Single Review

You know theres no such thing as a free meal, and theyre aint no future in British steel. The opening line of the latest single taken from the Enemys second album, Music For The People, does little to suggest that anything especially sophisticated is likely to follow.

And although the sound of Be Somebody does improve after that horrible opening couplet, the tone does not. Littered with simplistic references to disenchantment and societal indifference to the plight of the common man, Be Somebody is, at best, shamelessly populist and, at worst, insultingly one-dimensional.

But it wasnt always like this. For all that it had invoked of The Jam or The Clash, the bands first album, We Live And Die In These Towns, had been a breath of fresh air as the nation slid numbly towards recession.

The narrative of that first record was one of thoughtful disillusion and, predictably, it spoke to the youth of a generation facing hard times. Musically, the new material is similar to the first album though it lacks much of the raw energetic anger of We Live And Die. And there was something romantic about it too; a romance somehow lost on a second record that ironically tries harder to address affairs of the heart (see Sing When Youre in Love). This is not to suggest that Coventrys finest havent penned a fair tune in Be Somebody. The hook of the chorus is genuinely catchy and no doubt The Enemys fan base will open its arms.

The fundamental problem with Be Somebody, if there is one, is that it sounds a little, well, cheap. Its just a bit twee no one ever gives you anything for free; unless you start sleeping with the BBC. Really?

Maybe its not them; maybe its us. The first album came out when we needed it, with dark days ahead. Yet barely two years on, Tom Clarke and Cos avowed desire to be somebody will no longer have the countrys rebellious classes choking on their chai lattes and rising up.

Come on lads, we know you can do better. You promised us steak and youve given us beans on toast. Well still clear the plate but we wont be rushing back.