So why is Switches’ Lay Down the Law on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
In the All Music review of Lay Down the Law, Jason MacNeil places Switches in the same tier as contemporary bands such as The Strokes, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, and The Darkness.
It’s meant as a compliment, and it certainly is in terms of elevating the much lesser-known Switches into the same league as much better-known bands.
It reminds me that there’s a swath of rock music that was popularized during the 2000s – and you can throw in bands ranging from Vampire Weekend to Kings of Leon to Fall Out Boy here – that simply never did a lot for me.
I don’t necessarily dislike any of the bands I list above – and of them all, I’m most taken with the amusing pomposity of The Darkness – but I simply don’t find the vast majority of the music that they produced all that interesting.
In any event, I eventually found myself driven more to electronica-influenced rock music like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and LCD Soundsystem, and more obscure (but incredible) bands such as Graham Day and the Gaolers and Louis XIV (along with a huge array of hip-hop, indie, and dance-oriented sounds) during that era.
But getting back to Switches, I remain completely taken with Lay Down the Law, an album that maddeningly is their only studio release to date in the U.S. It sounds fresh as all get out to this day, bursting with a perfect blend of delectable guitar hooks, hard rock, and Britpop-infused alt rock.
I defy you to tell me that songs like “Drama Queen” and the title track, “Lay Down the Law,” aren’t at least as good as the best songs produced by those bands I mention above – and, I’d wager, the same is true of any rock music produced during the 2000s.
Meanwhile, “Step Kids in Love” slows things down with a slinkier, captivating groove (and bonus: hilariously naughty song title) and “Snakes & Ladders” shows off super strong vocals from Matt Bishop and Ollie Thomas on a more or less straight ahead alt rocker.
Some stats & info about Switches – Lay Down the Law
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Indie Rock, Hard Rock, Alternative Rock, British Bands
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was Lay Down the Law released? 2008
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #215 out of 1,000
Switches’ Lay Down the Law on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Switches’ Lay Down the Law that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
We lay down the law, so what you need me for?
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.