The Surrey rock crew have built a steady success since their 2008 debut, finally topping the UK album chart with their last effort, Cavalier Youth, and this punchy, glossy fifth album is sure to cement their success among fans of Foo Fighters and Biffy Clyro. Unlike those bands, however, You Me at Six still seem to have little originality or depth to offer. The meaty, swaggering title track and the racing Plus One are exhilarating, but moments of passing interest are few among the generic likes of Heavy Soul, with its identikit alt-rock, or the Royal Blood-ish thrasher Swear (“mine’s a Jameson”? Dear Lord). Things reach their nadir on the mawkish strum-and-bawl ballad Take on the World, melodrama barrelling headlong into meaninglessness.
