i said, what the f*ck?

There are albums in existence in which you could easily pick a handful of singles. Mika's "Life In Cartoon Motion" is such an example. Love it or hate it you could easily release pretty much anything off it and be sure of having a hit single. Some might say they already have...

The Twang's debut album "Love It When You Feel Like This" is not such a record.

Let me go on record by saying that I think their debut single "Wide Awake" and their current top 10 single "Either Way" are superb. Ignoring anything else, they are a couple of genuinely catchy, excellent pieces of simple four-minute guitar pop.

Here, therefore, was an opportunity to pack a full length CD full of great anthemic, singalong joyful pop songs. An opportunity I am disappointed to report that they have spectacularly spurned.

It's actually quite difficult for me to put my finger on exactly what is wrong with this record. And yet in some ways the reasons come tripping off the tongue. A lack of originality in itself isn't necessarily a bad thing. This lot though have no ideas which 1990s band they are trying to sound like. It's like a curious mix of Terrorvision, Gene and the Charlatans but in a way that does no favours to any of those bands. Making a record that is brash and in-your-face can also make for great listening. This, though, sounds like a record that was cobbled together by four blokes at chucking out time in an Essex pub on a Saturday night.

In an attempt to sound street, they have just succeeded sounding like 80's lager-louts. Don't get me wrong - I think that swearing in pop music should be positively encouraged. A throwaway swear word (think Marti Pellow in the middle of Wet Wet Wet's "Temptation") can be brilliant. This album though takes that idea and beats it to within an inch of its life. Every other word is "fuck" or "fucking" or "bird" or "wankered". By all means use swearing but there is nothing big or clever about simply littering your album with obscenities. Fucking twats.

It's a shame, really. It's not dreadful, but it is so blokey it becomes quite irritating after a while. A prime example of when a couple of single downloads would have been much more fulfilling than wasting time and money on a load of cobbled together disappointment.