Format: CD album
Released: April 13
Label: Corsair
Arriving somewhat late to the big beat party, former signings to the Fatboy Slim-associated Skint label were much hyped by a music press eager to put saleable faces to yet another anonymous DJ culture.
Of course, when their debut album 'How To Operate With A Blown Mind' failed to propel them to stadium status and the band's line up splintered, they lost interest. Now on Corsair Records, who brought the world the marvellous IDC, their third album sees them straddling the world of pop and dance music as ever but perhaps with an even stronger slant towards songwriting.
Opening tune 'Northern Stomp' samples Happy Mondays' 'Halleluah' and sticks it through the glitch blender. But the baggy influence is short lived. In fact, 'I Know I'm A King' sounds more like The Beatles if they'd had a sampler to play with, and the clever programming which used to make their sound so vital definitely tuned down from equal partner to subtle addition.
There's plenty of memorable stuff here, not least current download giveaway 'On My Mind' and 'Smash and Grab World'. It definitely feels like they're starting from scratch rather than building on past glories - whether it's a success depends largely on whether they can translate this preened, classy pop sound to the live arena.
3/5
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