Editors: An End Has A Start

Pity the poor Editors, but don't pity them too much: Born into a world where a strikingly similar band—that'd be Interpol—had just left its first footprints, these Brits had to battle accusations of badwagoneering that sometimes belted louder than their actual music. And yes, they sound a lot alike, but it seems cynical and/or naïve to assume that Editors are aping Interpol: Their singers share similar timbres, and the influences are right up front (Echo & The Bunnymen, Joy Division, etc.), but there are plenty of differences, too. (It's worth noting that those who deride Editors as Interpol copyists are likely the same people who deride Interpol as Joy Division copyists. These people probably don't like jokes or babies, either.)

With albums as strong as An End Has A Start, Editors may get the last laugh. (A number-one debut in the UK won't hurt, either.) A rock-solid disc that colors with a broader, more mainstream palette than Interpol, End expands the reach of 2005's excellent Back Room, nodding not just to post-punk darkness, but to modern-day Grey's Anatomy favorites like Coldplay and Snow Patrol. The first single, "Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors," represents the clearest shot at "Chasing Cars"-style success, and there's no reason the song—as epic, hooky, and unabashedly grand as it is—shouldn't find crossover success. It's at the top of an album that, while flawed, succeeds through and through on its own terms, via engaging rockers (the title track), mid-tempo burners, and even borderline-sappy ballads ("Push Your Head Towards The Air"). Who or what it sounds like shouldn't matter with songs this good.