Surrey quintet You Me at Six make overwrought emotional anthemia that’s about as dangerous as a leather jacket. They’re also on the cusp of super-sizing into Britain’s next stadium band and this, their fifth album, has given them their second No 1. Out of all the rockers peddling the same generic chart angst – Paramore, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Fall Out Boy – at least YMAS attempt to suggest they might have gonads behind the guitars (alongside some noirish, Nasvillian touches from Kings of Leon producer Jacquire King). The title track strains to achieve Black Keysish blues by way of a crotch-thrusting, Downward Spiral-era Trent Reznor; Make Your Move and Spell It Out admirably go for some mathier, metallic riffage before the pained wails kick in; and Swear has a glossy, Rainbow Room swagger. But wait, what’s this – the kind of cheap ballad you usually hear sung by nice boys with quiffs? Generic pop-country-rock about feeling “brand new”? It’ll sound great blaring from the car radio at rush hour, but you’ll find more darkness and complexity in Twilight fan-fic.
