When Tom Rowland and Ed Simons first broke onto the scene almost fifteen years ago as The Dust Brothers, they were seen as a somewhat unique act. Their brand of sample-heavy, candid, yet always-accessible dance music saw them snapped up by Superstar DJ Andrew Weatherall's Junior Boys Own label in the early nineties, and the subsequent release of their 1995 debut Exit Planet Dust established them as masters of their art. During the ten succeeding years, however, things have changed; dance music is not the niche genre it once was, and recent bands like Justice, Datarock and LCD Soundsystem are in danger of eclipsing the popularity of the duo who ironically inspire(d) them. Though the Chemical Brothers' output has been largely consistently adequate - and sometimes extraordinary - their sixth studio album, We Are the Night, requires something extra-special, especially in the current dance-saturated climate. But do they deliver? Not really. A major moot point is the sampling of their own (old) songs (the title track samples 'Sunshine Underground' from Surrender), and this, coupled with the fact that 80% of tracks here sound pretty generic, implies that Rowlands and Simons may have run out of ideas. Although the sublime Midlake-guesting closer The Pills Won't Help You Now is one of the best songs on the album, the Chemical influence is hugely subdued; the grimy-yet-cheesy synth thud and clatter of drums on Saturate is very Go! Team-esque, while the slick hip-hop beats of The Salmon Dance could be a DJ Yoda or Avalanches track. It says a lot that the best tracks here are the ones with the guest vocalists; Willy Mason's star turn on Battle Scars is growlingly-ace, while rock-ravers Klaxons provide suitable otherworldly vocals to the shapeshifting All Rights Reversed. We Are the Night is far from an unlistenable album; but ardent Chemical Brothers fans should be disappointed that one of the most pioneering dance acts of their time have basically resorted to ripping themselves off.