Infadels – Make Mistakes

It makes sense that London electro-rockers Infadels are signed to Wall Of Sound, home of Reverend & The Makers, because the two bands have a lot in common. Like Jon McClure and co, Infadels deal in loose-limbed beats shot through with a strain of grotty urban realism; working-class frustration commuted into party-hard celebration.

On their debut album, 2006’s We Are Not The Infadels, the result was often a bit gauche and knuckle-dragging – more The Twang than The Clash – but on new single they’ve got the mix of aggro vocals and dance abandon spot-on, not least because they’ve toned down the itchy, robot-funk rhythms and nudged their straightahead rock instincts to the fore.

Telling the tale of a botched bank robbery, Make Mistakes is a zippy, adrenaline-rush of a song, all jet-engine synth-whoosh and propulsive bass, overlaid with unexpected flashes of romance. In the middle-eight, singer Bnann casts himself as a doomed anti-hero (“Under stars I’m bleeding in the rain”), destined forever to sabotage his own life, but, crucially, never quite losing hope: as the final chorus kicks in he’s “taking the corner, with the sparks flying.”

Another point in the song’s favour: it pinches the chiming “bicycle bell” sound from U2’s I Will Follow, a subtle-but-crucial move that gives the chorus a twinkly, cochlea-tickling quality. It’s the little things…

Make Mistakes is out 14 April, followed by the album, Universe In Reverse, in June.

[Listen to Make Mistakes]