Manic Street Preachers - Underdogs

Posted 13th Mar 2007 in Single Reviews |

Manic Street Preachers, long ago, represented a call to arms - songs sweating rock and roll punk that were vicious, exciting and full of bizarre and dark lyrics. If you don't believe that, listen to Holy Bible.

'Underdog' is the first new Manics material for bloody ages. It's also the first track since 'Masses Against The Classes' where they have discovered some of that long lost form. It's heavier sounding and is one of the closest sounding things they have recorded to 'Generation Terrorists', but it doesn't quite match up.

From the typically crisp vocals of James Dean Bradfield and the lyrics he spits out, this is a song trying hard to put an end to memories of some very disappointing efforts in the past few years. The lyrics are one of the more arresting things about the song, like the rousing finale of "people like you, need to fuck people like me", and indicate this is no radio-friendly anthem.

It's all well and good, and flies by in less than three minutes. Whilst 'Masses Against The Classes' was an outstanding moment that scored the bands first Number One single, 'Underdog' falls short of being a hard hitting triumphant return. It is encouraging though, and it raises hope that forthcoming album 'Send Away The Tigers' will silence the critics for a while at least. These Generation Terrorists have aged, the ride isn't what it used to be, and despite trying to get back on the rollercoaster, this (only just) fails to find it.