For a band that had yet to release a long-playing record, the BBC’s Steve Lamacq saw enough of Cut Off Your Hands at Texas’ legendary South By Southwest a few years back to invite them into the famed London studios to perform a live session; lofty heights to have scaled for such a young band. One listen to those early EPs, though, and it is easy to see what the Brits liked about this New Zealand outfit, their spiky riffs and pop-sensibilities are unashamedly influenced by the British Post-punk movements. With the release of their full-length debut, You and I, the majority of the album continues this trend. The shadow of the likes of Elvis Costello, Wire, XTC and The Jam loom large over a record that is, at times, immensely enjoyable but a little too derivative and has arrived perhaps a few years too late.

Bernard Butler takes the helm on production duties for You and I and, like the other former Suede guitarist’s success story from this year, Black Kids’ Partie Traumatic, the songs have a crisp, radio-friendly sheen that, unfortunately, may do a band like Cut Off Your Hands more harm than good. For opener, ‘Happy As Can Be’, the fit is perfect on a track whose appeal is undeniable. It is a song of massive proportions and Butler’s ‘wall of sound’ production does it every justice. Singer Nick Johnston reportedly became enamored with the 60s girl groups of Phil Spector during the recording of You and I and it shows for the entire three and a half minutes of, what is, a glorious pop song. Similarly, the bouncy ‘Oh Girl’ (which is indicative of Johnston’s ‘simple’ lyrical style) is resplendent, melodic and insanely catchy. The way the bridge of the song breaks from jagged single-note guitar into 60s surf harmonies is a neat trick and one that leaves you craving more of these clever diversions. When the intensity ramps up, as on the emotive ‘Closed Eyes’, the band move closer toward a more distinctive sound but one that is not suited to Butler’s glossy production. After listening to the early EPs side by side with You and I one gets the feeling that Cut Off Your Hands are a square, garage band peg attempting to jam themselves into a smooth, round hole. Particularly after being reminded of the punchy and corrosive ‘You and I’ from their debut Shaky Hands EP which is conspicuous by it’s absence; especially considering the other older material deemed worthy of inclusion on the album.

Too often, the band resort to by numbers revivalism that the likes of The Futureheads and Maximo Park blew out of the water on their excellent debut albums.  The thin veneer of ‘Expectations’, ‘Turn Cold’, ‘Lets Get Out Of Here’ and ‘Still Fond’ are stripped away after only a few spins. And the album’s slower-burning numbers, whilst attempting something outside the predictable (particularly the swelling and off-kilter ‘Heartbreak’) fall victim to traversing a few too many genres for their own good. When the band do girl-group pop, however, they revel in a freedom to be melodic (if a tad melancholic) and sound relevant and exciting.

Therein lies the heart of the problem. Cut Off Your Hands’ debut dabbles too much in a genre whose revival has well and truly passed. There are many positives to glean from You and I, and as long as the band focuses on blazing new trails they won’t end up coming back to bite Steve Lamacq on his taste-maker of a backside. God knows, the world certainly doesn’t need another Kaiser Chiefs.