Given the long list of sophomore failures that 2007 has disappointingly plopped into our laps I had the inkling a while back, when a few of their songs leaked naughtily into the internets, that this might just be the album to crack the nut for the highly anticipated, who have thus far been comprehensively outplayed by those very squarely on the fringes.

Not so, I’m afraid, but it’s still pretty good. In one sense it reminds me of the patchiness of Maximo Park’s second album which packed the spaces between its superb stand-out tracks with suspiciously mealy filler songs that sound too similar in pitch and pace to the good stuff to let the best material really jump out at you. In another sense it’s a lot like The Futureheads’ second as well, in that it takes something so spiky and idiosyncratic that the first few listens are little more than a dramatic acclimatisation process, and smoothes it out into a more mainstream indie sound.

Ultimately this is the problem with the record. Eddie Argos’ lyrics are just as sharp as ever, jumping so quickly from pathos to smart-arsery that you are never quite certain where you stand. The tunes are often just as catchy as their earlier material too, but the music is hugely more predictable guitar-based indie pop and this can lead to their weaker songs sounding really quite ordinary. There’s plenty to like here but as an album it’s a little disappointing overall.

Art Brut – Nag Nag Nag Nag
Art Brut – I Will Survive

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