The Music Strength in Numbers by: Steven Connell Thu:31-Jul-08 Label: Polydor Year: 2008 WB rating 41 out of 100

Firstly, the name. Given, it’s three albums on, but The Music still sounds absurdly pretentious and more than a little stupid. The need to constantly preface their name with ‘the band’ every time you mention them in conversation can get hugely tiresome and they’re an absolute bitch to Wikipedia. Finally, calling yourself The Music sets the bar rather high. Strength in Numbers falls well short.

Hailed by Tony Wilson as the band he wished he’d signed, and championed by NME among others (rarely a good omen), Leeds four piece The Music came to prominence in 2002 with their blustering, Zep-Verve inspired, indie-electronic, Lad Rock. After a less well-received sophomore effort in 2004, the band went on a three and a half year hiatus, during which they were dropped by their label and singer Robert Harvey battled alcoholism and depression.

Strength in Numbers marks their less-than-triumphant return. Produced by Flood (of U2 and Depeche mode fame) and Orbitol’s Paul Hartnoll, the album has a more electronic sound than previous offerings. Tracks like ‘The Last One’ and ‘The Spike’ throb and oscillate with stomping beats, while Harvey’s banshee screeching duels with overly distorted guitars. ‘Fire’ might be the best song The Music have recorded, a scorching, frenzied riff exploding into a pulsating, catchy chorus – “A burning fire is what you are.”

It’s all very loud and certainly full of energy, but after a few tracks one pulsating rhythm begins to blur into the next, and each anthemic chorus sounds much the same. ‘Idle’ proves a distraction, Harvey’s restrained vocals sounding more Thom Yorke (sorry Thom) than Robert Plant, as guitarist Adam Nutter unplugs his army of effects pedals, resulting in an interesting, polyphonic tangent from an otherwise uninteresting record.

For all their pounding, cacophonous noise, the Music simply aren’t very good songwriters. And while his well documented battle with the bottle has given Harvey something to write about and thankfully move beyond screaming unintelligible “woowie’s” –although the slightly rockier ‘No Weapon Sharper Than Will' comes close - lyrics like “How can I fly if you won’t give me wings” or the squeamishly Tolkienesque “When mountains are high/Clouds and rain form on them/When waters are deep/Dragons are born in them” are unlikely to send the Nobel Committee scrambling to reconsider this years nominations.

After the heavier, bass driven ‘Cold Blooded,’ the album closes with the two-part ‘Inconceivable Odds.’ While the acoustic, lighter-waving first half well misses the mark, featuring a chorus that wouldn’t be out of place on a Grey’s Anatomy advertisement, the second is probably the album highlight, a barnstorming instrumental. That the track features neither Harvey nor the stomping, dancefloor beats which permeate the rest of the record, doesn’t go unnoticed.

There’s probably enough here to satisfy The Music’s hordes of beer swelling, pill popping fans - single ‘Strength in Numbers’ should get the Chavs chanting ‘no one can come between us’ on a Saturday night – but with a plethora of dance-rock acts around making similar and in many cases, superior music,