Good Grief! Bastille's Hotter Than Ever!!

I know "Good Grief", Bastille's first foray into its new "Wild World" album plumbs the depths of loss quite handily but c'mon, get those dancing shoes laced up because they'll be getting a first class workout. Thank Will Farquarson for that. His bass strikes me as epitomizing cool. Beautiful people only, please. It's nice to see this London outfit back in the saddle. I continue to have fond memories of "Bad Blood'. The angst, the highly grunge caked melodic structure, the chorus that plants itself onto your skull and refuses to give any quarter. But that was 2013, and here in 2016 "Good Grief" isn't afraid to mix tear jerking subject matter, in this case the loss of a dear friend, with memorable hooks that are bound to distract you from what an inherently bottom of the barrel depressing tune lies at the core. Vocalist Dan Smith loves each misfire embedded within the DNA of his fallen friend, but this, in finished form, bounces off my ears as a happy/sad hybrid, a point of reference Dan happily agrees with, as he's noted it to be a "happy/sad summer jam". Its compact under 3:45 playing time ensures you won't be stuck clutching a large funereal hangover upon song's completion. "Bad Blood" worked much the same way. It was moody on the inside, zestful on the outside. That's some kind of twisted talent, getting people exhilarated while you pop a pin in their balloon in the same breath. Bastille knows where to stick the needle and can they ever boost your zing quotient by leaps and bounds. Adding to the fun are snippets taken from the 1980s gem "Weird Science", This nod to the cinema of the decade of decadence demonstrates Bastille isn't all dark shadows and ominous lighting. Chris "Woody" Wood punches "Good Grief" into high gear on the wings of his sublime, ravenous drum opener. Then the bass swings into action as if the cue to arms was tailor made. Chorus harmonies between all concerned springboard "Good Grief" to a higher level, the sort of instantaneous release prompting all manner of "Welcome Back, Bastille!! Nice to notice you're back in the fray!!" Guitarist Kyle Simmons only adds his special sauce when called upon. In other words, he doesn't monopolize the show. Why should he when he's got brothers in arms helping him ride that taste tempting wave. In short Dan misses his friend who's now lost from the photographs around the house physically, but never in spirit. One chorus tells the tale..."Every minute and every hour I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more. Every stumble and each misfire I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more." Dan's heart's firmly pinned to his sleeve and he's one brave soul in the doing. Sure, looking st life through one's fingers can't be too easy on body and mind but, for those who don't grab life by the horns, it can work out like that at times. Dan's drunk on bittersweet memories but, that's not to drop down the blanket statement that they were exclusively bad ones. It comes back to amazement in the highly flattering sense for how Bastille makes dance conscious songs for your inner depressive commercially viable and able to court mass appeal appreciation. Theirs is a winning formula, so why alter the brew if most in the Bastille corner are buying into the proposition. "Good Grief" amounts to good quality dance rock sporting a pale gray bow on top. Bastille hasn't lost the beat and it's my hope they hold court with it for decades to come.