The brothers Greg and Aaron Gilbert and their cohorts Colin Fox and Rowly certainly know the makings of a radio friendly and catchy pop single - oohs and aahs, woos and las, lyrics repeated often enough that people can pick up the words quickly, in fact repetition in general is good. Single Hooray opens with Pachelbel's canon style "strings" which it follows up with its nursery rhyme-ish chorus. The rest of the album follows suit in a collection of catchy to the point of irritating pop tunes, layered with clean and shiny guitars, synths, strings and vocal harmonies perfected with such consistency that it really doesn't take long before they become samey.
Unsurprisingly, the strongest song here is accomplished when Delays deviate from the bouncy pop that characterises "Everything's the Rush." At 5mins29 Pieces is also the album's longest song, a sullen ballad which opens with soberly plucked guitar then patiently unfolds and intensifies with grandiose strings. Sadly it's a feat not replicated when the album re-attempts depth and peters off towards the end with the clichéd Silence and the official closing track, Jet Lag, which announces the end of the album with a maudlin chorus of "Goodbye my friend, this is the end." Hope nobody bought this based on its artwork, though it is good, isn't it?
