Two Door Cinema Club - False Alarm (LP) - Red Vinyl

Two Door Cinema Club’s False Alarm landed on 21 June 2019 as the band’s fourth studio album, and it wastes no time making its case for neon lit pop exuberance. The Northern Irish trio had already nudged their way from wiry indie to slicker territory, but this record commits to the glow. It is busy, clever and fizzy with synths, yet still anchored by the tight musicianship that made Tourist History such a habit.

Jacknife Lee is back in the producer’s chair, and you can hear his tidy fingerprints all over it. The band recorded with him between London and Los Angeles, and the result is a crisp, high contrast sound where every piece clicks. Alex Trimble’s voice sits cool and bright at the centre, while Sam Halliday’s guitar darts in and out like neon tubing and Kevin Baird’s bass carries a rubbery, dance floor thump. When Talk kicks off, it’s the group at their cleanest and most playful, built on springy synths and a chorus that seems to fold in on itself. Satellite bends toward space age disco with a gleaming pulse, and Dirty Air rides a choppy groove that feels both polished and slightly unruly, like a night out that started early and will run long.

Once is the single that best sums up the album’s obsessions. It moves with that hooky snap the band always had, but the lyric pokes at instant gratification and the way we keep clicking for the same rush. That theme threads through False Alarm. The writing circles consumer culture, tech habits and the blur of modern messaging, but never turns sermon. The band keeps it fun. Even when they put a mirror up to our scrolling, the choruses tug you back onto the floor.

What’s striking is how confidently they navigate their influences. There’s an 80s sheen that could have tipped into pastiche, yet they avoid that trap by sharpening the edges. Lee’s production leaves lots of space, so tiny details pop. Percussion flickers in the margins. Vocoder shades the harmonies without swallowing them. Synth bass underlines the choruses, then steps back for guitars to sparkle. You can dance to almost everything here, but the record rewards a close listen too. The sequencing helps, keeping the energy up while giving the hooks room to breathe. It feels like a band enjoying the studio as an instrument and trusting their pop instincts.

Critics at the time clocked the pivot. Coverage in places like NME and The Guardian talked about how the group pushed deeper into synth pop and polished electronics while hanging onto their knack for big choruses. That sounds right when you sit with False Alarm front to back. It’s not chasing the scrappy charm of the early singles, and it doesn’t need to. This is a different flavour that still tastes distinctly like Two Door Cinema Club.

If you’re crate digging, False Alarm vinyl is a solid pickup. The low end is punchy and the top end stays glassy without getting harsh, which makes it a fun spin at home. It is also the kind of record that turns heads in a Melbourne record store when the chorus of Talk hits and the hi hats start chattering. For fans who have been collecting Two Door Cinema Club vinyl since Beacon or Gameshow, this sits neatly alongside the rest, showing how the band kept their melodic core while stepping into brighter, more synthetic colours. If you like to buy Two Door Cinema Club records online, you will find this one easy to file under weeknight party starter. For those browsing vinyl records Australia wide, it is a safe bet for your next mood lift.

False Alarm doesn’t reinvent the band so much as tilt the frame. The melodies land, the lyrics have enough bite to keep you thinking, and the production is sleek in a way that suits them. It is a snapshot of where they stood in 2019, comfortable enough to embrace glossy pop tricks and confident enough to make them their own. If you’ve drifted away since the Tourist History days, this album is a handy reminder that Two Door Cinema Club know how to write songs that flick a room into motion. And if you’re already deep into Two Door Cinema Club albums on vinyl, this one will keep finding its way back to your turntable when the evening needs a bit of glow.