Album Review: Placebo – B3 EP

Placebo
B3 EP
Vertigo

Placebo is back – sort of. A new album is on its way (due in 2013), but for right now, the UK powerhouse is giving us B3 to snack on while we wait for the main course. Now, this five-track EP isn’t a taste of things to come, but a product of the band’s desire to feed fans some tunes before they branch out into new sounds.

While Placebo gets points for ensuring fans don’t have to wait to hear new music, the EP itself is simply “okay.” Essentially, it is a quick and dark, 24-minute energy shot to satiate fans in the meantime. B3 sounds good but doesn’t offer much else. A take-it-or-leave-it title-track kicks off the release with a bout of vigour, followed by a forgettable Minxus cover of “I Know You Want To Stop.” It gets interesting with the groovy, introspective “The Extra” and the driving “I Know Where You Live,” both of which claw the EP into above-par territory – but barely.

It’s worth a listen, though overall, it’s a good thing this doesn’t represent the band’s new direction.

R.J. Vandrish (Twitter @rjvandrish)

placeboworld.co.uk/home