album's inevitable labelling as Dad Rock has less to do with two band members recently becoming dads than the harmonizing guitar solos over long outros. Only the future will tell if they can manage to steer clear of Dad Jokes and Dad Bods.
Joking aside, all in all this album sees a band at ease with itself, at ease with its flaws and fortes and ready to try some new things. Michael and Hanne's watery guitars and synths complement Matthias and Toon's compact rhythm section as if they've been playing together for the best part of a decade (because they have). Johannes's ironic yet rousing vocals deal with the big subjects: listlessness, breakups, FOMO, masculinity and Australian reality TV; in short: things that Don't Go Right.
