With an opening wail sounding like the tugboat from Madness’ Night Boat to Cairo, Inhaler’s first single from new album Cuts and Bruises has a brief moment to shock the system. These Are the Days is not a ska and pop piece from the promising Irish indie rockers, thankfully. What a turn that would have been. No, These Are the Days is a cut-and-shut bit of bass-led post-punk that features some nice synth-like pieces for the sake of variety and experimentation. An inevitably loved-up single, because that or reflection of the self are the two constants of modern indie tracks. Inhaler spark little love for themselves with this track.
Instrumentals as slick as this are implemented with a focus on cementing Inhaler’s image. These Are the Days is hard to get excited about. Its inclusions of loneliness and love are heard time and time again under a current of decent mixes dominating the genre. Nowhere close to bad, just a jaded attempt at capturing the earnestness running through their contemporaries’ work. For a track that comes at a crucial time for the band, a very sentiment-heavy, not-quite-there track is a risk. Cuts and Bruises gears itself up to present a further working of that crucial pop-loving, Bono-related style but a track like These Are the Days feels noncommittal at best. Lyrically underwhelmed but held together with the nice hooks and skills of Josh Jenkinson. Inoffensive but forgettable indie pop, but pushed to the forefront because it is Inhaler.
Few other bands could chart this one, but These Are the Days marked an appearance on the alternative charts in the United States. Has Inhaler broken America, then? They already speak of broken hearts on These Are the Days, a piece that feels weak when reflected on but joyous in the moment. Reflection is keen on this Inhaler single. Right at the core of their work is a momentum that carries Elijah Hewson through some short line interplay. Just a few words that build up a fractured story of “hanging on” and “holding out”. Hewson’s structure on These Are the Days is flowing, broken through intimacy and should be stronger.
Inhaler has strength in the raw state their image is in. To shoehorn themselves in as indifferent a state as the one featured on These Are the Days would be a brutal waste of talent. It is a fine track but these boys are better than that. Luck following feet, sloppy bits and pieces that are rounded off by some sharper instrumentals and points of interest for Hewson and the gang. These Are the Days is a bridge track, a piece that gets us from one track to the next. On its own in that isolated state, as a flag for what is to come, it feels misplaced in its independence. A track that will work, no doubt, when wedged between the rest of them, its nice tones are well-meaning but playing loose with what is a very crucial time for a band hoping to confirm a unique image. Nothing truly incredible to be found here, but listen as it slides into its form as an acceptable album piece.
