Rocktrospectiva: The Fairly Good "Waiting For The Sirens' Call" Turns 20

Released on 28 March 2005, "Waiting For The Siren's Call" was the 8th., studio album by Mancunian legends New Order, the album spawned three singles "Krafty", "Jetstream" and "Waiting For The Siren's Call".

Waiting for the Sirens' Call initially appears more confident than its predecessor. The dance beats are now back, but it proves a mixed blessing. Here, they appear to be doing what's expected of them in order to appease their fans.

The opening "Who's Joe?", sounds like the work of any number of Manchester-based bands besides New Order, as the guitars and cinematic arrangement give the song more of a Britpop sound than we’re used to with the group. But during that chorus, everything falls into place. At first, "Who's Joe?" sounds a bit more like an epic rock song than your typical New Order fare, as does "Hey Now What You Doing" to a lesser extent, the band opting for something more like a single there. But the title track immediately brings to mind the good old days of Low Life and Brotherhood. 

The first single, "Krafty" has the same melodic magic of a "Love Vigilantes" or a "Bizarre Love Triangle." And when it seems as if the band has settled comfortably in this guitar-centric mode, the electro-dub track "I Told You So" reveals the inner dance diva within the band, a side that had been temporarily put to rest on Get Ready.

Things shift dramatically with the sixth track, "Morning Night and Day" washes of synth blanket the track during the suspenseful opener, eventually being traded for fat pulsing bass synth and a driving rhythm. The longer you listen to Waiting for the Sirens' Call, the more it seems like side B is the "dance" side, while side A is the "rock" side. Here's another example with the disco pop tune "Jetstream," an infectiously danceable tune that couples Sumner with Scissor Sister Ana Matronic. And "Guilt is a Useless Emotion" is further evidence of this dichotomy, the only track here that resembles house music in any way. In comparison to the rest of the material, it’s the one song that sounds a little out of place and a little dated. However, the whole rock vs. dance theory comes to a screeching halt as “Turn” queues up. Building a melody around acoustic guitar strums and a shimmering lead, it sounds more like the work of a band like The Delays than pioneers of dance music.

"Working Overtime," a raucous, riffing rock & roll song, wraps up this neat little package. One of the album's best tracks, it borrows more from The Stooges than anything resembling the band's earlier material. 

 

Nonetheless, the album was fantastic even thought "Get Ready" may have been the catalyst that got the band in our regular rotation again, but Waiting for the Sirens’ Call is the album that will kept them or resuscitated them again. 

 

Waiting For The Sirens' Call Track List:

 

1. Who's Joe?

2. Hey Now What You Doing

3. Waiting For The Sirens' Call

4. Krafty

5. I Told You So

6. Morning Night & Day

7. Dracula's Castle

8. Jetstream

9. Guilt Is A Useless Emotion

10. Turn

11. Working Overtime