SINGLE: Kids in Glass Houses - Give Me What I Want

Scene but not heard? Not anymore for this band, who’ve just released their debut album after a while on the circuit from the valleys of Wales.

Unforgivable puns aside, I first saw Kids in Glass Houses supporting The Blackout! and they were awesome, then at Summer Breeze Festival (awesome too), and finally Reading Festival (not so awesome). One thing is clear: their image, their sound – the whole package really – attracts one crowd in particular. This crowd I would generally like to chain up and feed to sharks, and the music that goes with it too (cough, Youmeatsix, cough). Yet strangely, Give Me What I Want is a great song.

Originally called Me Me Me (obviously their label Roadrunner thought that listeners were too stupid to grasp non-linear titles), the track’s got a real sense of angst mostly attributed to the whole teenage unrequited love / sex blah-blah-blah. The lyrics are a bit style-over-substance (‘we take three steps forward, three steps back, she said / I don’t like the way you’re dressed’) but are lacquered in hookiness, which does this type of song justice. Instrument wise, the guitars really jump out at you during the verses with their edgy double stops, staccato phrases and intelligent harmonies. The band’s real strong point here, however, is the core songwriting – we’ve got a pre-chorus that smashes in half-way through a bar to great effect, a chorus with the most memorable melody for a long time, a middle-eight with cathartic falsetto, and an example of how to use the stale semitone-shift change in a slightly new, fantastic-sounding way.

The only real glitch I have is the feel of the recording: while I love the lighter, more indie-esque texture, I feel the live version is much more in-your-face, stimulating and, well, fun – like it sounds it should be. Nevertheless, they’ve definitely captured the song well, and testament to the fact that good things can come out of Wales.

Overall – 8/10

Get it? – Yes, then you too can wear skinny jeans, matching hoodies and say ‘sick’ all the time!

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