Without meaning to sound like some St George flag waving nationalist thug, can anyone tell me what some of our European cousins have actually brought to the rock'n'roll melting pot in recent years?

You see, aside from the four-hour comedy fest that is Eurovision, and the creative backwater that is Scandinavia, nothing else of any real note springs to mind.

Certainly not as far as Germany is concerned at any rate: I mean come on, the fact David Hasselhoff is one of the biggest selling musical imports their nation has seen in recent years should be enough to let you know they aren't exactly inspired by quality.

So what we have here is the German take on 'indie rock'n'roll' as it is now commonly known (and marketed accordingly) courtesy of Gods Of Blitz, a band whose name suggests they should be opening for Tigertailz at the Wildside glam weekender.

Unfortunately, their music is little more than a watered down take on the likes of the Killers and the Kooks, neither of whom it can be said are exactly groundbreakers or revolutionary in their own right.

What the aforementioned duo do have going for them though are good, catchy songs, something which on the evidence of 'Reporting A Mirage', Gods Of Blitz sadly lack.

Sure, they may look the part - the sleeve of the record suggests the photo shoot was based on an updated re-modelling of The Who's 'My Generation' sleeve - and some of the song titles themselves make interesting footnotes if nothing else ('Think About The Missing Link' and 'New Wave Wipe-Out' to name but two).

Sadly, after the umpteenth Chilli Peppered Strokes riff leads into lines like 'It's got to be predictable, no risk at all', you're left wondering why they bothered, even though you can't fault them for honesty if little else.

Allemagne: Nil points.

0/5

Dom Gourlay