Good thing the Muslims didn't have to release their eponymous debut in 2001. I mean, there's that reason, but beyond that, it's of benefit to these transplanted San Diegans that we've reached a point where no one's really holding their breath for a First Impressions of Earth follow-up-- seven years ago, their soft-garage sound would've thrown these guys in the caboose of the Strokes gravy train quicker than you could say "French Kicks."
The good news then is that the Muslims have themselves a consistent sound, even if it isn't exactly the most exclusive one-- souped-up double time drums, three chords or less dusted with distortion and laconic, mannish boy vocals. And the couple of tracks they've got floating around on the internet have put them in position to capitalize on a minor groundswell of hype. All of it resulted in a killer EP. Only problem is that they kept going and Muslims matches its latter-day Weezer length (10 songs, 30 minutes) with latter-day Weezer inconsistency.
It's unfortunate that for music that demands so little, Muslims plays out as a cat and mouse game of expectations and results. Matt Lamkin's lyrics not doing much for you? Not cool with the meek keyboard of "Nightlife" being the only sonic curveball, save for the pleasingly dissonant riff of "America"? Hey, man-- it's three minute pop-rock, done up like 1977. Isn't it supposed to be that way*? Muslims'* uneventful midsection lacks urgency and intensity, and the band is left to mechanically dole out diffident three-chord strummers with lyrics that volley rhymes with the predictability of Wii tennis-- "Hey all you killers hey, hey/ Why don't you all just call it a day" (from "Call It a Day", natch). "Everybody's talking 'bout rock'n'roll/ Everyone's talking about having soul...everybody wants to be in the know/ Everybody wants to know where to go." "You work all day and all of the night/ You've got nowhere to go, nothing to show/ So you're looking for the nightlife." (from "Nightlife", double natch).
Entire songs are built off lines like these, their distracting placeholder-ness forfeiting any chance to stumble onto profundity (as the Strokes are wont to do). At least they've got the sequencing down, as Muslims ends like it began: with a straight-up heater. "Bright Side" is four and a half minutes where everything goes right-- guitarist Matty McLaughlin handling the chunky riff like a hot potato while Gabe Patuzzi's double time drums barrel forward under just enough control. And while "Right and Wrong" does owe a pretty heavy debt to the Pretenders' "Back on the Chain Gang" (or even something from the Libertines' first record) it does manage to show a less obvious path for the band to consider.
Mind you, I hope this doesn't get construed as another "blogs stay losing :(" hip check-- god knows it's nice to have bands worth getting excited about, particularly in a city like San Diego that's almost completely ignored in indie discussions. Yes, the Muslims are good band-- they've obviously got some songwriting chops, their live show is a brisk good time, and they've got the right people in their corner. But The Muslims isn't a great record, rather a progress report of a group that can write awesome songs, very lazy ones, and few that fall somewhere in between. But it's foolish to write them off so quickly when they have one thing going for them that many of their comparisons never had-- a chance to get better with time.
