Bands like The Twang don't usually get second chances. Scooped from the world of pub-rock, signed to a successful indie label, lauded by the NME, and then - like the first fading rush of love - dismissed by all and sundry as Oasis/Charlatans/Happy Mondays rip-offs. Then again, perhaps it's down to the fact that their 2007 debut 'Love It When I Feel Like This' was (gasp!) actually rather good, that the Birmingham band have managed to stick around.
Unfortunately, it seems like the quintet used all of their tricks on their first album. 'Jewellery Quarter' is neither sparkling nor of any value, but packed full of hackneyed ideas, dreary vocals and uninspiring melodies. The laddish swagger that was kept to a minimum seems in full throttle here, as heard on the join-the-dots indie of 'Put It on the Dancefloor' and the lifeless 'Got No Interest'. Vocalist Phil Etheridge himself seems jaded; his lyrics often wallow in self-pity or trite attempts at rousing emotion ('Encouraging Sign' is soppily bad), but are strangely at odds with the meat-and-two-veg rock soundtrack.
There are one or two saving graces - principally the sub-New Order bounce of 'Twit Twoo', lead single 'Barney Rubble' (which samples the drum jingle of '90s hit 'Give It Up'), and the peppier 'Back Where We Started', and it really sounds like The Twang are making an genuine attempt at considered piano and acoustic ballads. But some bands can recycle ideas and still make them listenable, and some just bore you to the point of frustration; unfortunately, this album falls into the latter category. Better luck next time - if there is a next time.
