Roots & Echoes - The Coral

I'm not what you could call an avid fan of The Coral. I like a few of their singles but have never really felt the need to submerge myself in their back catalogue. So when I put in the album and get faced with Who's Gonna Find Me things aren't looking good. It reminds me of the sort of song that would be used to advertise a Beefeater Pub. And no, I'm not saying that's a good thing.

Indeed, things don't immediately get any better.

It's track 4, Jacqueline, before things start to look up. But even this, with its admittedly catchy melody fails to really spark up like the best songs of The Coral can.

From this point forward there's as many good (ish) tracks as there are distinctly average ones but there is a distinct sense that The Coral have lost, or perhaps intentionally put to one side, the quirkiness that made them an intriguiung proposition.

Listening to Roots & Echoes you can only come to one conclusion; this is the sound of a band playing it safe.

Single Releases 30/07

Gotta Work by Amerie and Pussy'Ole by Dizzee Rascal are both choice cuts off choice albums. I know I keep getting raised eyebrows when I say Dizzee's album is very good, but honestly, it is.

Green Light by Beyonce is not as good as those two, but is still the kind of song that she does best.

Gym Class Heroes do not sound at all like I expected them to given the people who were attending their concert in Manchester the other week. That isn't a compliment by the way.

Laura Veirs releases Saltbreakers this week. It was one of the highlights of the same titled album and although I realise it isn't going to be a "hit" it is a fantastic song.

Similarly, Carla Bruni isn't going to have a hit with Lady Weeping At The Crossroads, but that doesn't mean that it isn't a great track.

I still can't quite "get" Kate Walsh. Don't Break My Heart is alright, but that's about it.

I don't care that it's quite good, that new Nelly Furtado one is still the 37th single off the Loose album so I want something new.

Finally, in a shocker to end all shockers, I "quite like" the new The Coral single. Ok, so that might seem like damning it with faint praise, but it's an amazing thing for me to even contemplate....