Review of This Et Al's CD "Untitled"

This Et Al: Untitled

Futuresound winners This Et Al are button pushers! You can just bet that A&R eyes light up like a Christmas tree when they hear this. Like a blend of everything on their "perfect recipe of the month" list. It's MTV2tastic, angsty, cleverish, melodic, hair-straightened, H&M dressed, guitar driven pout-rock. If This Et Al are also pretty boys then heaven help the rest.

Sounding like the bastard children of any number of guitar wielding angst rockers of the moment, they set about 4 epic numbers with varying degrees of success and equal measures of ideas, hooks and energy. Opener "Catscan" is an imperious tune, carrying a little too much weight at 4 mins 30, but a diet and there'd be no more arguments. "Transmit The Ends" is the band's most memorable moment with an Evostick chorus and yet equally carrying a little too much baggage. It is in fact "A letter to the most real" that given 10 or more listens, reveals itself to be the king amongst men, with the biggest, crashing, soaring mid-section of 2004. The ironically named closer "Template" is Bloc Party crossed with The Futureheads and ample doses of Muse. In all a neat package for today's crowd.

Don't blame This Et Al for doing such a good impression of others, it's a side-effect of being good. It isn't quantifiable, that missing ingredient to make This Et Al recognisable as themselves. They have time on their hands and pretty soon reviews like this will carry quotes such as "sounding like a cross between This Et Al and..."

• www.thisetal.com

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