Reviews / Album

With a huge chorus, catchy synth and guitar riffs, it is hard not to feel like you are dancing around, drenched in the sunshine – even if it is pouring with rain and zero degrees outside.

The liner notes are a bit iffy, too; quality photos of the band are pitted against cheesy thank you lines like “everyone with a positive outlook on life”. The potential is there, it’s just not delivered well enough, often enough.

While there’s nostalgia galore, making you feel as if you’ve always known these songs, it’s above all an entry into the strange, new world of Pluto Jonze and you’d be a fool to ignore it.

It sounds like the Pet Shop Boys still have all the same instruments and gadgets they’ve been using for almost three decades, but at the same time, there’s nothing overly derivative, old fashioned or cheesy about Electric.

Camera Obscura’s strength has always been in the studio, and Desire Lines is another testament to that fact.

It’s not that it is a bad attempt at the genre, but considering some of the artists around today and ones that have been gone before – it’s all just a little boring.

Don’t expect this set of songs to necessarily challenge the musical spectrum as such, but do expect to have a damn good, guilt-free listen to a damn fine pop record.

While this is a decent album, with a line-up of this calibre, the music produced is below par. The fact is, if it weren’t for the status of Transplants’ members, no one would really care about these songs.