Okay, so this is my first proper review in a while (I have done two single reviews but I prefer albums, as there is more to talk about!) as I have been busy with A level revision and other such nonsense, but, I have decided to palm off the maths and media to write this for you anyway! I’m just that nice.

Anyway, I have decided to review the debut effort from Does It Offend You, Yeah?. In case you don’t already know, Does It Offend You, Yeah? are a four piece electro-rock-indie-dance band from Reading that make a hell of a noise (A bit like Enter Shikari crossed with Klaxons). Up until about three months ago, I had no idea who they were, until Jacob (writer and co-editor of likesounds.com) introduced me to the band’s first single, We Are Rockstars. Since then I have fallen in love with them. They have no boundaries, follow no rules and certainly don’t stick to any predefined music genres. They basically do what they want, and people love them for it. This is reflected in the album, as it is filled with the best techno-electro music you’ll hear this year, but is also lined with fantastic pop hits destined to storm the charts at some point in the future. One of these is the band’s upcoming single, Epic Last Song, which is my track of the year so far, for two reasons: One is that it has a more traditional electro-indie feel to it, which is a nice break from the heavy, computerised style you’ve come to expect from DIOY,Y?, and the other is that is unbelievably catchy. This is a massive singalong anthem that will spearhead their domination of the festival scene.

Other great tracks on the album are the single We Are Rockstars, the bizarre Attack of the 60ft Lesbian Octopus (which is a hard song to explain, you really have to hear it to believe it) and the electro-techno-dance track, With A Heavy Heart (I Regret to Inform You), which are all hugely danceable and all very good.

The one problem with this album is the lack of lyrics and lyrical flair on some of the tracks. This may not be a problem to everyone, but I thought it really held the album back, as it seems lazy on the band’s part. Although the two songs that don’t have any lyrics whatsoever (Attack of the 60 ft Lesbian Octopus and Battle Royale) are very good, the tracks that do have lyrics seem very basic and often quite dull. An example of this is Weird Science where the synthesised lyrics are dotted throughout, and it is hard to tell them from the music, and always leaves the listener waiting for something to materialise, which it never quite does. This only affects a small fraction (damn maths revision stuck in my head!) of the album, but is noticeable enough to affect the final perception of it from the listeners.

Overall, You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into is a very good album that appeals to a large range of different musical tastes and genres, but the lack of lyrical flair gave a disappointing feeling which needn’t have been an issue, and could have been easily resolved. Despite this, You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into is a very solid debut effort from the boys from Reading.

Rating: 82%