stale and clichéd, rather than like a great mix of their favourite bands, as it seems they're aiming for. That lovely throaty primal scream, championed by Mr. Manson & Slipknot (ad infinitum) is really starting to sound a little over worn now, besides the little problem that he doesn't even do it all that well. More like an afterthought: "Ooh, and these guys do that cool screaming thing. Lets throw a few of them in". The screams go along with the usual mix of openly played minor power chords with the occasional break to emphasise some random part / melody, but if you ask me that sort of thing only really works if the band are really tight - think Rage Against the Machine. There are also apparently keyboards on just about all the tracks, but it seems the only one you can hear it on above the noise of the guitars is at the end of 'M. Shepard' - and even then, don't worry, as they're promptly drowned out again before the track actually finishes. Trying to stamp their 'authority' all over the place, no doubt.

The lead single, 'Signals Over The Air', stands out quite obviously as the best song, mainly because it has a little hook: "on the radio". Not bad, although it still suffers from really boring guitar & drum parts - although at least they make a bit of an effort on this one. There's the obligatory quiet track ('This Song Brought to You by a Falling Bomb'), which really doesn't show his voice as well as it could do considering the high polishing of (albeit unoriginal) production, and as there aren't really any other standout tracks, I'm slightly worried by the fact that their only saving grace is that their vocalist 'sounds-a-bit-like-the-guy-from-The-Cure'.

3.8

Mark Danson